The Baby Fold’s Hammitt School in Normal has added a new sensory room for kids.
The room includes a small zipline, a climbing wall, bean bags and a wheelchair-accessible swing. It provides an option for kids to calm down or relax in a sensory-friendly environment that allows them to build coordination and fine motor skills— small muscles in the hands, for things like writing or tying shoes — and gross motor skills for larger muscle movement.
“It's wonderful for our kids,” Baby Fold CEO Clete Winkelmann said at a ribbon-cutting on Tuesday. “We always want to continue to innovate our work, and this just gives us another tool to be able to meet the needs of the diverse community of kids that come to Hammitt School on a daily basis.”
Married couple Susan Hoblit and Larry Collins, of Atlanta, Illinois, made the donation necessary to add the sensory room. They've been supporters of The Baby Fold for decades.
“I walked in, I thought, ‘Hey, playground,’ but then they explained, ‘No, no, it's not. It's not just play. It's therapy. It's calming. It helps to bring the child to a place of peace and comfort, and regulate their behavior if they've been upset for some reason,’” said Collins.
“It touches my heart,” added Hoblit. “And we totally trust in The Baby Fold. They've been doing this a long, long time.”
Olivia Falls, a teacher-therapist for the high school connections program at Hammitt School, said the new space is going to be “awesome.”
“When my kids are feeling a little antsy, when they need those sensory inputs and stuff,” said Falls. “I definitely have some pacers in my classroom who like just wandering back and forth and stuff. So this can come in clutch as well, we might be able to do a couple one-on-one lessons here, so really excited about the whole space and the use of it.”
Winklemann agreed the space will benefit both kids and their instructors. A kid in distress will be able to move to a separate area for safe activities while others continue following regular lesson plans.
“It allows the teachers then in the classroom to have a room full of kids that are kind of focused in learning, and it allows that one child who might need that ability to experience stimulus or calming, one or the other, it allows them to bring them here and have that moment in time,” said Winkelmann.
Falls said her high school kids still sometimes struggle with the skills the sensory space is meant to help.
“Definitely a chance to help them develop those fine motor skills, so they can use those onto their next endeavors,” said Falls.
While Hoblit and Collins have supported Baby Fold programming in other ways, they can visually see how kids will be affected by their latest contribution.
“This is something tangible that you can put your hands on and actually see it,” said Collins. “And I was talking with Clete and some of the other people, and they were saying this thing will be making a difference in children's lives for thousands and thousands of hours, and for years to come. So we're grateful for that, too.”
