Embracing the Season of Change
Around the world, mid-to-late June marks a time of transition. In some countries, the school year ends and long summer days begin. In others, students are just entering the winter term. No matter where you live or practice, the routines you’ve built with children and families are likely to shift.
For occupational therapists, special educators, and allied professionals, this seasonal transition can be both refreshing and destabilizing. Whether your regulation relies on predictability and routine or on novelty and changing up your schedule, a disruption—even a temporary one—can cause nervous systems to lose their anchor, especially those that are still developing or are neurodivergent. That doesn’t mean we need to pause our support. It means we can adapt how we offer it. Summer Sensory Swaps are one playful way to do just that.
Why Summer Swaps Matter
As routines bend, break or shift, regulation strategies must stay accessible. These sensory swaps are not gimmicks. They’re grounded in what the Alert Program® and Your Best Self both teach: regulation is most successful when strategies match both the internal state and the external context.
This principle is supported by international research. In a pilot conducted by the New Zealand Ministry of Education, educators noted that children using the Alert Program® showed greater self-awareness and more proactive regulation strategies over the course of a single term (Engelbertz, 2022). Children began using self-talk to describe their engine levels and even coached peers through sensory adjustments.
These kinds of shifts don’t require fancy tools. They require awareness, creativity, and the willingness to meet the moment with flexibility.
Swap Ideas for Summer
Therapists and educators don’t need to create new programs every season. Instead, we can honor the structure we’ve already built and modify the tools within it. For example, if a child relies on proprioceptive input during transitions, we don’t need the same exact exercise—we need the same sensorimotor effect.
Here are some playful and practical summer swaps to consider:
- Wall push-ups can become watering plants with a heavy can
- Rice bins can be replaced by sand, mud, or garden soil
- Chew tubes can turn into frozen fruit slices or smoothie straws
- Indoor yoga sessions can shift to walks, bike rides, or jumping through sprinkler arches
- Weighted blankets can be substituted with lap pads during car rides or heavy backpacks on summer walks
- Blowing feathers can become bubble wands or pinwheel play
These aren’t just fun substitutions. They’re informed by evidence. Research shows that tactile, proprioceptive, and oral-motor inputs all play a role in improving regulation, attention, and task engagement (Pfeiffer et al., 2008; Fedewa & Erwin, 2011; Fertel-Day et al., 2001). Deep pressure, such as from a weighted item or the act of lifting and carrying, is especially effective at reducing sympathetic nervous system arousal and promoting calm (Mullen et al., 2008).
In other words, the swap doesn’t need to look the same. It just needs to feel the same to the nervous system.
Tips for Keeping Regulation Tools Consistent
Introducing new tools during a transition period works best when they’re paired with a clear structure that allows for both novelty and predictability.
One helpful strategy is to anchor your sensorimotor tools to consistent times of day. If movement always happens after lunch, keep it there. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an obstacle course in the gym or a family walk through the park. The point is to cue the nervous system through timing and intention.
Visuals can be helpful for some. For many children, knowing what comes next reduces anticipatory stress and gives them a sense of control. If you’re swapping tools for the season, show the new tool with a photo or let them help decorate a summer-themed visual schedule.
Most importantly, give them a say. When children help choose between two sensorimotor options (both of which you know will support them), they feel empowered and are more likely to engage meaningfully. Ownership and choice matter.
And if a strategy that worked in the classroom suddenly fails during summer camp or travel? That doesn’t mean it was never useful. It means the body’s current state needs a different input. In fact, noticing what doesn’t work is part of building self-awareness—one of the foundational outcomes reported by practitioners using the Alert Program® across multiple studies (Mac Cobb et al., 2014; Allison et al., 2019).
Global Consideration
Every culture and climate brings its own version of seasonal change. For some, that means navigating extreme heat or outdoor allergens. For others, it’s shorter daylight hours and increased indoor time. And for many professionals worldwide, it means limited access to consistent support due to shifting schedules, funding cycles, or public holidays.
In every case, what makes a difference is not the size of your intervention but the thoughtfulness and timing of its implementation. These sensory swaps aren’t about doing more. They’re about making use of what’s already available, right now, in this season, in this setting.
Your Best Self and the Alert Program® were designed with this spirit in mind—offering low-cost, evidence-informed tools that help people regulate across environments, transitions, and lifespan stages.
So wherever you are in the world, take heart in knowing that your flexibility, creativity, and care are part of what makes regulation possible. You’re not just offering tools. You’re modeling how to adapt with compassion.
What’s your favorite seasonal sensory swap? Share one simple change you’ve made this year, and tag a colleague who might want to try it too.
Explore the Alert Program® Online Course and Your Best Self: The Alert Program® for All, or contact us for group discounts.
References:
- Engelbertz, S. (2022). Evaluation of the Alert Program® Pilot Phase Two. New Zealand Ministry of Education.
- Pfeiffer, B., Henry, A., Miller, S. & Witherell, S. (2008). The effectiveness of Disc ‘O’ Sit cushions on attention to task in second-grade students with attention difficulties. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 62, 274–281.
- Fedewa, A., & Erwin, H. (2011). Stability balls and students with attention and hyperactivity concerns. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65, 393–399.
- Fertel-Day, D., Bedell, G., Hinojsa, J. (2001). Effects of a weighted vest on attention to task and self-stimulatory behaviors in preschoolers with pervasive development disorders. AJOT, 55, 829–840.
- Mullen, M., et al. (2008). Exploring the safety and therapeutic effects of deep pressure stimulation using a weighted blanket. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 24(1), 65–89.
- Mac Cobb, S., Fitzgerald, B., & Lanigan-O’Keefe, C. (2014). The Alert Program® for self-management of behavior in second level schools: results of phase 1 of a pilot study. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 19(4), 410–425.
- Allison, A., Shotwell, M., Keeling, B., & Simon, R. (2019). Effects of the Alert Program on communication, social interaction, and occupational performance in adults with developmental disabilities. AJOT, 73(4_Supplement_1).
