Rock On!

My daughter’s very first cradle had rockers that allowed side to side rocking, and that gentle rocking motion helped to soothe her quickly in those first days after we brought her home from the hospital. To this day, when I hold an infant in my arms, I find myself swaying, unconsciously and oh-so gently, from side to side. I suspect I am not the only one who moves this way with a babe in arms; it is soothing for both the swayer and swayee!

I am Julie Fraser, buyer for the Special Needs category at Discount School Supply. One of my favorite items in the Special Needs collection is the Body Rocker (AP93211J). Rocking is a wonderful way to soothe children when outside stimulus becomes overwhelming. A back-and-forth rocking chair or a swing are the items that first come to mind to provide this soothing motion, but both can be impractical in a classroom setting. At 36” long and 23 ¼” wide, the vinyl-covered foam Body Rocker takes up far less space than a swing, and with no rockers to pinch indiscriminately placed fingers and hands, does not pose the hazard of a standard rocking chair. Plus, the Body Rocker’s unique design allows full-body rocking in a cushioned, laying position, or upright rocking in forward and back or lateral motions, all while exercising a child’s sense of balance.

Numerous researchers, such as the late A. Jean Ayres, Ph.D., and Lindsey Biel, OCR/L, presenter and co-author of Raising a Sensory Smart Child, suggest incorporating rockers into a child’s environment for the calming benefits of the rocking motion. While they suggest rocking be an integral part of sensory therapy for children with special needs, all children may benefit from this soothing motion when life around them gets too hectic. The same is true for many of the other sensory products we offer in the Special Needs section at Discount School Supply. I invite you to consider how the Tactile Air Cushion (AP9531J), the Classroom Light Filters (AP92301J), or the Senso-Dot Balls (AP15174J) (among others) might help soothe the children in your life as they go about the very important work of learning!

You can watch a video about the Body Rocker here: