Help me feed this sensory need

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My son is always seeking out things to crush up/crumble anything brittle that can dissolve into small crispy pieces(dry leaves, paint chips, bits of similar-feeling/crumbly food types etc).

I'm desperately trying to find something that will satisfy this need but have yet to find that thing!
I'm really tired of having him dash off when we're outside to crumble up trash or dry leaves and crumbling up his food and leaving messes around the house.

Any ideas???


TIA!

Maybe get him to help you with cooking? There are some recipes that involve crumbling things.

it seems like my reply has been deleted...? do i assume it wasnt wanted or was somehow inappropriate?

yes I don't know how that happened. I hadn't finished reading it yet.

its 4am here now so i'll try and re-post it in the morning if you'd like. otherwise i'll assume it was deleted for some reason that i dont understand and shouldnt be posted again.

Kinetic Sand. That might work. Just Google-search it.

I do that with bricks of Ramen noodles. I don't like them all long and stringy, so before I open the package, I crush them all up in my hands, until they're all in nice, tiny bits. Unfortunately, the cheap packaging sometimes blows out and they go everywhere.

Absolutely - cooking! Buy some Parmesan cheese in a block. Wash his hands and let him grind it into a powder that you can dust on food. I think that would be amazing.

Now I have to order some of this, and they have this weird snow stuff you can play with too.

I used to really like to crumple the Mr Noodles , instant noodles. The cooking suggestions are good , I think because it might get your son interested in an important life skill, OP. Maybe you should try different things like instant noodles and parmasen and see what your son takes to crumpling.

Yeah cooking is really a great idea, but I think her problem is that he wants to do it more than cooking would allow.

I have this baby stuffed toy I got for my desk at work that has all kinds of different textures on it and feels different (some of them crinkly) when you squeeze it. It doesn't crumble and fall apart, but it does help me with what always feels to me like hungry fingers that need textures.

A person could create something like this as a sensory toy: a small bag (sturdier than the Ramen noodles bags maybe) that could be filled and emptied and refilled with crumple-able things.

I found my original reply. you have actually created 2 threads.

Well ultimately I don't think you'll be able to choose something for him, he'll have to find it on his own. What worked for me is actually a lambskin.. rug? blanket?

IMGUR link: lambskin <-- this is a link but doesnt look like it on my browser for some reason

picture attached because I dunno what to call it. it is soft on my palm and you can see where i've folded and crushed it for the last 20 years or so. the top layer of leather just under the wool seems to dry / harden and gives that crushing sensation without actually making too much mess. Obviously some of it does come off after so long but leather is pretty tough (mine is about half the size it used to be).

the act of holding this in my hand and scunching it is the single most calming thing I have ever felt. if his focus is the little pieces themselves (rather than the act of crushing) you might have trouble getting him to move to things that dont make a mess.
good luck.
Maz

What is wrong about crumbling dry leaves?
I crumbled everything I could crumble as a child, I still like to crumble and eating food with my fingers if possible to crumble it before.
I also like to crumble sand between my fingers and count the grains of sand which are left on my fingers, but nowadays I do not live close to sand, but I did as a child.
There is no harm with crumbling.
Tell your son to crumble his food over a plate in order to not mess the house.
The sensory need of crumbling is met by crumbling.
Another sensation is visual, to see a structure going in to smaller smaller smaller particles.

Thank you for all the replies! I will look into all these ideas. You guys are really helpful.

I have no problem with him crumpling leaves when we are in the park (he does this alot!) but when we are walking down a busy street I can't have him dashing away to get to dried leaves in the gutter or across the way. It's dangerous. He will drop everything to get to the leaves and have a fit if we can't stop while on our way to get somewhere. So I can't just have him doing it all the time, any time when we are out- that's why I'm looking for a solution.

He likes to pretend his arms and hands are the necks and heads of sauropods (long necked, herbivorous dinosaurs) eating the leaves.

well its not a solution for when you are out an about but you could get or make him a table with high sides to play at, this would keep the mess down
you could try making a mix of flour and water or something and letting it dry into sheets, after he crumples it up you could add water and dry it out again