Children learn through play. Sensory-friendly activities can facilitate the development of fine motor, gross motor, visual perceptual, and creative skills. Sounds, sights, smells, tastes and textures can easily be incorporated into therapeutic play.
Here are some sensory friendly activities that you can do right in your home:
Paint with Shaving Cream:
Photo credit: Fun At Home With Kids
Add shaving cream to a baking sheet and watch your child squish, draw, smell, and explore.
Food coloring adds an extra visual component. If your child resists touching the shaving cream with fingers, never force it! Try encouraging exploration with a utensil or stick. You can also put the shaving cream into a ziplock baggie and encourage exploration in ways that do not create sensory defensiveness.
Design a rainstick:
Photo credit: Meri Cherry
Needed supplies: a tube, wire, duct tape, dry beans, and materials to decorate materials such as markers
A rainstick is a cool way to explore sounds and touch Use a sturdy tube such as one from used up aluminum foil. Coil a wire by wrapping it around a pencil or marker and insert this into the tube. Make sure it’s not a perfect coil, as imperfections will allow the beans to rattle more once the rainstick is finished. Duct tape one end of the tube shut. Once one side is duct taped, fill the tube with about ¼ cup of the dried beans and tape the other end closed. Kids can decorate the outside of the rainstick, and then shake the rain stick to make a rain-like sound!
Rice Bin:
Put rice in a plastic storage bin and add measuring cups and kitchen utensils. This activity is not recommended for babies or toddlers who are still putting objects into their mouths.
Pom Poms:
Replace the rice with pom poms for a different sensory experience. Colored pom poms can also be used for color sorting.
Post by Mackenzie Glenn