Meet Baby Wolfe.
He is the son of @winstonwolfe and myself, and he wants to show you around his favorite place in town to take Mommy & Daddy to play.
Aptly named Itty Bitty City, this well-thought out fantasy village is aimed at kiddos age 9 and under. It's one of our favorite places to spend time as a family.
Follow Baby Wolfe and Daddy inside so he can show you around!
As a lovable, playful, 4 year old on the Autism spectrum, Itty Bitty City sparks Baby Wolfe's imagination. And though the company doesn't cater specifically to children on the spectrum, they do hold some sensory friendly Saturdays through out the year.
I think this is great because Itty Bitty City actually gives our kiddo a place to practice real-life scenarios that he struggles with daily in a fun, pint-sized environment!
First, we have to stop at the sinks near the door to wash our hands, doing our part to help stop the spread of germs!
Our first stop is this giant water table...
...to watch how whirlpools are formed!
The water table alone is almost a complete sensory experience. The water is cool (touch), there bubbles and a whirlpool he can control (sight, sound), and this corner of the place smells like a swimming pool (smell, taste)
At the Itty Bittty Animal Hospital, we can practice empathy for the sick and injured animals
(Notice how my son isn't in any of the animal hospital photos?
Yeah, we're still working on that one...)
Let's go inside Carina's Cafe and see what the specials are today!
We can make sandwiches & brick oven pizzas with Daddy
When we first started coming here, Cam would have nothing to do with food other than the very limited menu he will accept. My son's issue with food texture is so intense, he gags just watching other people eat. Interacting with different kinds of play food helps him understand the purpose of food, how it's made, and be educated about healthy eating choices without the overwhelming sensory experience that comes with real, edible food.
Next stop is Mama's Market to pick up some groceries.
Here, he is learning the step by step process of how to shop for and purchase groceries. While other kids see this as an opportunity to be imaginative, or "play house", my son is learning life skills in a different kind of way - through repetition. Practice makes perfect!
Then, we make a quick stop at the gas station.
And, of course, we must drop the groceries by the house...
...before we head off to a hard day's work at the Fire & Police station!
We're happy we got a chance to show you around Itty Bitty City, our favorite place to play! See you next time!
Thanks for reading!
OMG!!! I love it!! I want to go and Dre would love it. Thank you for sharing :)
What an amazing initiative! Great idea to wash hands before going in, to curb the germs a bit. (It would have helped to ease my son's mind, too!)
Is your son closer to four than three? I am so happy to see that he is engaged with so much (never mind the animal hospital - hospitals aren't my favorite place either. With this set up, he is sure to get round to facing that aspect of life, yet). Bringing things down to the level of children always works well, but for Autism especially helps to reduce the overwhelming sensations. Is this place especially designed for children with Autism (and other handicaps)?
Yes, sorry, he is actually four years old. Though this particular trip to Itty Bitty City was several months ago now. At least I got his age correct in the title, though, right? haha! Sheesh.
I'll edit that. :)
They aren't specially designed for special needs, but I think they saw a great opportunity to help because they have a night set aside every month for special needs families. They turn down lights a little and limit the number of people allowed inside. They also hold day camps for kiddos in the Summer.
It's such a great idea!
I'm a little jealous I didn't think of it first. lol
Now if they manage to provide such services at swimming pools and other venues, we might actually manage to survive the childhood years with a whole bundle of happy "normal" memories! (I struggled immensely findig activities for my son who was hyper-active at home, but anxious and phlegmatic outdoors (till he got over-stimulated - it could take 3 days to unwind!). I am hoping things have systematically improved over the past decade or so (mine is no 19 yrs old). The weekend stays at this one camp organised by a specialised company, however, was a life saver.....seek and ye shall find (next step: finding the budget for it), but hearing about a "normal" place adapting to special needs lifts my heart!
I'm convinced that there is someone going around and asking businesses to take part because several do offer something like this, but it's only started recently.
For example, one of our movie theaters has a sensory friendly movie day where they leave the lights on, keep the volume a little lower, and don't mind if the kids don't stay in their seats.
There is another therapy clinic that sponsors sensory safe egg hunts on Easter and trick or treating on Halloween.
I can only imagine what it was like for you raising a sensory child nearly 20 years ago. Collectively, our understanding of these kiddos has grown so much since then! The school I feel so lucky to have my son in is only less than 5 years old. If I had stayed in my hometown (about an hour away), they have almost zero support for special needs families. Our story would be much different.
Are you on Discord, @sukhasanasister?
Now you mention it, my son told me about that special cinema afternoon in our town too, especially for toddlers. But I am not so sure any under 5 yr old needs to go to the movies... Great for older special needs kids though. (My son is now addicted to going to the pictures - by himself, preferably at quiet times: a little freaky maybe, "grown-upish" man at 11 in the morning, on a Monday to Tomb Raider, but he's harmless!)
My son was tv-free till age7 but made up for it big time! Remarkably fascinated by horror genre - which is interesting from the perspective of his intense anxiety disorder a few years back. I used to worry about how it might be bringing out the worst in him, considering the issues with empathy, but then I realised it was his way of coping with fear (he's not into the storyline). It's the sudden jolts he's after. Our kids only grow more curious with the years! So little is really, fundamentally understood about Autism - then again so many fringe disorders (co-morbidities) surround the AS proper...
Not often on Discord, but do feel welcome to leave a message. I would love to find out more about that great school of yours and learn more about the diagnosis of your child, especially how you manage with him looking (not unlike mine!) so cute and normal at first sight (but the fluttering hands in the gif are very recognisable!).
My biggest fight has always been to preserve the attention his special needs require (the management of Autism) and not to overestimate him (and pay the price afterwards). Slow and steady does it! (We turn out to be a remarkable success story, but I almost gave up on him many times along the way.)
Oh wow that looks so fun. How in the heck did you make those time lapse videos??? I love it. We have something similar here called the Children's Museam which has a tiny town too. So fun! Now I'm thinking I need to take my kids over there, as it's been so long. Your little boy is precious. I can't wait to read more from you. :)