Button & Bug's Story

I'm Ashley, a certified Prediatric Occupational Therapist (MS, OTR/L) with two kids of my own. My clinical experience interacting with kids for over a decade has given me insight on how to engage children in meaningful play.

I have found a true passion for creating educational toys that are fun while building on key developemental skills for parents and kids everywhere!

We chose the name Button and Bug after our daughters nicknames, Peanut Button and Love Bug. Being home with them during a pandemic, I realized just how hard it can be to find engaging activities. This is what led us to start looking for ideas. We got our Flisat table, and the Occupational Therapist in me realized that many of the activities I was doing in the clinic could be done using our table if I were to create custom inserts.

The rest, as they say, is history!

In school, we are typically taught about our 5 senses but in reality we have 8!

^✦ Touch (Tactile)

✦ Hearing (Auditory)

✦ Sight (Visual)

✦ Smell (Olfactory)

✦ Taste (Gustatory)

✦ Movement (Vestibular - our body in relation to position and movement in relation to gravity)

✦ Pressure (Proprioception - The feeling to our joints and muscles to know where our body is in space)

✦ Internal State & Emotional Senses (Interception - such as pain, hunger, thirst)

Sensory Play is an incredibly powerful tool you can use to assist your child's development while they are engaged in fun activities. Put simply, it is a type of play that activates and stimulates a child's senses. As an Occupational Therapist & Mom, I incorporate sensory play into all of our activities to help our children develop all 8 senses!

Our products are not intended to replace traditional Occupational Therapy services, but instead bring the educational fun home for kids of all developmental stages and styles!

• Emotional Regulation (your child’s ability to be calm, to work through their emotions, to demonstrate their emotions based on the size of the problem) - This is closely related to interception.

• Tactile Input - Much of what we see on social media as sensory play focuses on the tactile systems and involves using different textures in play to help expand your child’s ability to interpret and process new and unexpected textures.

• Imagination - through sensory play kids are able to expand their imagination and process the world around them.

• Language - Sensory Play can help to improve language development

• Problem Solving skills - children practice new skills and use trial and error to build problem solving and critical thinking skills.

• Fine Motor skills - Children will build their fine motor skills through play and develop hand strength.

• Gross Motor Skills - Children will build their strength and gross motor skills by standing at their mud kitchen, reaching for items, squatting and bending to grab items.

• Social Skills - Sensory Play is a great way to build social interactions with other working on sharing the space and items as well as engaging in the play together.

• Exploration - Sensory play is a great way for children to explore and experiment in new ways!

• Following Directions - Use recipe cards or verbal directions of how to make flower soup or brew potions.