Building a sensory friendly cozy corner in your home is a great way to give your child a place for self-soothing. These comfortable “calm down” corners are particularly helpful for children with sensory difficulties. They can benefit children with autism, sensory processing disorder, ADHD, other neurodiversity, or children who generally struggle with processing emotions.
In their cozy corner, your child will have a safe space to feel and engage with their emotions. Providing your child with coping mechanisms and tools to regulate themselves can teach them how to manage their emotions independently. A sensory friendly cozy corner in your home provides them with an opportunity for self-regulation.
Cozy corners are inexpensive, simple to create, and can be personalized to your child and their interests! There is no one size fits all when it comes to cozy corners. However, below are some general aspects to consider when building this comfortable space for your child.
Personal Space
Finding a small space for your cozy corner will help reduce extra noise and visual stimulation for your child. Ideally it will be a place in your house that’s out of the way of regular foot traffic, noise, and bright lighting (e.g. windows), so your child can relax there undisturbed. You could even use a spare closet; feel free to think outside the box!
This will give the cozy corner a private feeling and will make it feel like your child’s own little personal spot! If you don’t have a corner like this in your home, you can try using a structure to create this feeling of a small, isolated space.
A Place to Sit
You can build a designated place for your child to sit and relax in their cozy corner by using bean bag chairs, cushions, floor mats, oversized pillows, or other flexible seating options. Consider adding movement seats, where your child will be able to move around while still being able to sit down.
Movement helps calm down the body when we feel overwhelmed with emotions. Adding a movement seat to your child’s cozy corner will allow them to use a movement activity to calm themselves when their sensory system is overstimulated.
Bean Bags and Pillows:
Chairs and Movement Seats:
Soft Surfaces, Blankets and Preferred Sensory Items
Soft surfaces and blankets are calming to the sensory system. Consider using weighted blankets or pillows that provide deep pressure, an effective whole-body strategy to help your child calm down. Add your child’s favorite stuffed animals to help them get as much tactile input as possible! Stuffed animals are great for cuddling and squeezing which can be extremely calming and comforting.
Soft Rugs:
Weighted Blankets and Sensory Stuffed Animals:
Relaxing Sounds
The easiest way to reduce audio input is by making sure the cozy corner is tucked away from busy parts of your house. Adding a sound machine or headphones (with or without music) also helps to block out unwanted noise.
Steady, calming, and rhythmic sounds or music are ideal for calming sensory overload. Many children with autism are sensitive to noise, so make sure to keep this in mind with whatever audio, if any, you choose to add to the cozy corner.
Sound Machines:
Tactile Sensory Tools to Keep Hands Busy
Using fidgets or toys that keeps hands busy helps your child connect their mind and body to bring themselves back to the present. This is one of the steps to self-regulation.
Pay attention to their behavior after using the fidgets to see if they are calming for your child. You can experiment with different fidgets to see which one seems to calm them the most. Stress balls and squeeze toys are always a good idea and are usually inexpensive. Fidgets that make noises or light up could be overstimulating depending on your child’s preferences.
Things to Look At
Looking through picture books, especially ones about feelings and emotions, gives your child something to do while keeping their mind calm when they are feeling overwhelmed. Avoid using screens as these can be alerting your child. You can also include lava lamps and magazines for your child to look through while they’re calming down.
Consider including items that help your child check in with their feelings. Emotions play dough mats can help your child develop emotional awareness and better understand and identify their feelings!
Soft Lighting
Use soft and dim lighting to create a relaxing atmosphere. Any type of lighting that is warm and soft and not too bright or fluorescent, such as string lights, lava lamps, hand cranking flashlights (can double as a fidget!), or anything glow-in-the-dark should do the trick. Bonus points if the lighting is dimmable, so you or your child can control the brightness levels!
Having a sensory cozy corner for your child to help calm their nervous system when they are feeling overwhelmed will go a long way towards helping them develop the ability to self-regulate. Remember, less is more when it comes to visual stimulation, so keep the cozy corner simple!
We recommend using items that you already own for your child’s sensory cozy corner before purchasing anything new so it looks familiar. Sensory items can be costly, so using what you already have as much as possible will help make the cozy corner building easier and more budget-friendly! Observe your child to see what works and what doesn’t, and let this guide what you add or remove to the cozy corner. Happy relaxing!
Post by Lily Vesel