Tactile Support | Tara Edelschick

I’m a sucker for anything that promises to help our homeschooling endeavor. Knowing I’m a sucker, I try to reign myself in.

This is Crazy Aaron, whose story is pretty cool and can be found on his website.

Which is why I only bought two tins of Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty. I really wanted to get three, one for me and one for each of the boys. But they were $12 a piece so I only got two.

Occupational therapists have been telling me for years that the boys would benefit from some “tactile support” during listening activities, and I thought the putty might do the trick. On his website, Crazy Aaron writes, “Keep your hands busy with Thinking Putty and free up more space in your brain.”

I bought heat-sensitive Sunburst for Ez and color-shifting Scarab for Zach. While I read to them, they twist and snap and squeeze their putty. Ezra’s turns from orange to yellow as he works it, and Zach’s changes colors as it shimmers in different light.

Both boys stay eerily focused while they work the putty. They can recall details of what is read to them, and can even do some higher order thinking about the text while they play with the putty. This is no small achievement.

My only regret is that I didn’t buy three. I take out the putty after the boys go to bed and kneading it is incredibly relaxing. I have to restrain myself from taking it away from the boys during the day so that I can use it myself.

I guess that after a day of homeschooling, Mommy could use some tactile support of her own.