Are you the parent of a disabled child?

From Pinpoint and Young Lives
Want to get together with other parents and get your voice heard?
Join us for the first meeting of a new county-wide parental involvement network for parents of disabled children
Parental involvement network meetings

Cambridge: Meadows Community Centre, 1 St Catharine’s Road, Cambridge CB4 3XJ on Monday, 9 March 2009 from 10am–12 noon (Refreshments from 9.30am)

Ely: Cathedral Centre, Palace Green, Ely CB7 4EW on Wednesday, 11 March 2009 from 10am–2pm
(This event is planned with Contact a Family and includes lunch)

Huntingdon: Maple Centre, 6 Oak Drive, Huntingdon PE29 7HN on Tuesday, 17 March 2009 from 10am–12 noon (Refreshments from 9.30am. This event is followed by lunch and the pinpoint Open Meeting from 12.45-2.00pm)

This term’s big question: Is Cambridgeshire Aiming High for Disabled Children?
Guest speaker: Richard Holland, Development and Commissioning Manager for Aiming High at Cambridgeshire County Council will talk about the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme and the money available for short breaks
· £10 voucher for every parent/carer who attends as a “thank you” for giving up your time

· help with childcare and transport costs is also available - please ask for details when booking

To book your place phone Lynn on 0751 741 9761 or email lynn@pinpoint-cambs.org.uk*
If you can’t attend any of the launch events, you can still have your say. Phone 0751 741 9761 for more information.
*Please let us know when booking if you have any special access or dietary requirements
www.pinpoint-cambs.org.uk

Slime!

Messy play is a very good therapy for all children, but especially good for children with sensory integration problems. Our son, Dan, used to hate sand and fur and had a bit of a fascination about hair. I'm sure that playing at the garden table with bubbles, play-dough and slime has helped him. It's also been a lot of fun. It can be a bit of a challenge to tidy minded parents though!

Because it has been a bit bracing outside, we have given messy play a bit of a rest. However, we have a couple of young teenagers who come and play with Dan on Tuesdays after school, and they seemed appropriate and deserving characters for a bit of "creamy muck-muck". Holly is a very good girl and is in no way to blame for what happened, but I'm not so sure about Sophie who is a real prankster. We love them both, of course.

When we had snow, the girls brought a big bowl of it in to the living room for Dan to play with. He spooned it from one bowl to another, then I added some food colouring (not yellow), and a new idea was born.

This week, we decided to risk an in-door messy play session with slime which is made with corn-flour (corn-starch) and water. You pour some cornflour in a bowl and then add a drop of water at a time until you get a runny paste. You can add colour too. The fun starts here because it behaves as a liquid unless you surprise it by grabbing it or hitting it. It becomes a solid, just for a moment. You can pummel it into a ball, but as soon as you stop moving it it flows again.

So, Dan played with slime at the sink while the girls experimented with different additives, such as Gelli Baff in a bowl on the floor. The idea is to enjoy handling the stuff, but the girls tried its many properties, such as adhesion and opacity, on all the surrounding surfaces and any handy objects. Then they tried paddling in it. This could become a family tradition but, perhaps it would be best in the garden?