Swingin for joy!
Did you know we have more senses than what you may have learned in school? Yup. THERE'S MORE than taste, smell, touch, see, and hear! It's called proprioception, or our sixth sense. Most of us develop our sense of place in the world and our own body awareness as a part of our natural development. But some kids need some extra help or support, particularly sensory kids, Aspie kids, or kids on the spectrum.
One way to offer that support is swinging. Swinging can be organizing and relaxing for kids who are excited or seeking input. Every occupational therapist room my son has ever been in has either had some sort of swing or swaying hammocks. All of which he has loved. In fact, he loved them so much that we've installed one in our home.
I recently posted a video of our kiddo on his swing in a parents for sensory processing disorder Facebook group, and it got enough attention that I'm sharing details of how we installed it here as a blog post. We did this in our old home and now in our new home we just moved to. So it has been time and setting tested! Here's how we did it:
Materials:
Super/Channel Strut bars
3/8 strut spring nuts (should be on shelf next to struts)
3 inch x 3/8 width wood screw bolts
3/8 inch cut washers
socket wrench
Hack saw
white metal paint
high quality stud finder
drill with 1/4 in drill bit
ladder
2nd ladder tall step stool for assistant to hold strut as needed
4 inch x 3/8 diameter eye bolt-hooks
Swing!!
1. You can find "Super Strut" or "Channel Strut" at Home Depot or Lowe's. It comes in long pieces (usually 10 feet long), so you may need to cut it down; we used a hack saw. It is the majorly strong main bar that holds everything, ours has always been 5+ feet to ensure strength. There are 2 main varieties, the kind with a square cross-section and the kind with a flatter cross-section. We used the flatter kind (less obtrusive but a LOT harder to install the spring nuts), but both would work fine.
2. If you don't want metal rails on your ceiling you can paint your Super strut bars. We got white Rustoleum spray paint and painted it on a tarp outside.
3. Find your support beams. The Super Strut needs to be bolted to support beams, preferably across ways - perpendicular - so it attaches to multiple beams for overall strength. We've found that the inexpensive stud finders didn't work very reliably, and it was well worth it to invest in a high quality one to find the beams.
4. Each of our Super Strut is secured in 4 places. You'll need a drill to prep holes just smaller than the width and for the full depth for the bolts (we used 1/4 inch drill bit for 3/8 inch bolts). And a socket wrench to screw them in. See attached Home Depot receipt for the 3 inch x 3/8 width wood screw bolts, along with 3/8 inch cut washers for each bolt to cover the large holes in the back of the Super Strut beam. (You can also ask the Home Depot folks for help, as that is what we did the first time.) My husband is an engineer and he feels really good about making this really secure so one of us can even swing with our kiddo. (We've been known to do bedtime stories there!)
5. One Super Strut bar is enough for a swing. But, if you install two super strut bars it will give you more flexibility for different types of swings or climbing apparatus.
6. Once your Super Strut is up, then you need to install the Super Strut bolt holes, the "Spring Nut" pieces, 3/8 inch. These are literally the holes for your bolt hooks. You push them into the strut channel and turn them to lock them in place. This is not easy, as they are very stiff and will require your patience. :)
7. Then install the 4 inch x 3/8 diameter eye bolt-hooks into the spring nut bolt holes. These bolt hooks will hold your swing (they are a little long so he is going to cut them down in length, but the next size down is too short). See attached receipt and photo details for those.
8. One your bolts-hooks are installed into your super strut, you can hang your swing and deliver hours of joy to your sensory seeker.
