Remember pom poms from your childhood? My kids loved pom pom crafts. ASD (Autism spectrum disorders) children need exposure to lots of sensory play. I used to fill my kids’ sensory table with pom poms to touch and play with along with hidden objects in the tray. Sensory play stations can be filled with all kinds of items. Like dry beans or rice to pour into stacking cups and through their hands. Shaving cream is another fun sensory play activity. Water, paper or plastic Easter grass, and even packing peanuts. One time I took my sensory table outside and filled it with really nice potting soil along with plastic pots and faux flowers. Sand is fun too. So much you can do with a sensory table.

To make your own pom poms you will need:

Yarn in an assortment of colors

Scissors

Cardboard ( you can use cereal boxes)

Small plastic lids to use as templates, like a small jar lid.

Using lids in assorted sizes, trace onto cardboard, making two discs. Your two discs should look like two donuts. You have to cut out the middle so you can wrap inside and outside your cardboard disc. There are all kinds of pom pom makers online if this step is a bit too much, this is just how we were taught as kids. We used what we had on hand.

Put your two discs together and start wrapping yarn strands around it, making sure to go through hole in center.

I wrap a couple times around. If you wrap too much yarn around it, it will be difficult to cut later. You don’t want it too thick.

Once wrapped, cut through yarn until you find the center between the two discs, then cut all around the discs completely.

Then take a long strand of yarn and tie off the center. Pull off the paper discs and now you have a pom pom.

You can trim around your pom pom for a rounder shape if you like.

Here are some other ideas for pom pom craft projects.

Take an empty oatmeal container and cut small circles into the lid, big enough for pom poms to fit through. Use permanent markers to trace around cut out holes in lid. Match the pom poms to the color of the circle cut outs in the lid. This is a color sorting game for your children to play with.

Make pom pom animals.

Make strands of pom poms to hang on your walls.

Make a pom pom necklace or bracelet

Extra ASD tips- This is an inexpensive way to keep kids busy . It’s also a fun way to help kids practice their cutting skills, perfect for practicing fine motor skills. If your child struggles with cutting skills then squeeze scissors aren’t sharp enough to trim pom poms. Instead have your child help you wrap the discs. They can help glue on eyes and legs using felt when creating animals. Make sure to have as few supplies out on table as possible to help cut down on too many distractions when ever creating with ASD children. Picture cards that you design to help with instructions will also be handy when teaching new skills. Or you can always buy bags of pre-made pom poms to create fun educational activities for your children. Happy crafting everyone.