When our daughter Miss Optimism was younger, I used to get frustrated because I would get all the kids dressed and ready to go out and when I went to get them in the van, I would turn around and she had taken off her clothes and put on a bathing suit. It would be a cold winter day with two feet of snow on the ground and my little girl wanted to wear her bathing suit to the mall!

This happened day after day and my frustration grew. When I hid the bathing suits, she wore gymnastics suits! I had five kids under the age of 10 at the time and it was a lot of work to try to get anywhere on time, let alone when I had one child who was seemingly working against me!

I asked her why she wanted to wear a bathing suit in the winter instead of the lovely clothes she and I had picked out for the day and she couldn’t articulate an answer. I tried giving her choices “would you like to wear the green dress or the blue dress today?”, but inevitably, it ended in her wearing something as tight fitting as she could find.

It wasn’t until after her diagnosis of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) when we were working with an Occupational Therapist that I finally began to understand why she wanted to wear bathing suits in the winter (and summer, spring and fall!). What had previously seemed like a behaviour issue actually turned out to be a sensory need of hers that wasn’t being met.

The solution:

We were able to easily fix the issue by purchasing several tight gymnastics leotards* and suggesting that she wear them UNDER her clothing every day. This one tiny change enabled us to finally get out to the vehicle with her wearing clothing suitable for the weather! She wore the suits underneath her other clothing for a number of years and can now wear “regular” clothing most of the time. At times of stress though, she does still prefer to wear things that are tight.

*tip: buy the leotard a size or two too small to create that snugness your child is seeking

The reason for Miss Optimism’s choice in clothing and my subsequent frustration can be explained in one word that you may not be overly familiar with: proprioception. (Try saying that ten times fast!)

What is proprioception?

Proprioception is the body’s awareness of where it is in space. For most of us, it is as natural as breathing, but when there are sensory issues, it can require additional input (or less input) to keep that person regulated and keep that sensory system functioning in the way that it should.

Whereas some children with Sensory Processing Disorder avoid hugs, tight fitting clothing or being wrapped in a blanket, others seek out snug fitting garments and love to be wrapped like a sausage in a blanket or hugged tightly. When it comes to proprioception, I have some children who are seekers (like Miss Optimism) and some who are avoiders. It makes for an interesting household!

I am thankful that there is so much more information now than there was back when my daughter was first diagnosed with SPD. All children have sensory needs, whether diagnosed with a sensory issue or not. If you suspect that your child may have Sensory Processing Disorder, you may want to read more about the signs of SPD.

Proprioception seeking behaviours:

• prefers tight fitting clothing
• likes weighted blankets
• enjoys wearing weighted vests
• unknowingly uses too much force
• mistakenly breaks things
• stomps or walks loudly
• difficulty with body awareness
• bumps into objects, walls or people
• kicks, bites, hits
• chews on objects such as pencils or clothing
• gets into others’ personal space
• excessively physically affectionate
• does not realize their own strength

Looking for real answers to your sensory questions? Sensory Processing Explained: a Handbook for Parents and Educators offers real strategies and practical solutions.

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

Does my Child have Sensory Processing Disorder?

Surviving Public Bathrooms with a Child with Sensory Issues

Must Haves for Kids with Sensory Needs

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Doing a sensory bin exchange is a great way to get new ideas too and share what works well with your kids and learn what is working well for others.

There are several different ways that a sensory bin swap can work but all are great ways to keep the costs down and get some new ideas.

Here are a few ways a sensory bin swap can work:

1. A group of moms can each make one sensory bin and then once a week or once a month, they can rotate their bin over to the next mom. If you have a group of six moms participating, this will mean that your kids will get to play with six different sensory bins and you’ll only have to make one!

2. A group of moms can each make one theme bin but duplicate it as many times as there are people in the group. The moms then get together and give out their bins. Each mom will go home with as many bins as there are people in the group. It’s fun to add a dinner out or at least tea when getting together as a reward for all your work assembling the bins!

3. A group of moms can work together to create all the bins or bin bases. You will make one of each type for everyone in the group so the amount of sensory bins you go home with at the end will depend on how many you all have planned.

Of course, you can also do an informal swap with just one other mom and rotate your bins out that way. There will be less variety in doing it that way.

How to plan for a sensory bin swap:

1. Find friends who want to join you and decide which type of swap you want to do. Don’t know any moms in your area who make sensory bins? Ask in your online groups or ask other moms you know to help you spread the word that you are looking to organize a swap. You will likely have a lot of interest.
2. Decide upon the sensory bins that you want to make so that you are sure there won’t be duplicates.
3. Buy supplies.
4. Make your sensory bin(s).
5. Get together to exchange bins.

Supplies needed:

You will need large resealable bags or stackable bins with lids to store the sensory bins in.

You will also need sensory bin bases. There are so many options for sensory bin bases. I have a list of non-food sensory bin bases that you can read for ideas or you can use one of the common food bases such as rice or dried beans.

Sensory Bins Ideas:

At our sensory bin exchange, we each ended up with the makings of four bins.

For the bug sensory bin, we used rice that I had dyed green. I provided peppermint oil to scent the rice but didn’t do it ahead of time because some kids don’t like certain scents and I wanted to let everyone make a choice for their family. For those who wanted the scent, I added a few drops of the peppermint oil to the bag and once shaken, we had peppermint scented rice.

I had gotten a pack of stretchy spiders and a pack of stretchy caterpillars so we divided those up among the bags. I had also found some bug shaped pasta at Bulk Barn and we put that into small bags to add as well. I also had some plastic spiders and we threw some of those in as well. I had some toy insects that I put into my bag.

For the farm sensory bin, we used popcorn seeds as the base and added a smaller bag of dry soup noodles for the hay. I found silicone yellow egg poachers in sets of two at the dollar store that I thought would work really well in a farm bin.  I also found little sticks called matchsticks and knew they would be great for making fences in this farm bin. I included a little pack of farm animals for everyone.

The kids and I made our farm bag into a bin later in the day. I added a few of our toy animals and the bin was ready for play. I also added a funnel and a small container and lid for pouring and scooping. Granola Girl liked scooping the popcorn seeds into the container, putting the lid on and shaking it to hear the sound it made.

This sensory bin wasn’t originally a frog bin, but I had bought a pack of jump frogs and a pack of kitchen sponges from the dollar store and when I commented that the sponges would make good lily pads, a frog bin was born! We included play puffs (I bought two pails of them at the dollar store and we each took half a pail), a kitchen sponge, a frog stencil, plastic jump frogs, stretchy frogs, and toy frogs that I had in the house already. Once my kids have used this bin, I can re-use the play puffs for crafts.

For hundreds of sensory bin ideas, you can also follow my Sensory Bins board on Pinterest. Follow Sharla Kostelyk’s board Sensory Bins on Pinterest.

How a sensory bin swap saves money:

Hosting a sensory bin swap enables you to buy things in larger packages and share the cost. This can be as simple as splitting a set of funnels that you pick up at the dollar store or can be a larger item such as splitting the cost of a huge bag of kidfetti.

I shopped for our sensory bin items at the dollar store and at Bulk Barn. Not including the cost of the bags or bins, each of the sensory bins averaged $2.50. We each paid $10 and ended up with four sensory bins and a few other odds and ends like a homemade sensory ball. Had I made just one of each bin, some of the costs (like buying a pack of stretchy caterpillars just to use a few) would have stayed the same so the cost of my bins would have been much higher.

This post is part of a 5 day series on Simple Sensory Solutions as part of a Hopscotch with iHomeschool Network. Pop over and see the other great topics from an amazing group of writers!

If you are looking for information on making sensory bins, you may be interested in my book.

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Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) is a complicated thing. Those with SPD can have sensory differences in one or all of the areas. They can be either sensory seeking or sensory avoidant. To complicate things further, they can be avoidant in one area and seeking in another. The general areas of sensory input that are talked about in relation to SPD are tactile, vestibular, proprioception, auditory, visual, and olfactory.

Simple sensory input definitions:

• tactile=touch
• vestibular=movement and balance
• proprioception=sensing where we are in space (think body awareness)
• auditory=sound
• visual=sight
• olfactory=smell

Tactile Sensory Activities

Texture Cards

Sensory Bins

Shaving Cream Painting

Montessori Inspired Colour Activities

Watermelon Slime

Sensory Balls (Squeeze Balls)

Tactile Sensory Play Ideas

Sensory Bags

Frozen Treasure Find

Vestibular Sensory Activities

Vestibular Sensory Ideas

Tennis Ball Movement Activities

Rope Swing

Tunnel Play

Water Activities

Upside Down Ice Pass

Beach Ball Spin and Toss

Bounce, Spin and Flip

Easy Kids Obstacle Course Ideas

Backyard Obstacle Course

Proprioception Sensory Activities

Trampoline Games

Jumping Beans Game

Playdough and Rocks

Playdough Sensory Input

Stuck in the Mud

Juggling Bags

Jumping Lines

Gross Motor Sensory Play

Driveway Scooter Maze

Laundry Push

Sensory Play in Nature

Auditory Sensory Activities

Rainstick

Sound Cards

Musical Instrument Crafts

Sound Shakers

Sound Cylinders

Sound Table with Sand Sticks

Science of Sound

Sound Walk

World Music Activities

Playful Ways to Work on Listening

Visual Sensory Activities

Lego Calm Down Jar

I Spy Mats

I Spy Jars

I Spy Sensory Bin

Discovery Bottles

Picnic Printable for Sensory Play

Visual Stimuli in the Classroom (or home)

Shadow Puppets

Olfactory Sensory Activities

Coffee Sensory Bin

Scented Foaming Paint

Smelling Bottles

Lemon Scented Rice

Scented Sensory Activities

Scented Cloud Dough

Teaching Sighted Children About Blindness

Scented Ice Lab

Gingerbread Sensory Station

Many of the activities listed above can of course fit into several different categories. It is wonderful to give your kids the chance to try activities for all sensory inputs. This will benefit both sensory seekers and sensory avoiders.

If you are looking for more sensory activities or for play suggestions, join now to receive the free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

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Creating playdough mats using these free printables is a very easy way to make a playdough station. Many of the mats incorporate learning concepts and for most children, they can be done independently.

These playdough mats are all free to print. The easiest way to create a playdough sensory station with these is to either laminate them once they are printed or insert each page into a plastic sleeve*. They are then ready for endless hours of play!

*Organizational tip: If you put the printables into plastic sleeves that have holes in them, you can keep all of your playdough mats in a binder for easy access.

Print off these adorable Transportation Alphabet Playdough Mats to help kids learn or reinforce their ABCs and the letter sounds. There are so many ways to expand on the fun and learning with this activity.

Get your printable alphabet playdough mats by entering your email address below. You’ll also be signed up to receive our free email series Sensory Activities and Solutions.

Use our Birthday Themed Emotions Playdough Mats or our Pirate Themed Emotions Playdough Mats to help kids explore their feelings.

People Playdough Mats from Picklebums

I love this idea as you can include other sensory items like different textured fabric, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, button, and beads. I also like that these could be used to help teach emotions and facial expressions. If I had to choose a favourite, this would be it!

Playdough Flower Mat from Learn with Play at Home

This mat offers all kinds of learning opportunities and hands-on play. Depending on their age and skill level, kids can play with it differently.

Summer Playdough Mats from Totschooling

This set could be used in the summer or in the middle of winter when we start dreaming of summer and wishing for it to arrive!

DIY Playdough Mats from Tutus and Tea Parties

This set is so cute. I like that it really allows for the kids to use their imaginations!

Shape Playdough Mats from 3 Dinosaurs

Spring and Easter Playdough Mats from This Reading Mama

I like the open-endedness of these.

Alphabet Playdough Mats from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Great for preschool and reinforcing pre-reading concepts.

Number Playdough Mats from Homeschool Creations

Old MacDonald Farm Animal Playdough Mats from Making Learning Fun

And a bonus activity from No Time for Flash Cards…Playdough Hairdo Mats that you create yourself with photos of your family!

There are many playdough recipes out there and some are very easy no-cook recipes, but I have still found that the best one out there is our tried and true classic playdough recipe. We change it up a bit by making chocolate playdough or calming lavender playdough but the basic recipe is the same.

Whatever playdough you decide to use, creating a playdough sensory station using these mats is easy and costs next to nothing.

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Birthday Emotions Playdough Mats. 

Here are more printable playdough mats for sensory play including ones for holidays like Christmas.

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Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for any injury that occurs in the course of any of these suggestions. I am simply a parent of many children who have sensory processing disorder and am sharing our experiences with you.

There are many ways that you can provide kids access to these stations. You can have them rotate through the stations in between other activities, have them rotate through the stations at a set time, or you can simply provide the stations and let the kids know what they are and that they are welcome to use them when they need to.

You can choose to have the station set up like a circuit and have them numbered or ordered in a very organized way or you can have them be more of a fluid concept. I would suggest that if you have children with autism or children who just need more structure, you have some type of chart or way for them to keep track of the stations if you don’t have them laid out in a circuit.

When the weather is nice, we are able to incorporate some outdoor stations into our rotation which makes things even easier and often the fresh air and change of pace help the kids almost as much as the actual activity.

Our current sensory stations are:

-the trampoline – They can choose just to jump or can play some trampoline games.

-sensory bin – I make a new sensory bin every week and the kids love playing in them. If you are looking for ideas, I have dozens of examples of our sensory bins in the sensory bins category (click that link to take you there) or if you are new to making sensory bins, you may want to consider purchasing my Sensory Bins ebook.

-playdough – Right now, the playdough station we have set up is what we call Stuck in the Mud, but the playdough station changes throughout the year such as having a Gingerbread playdough station set up in December. Your playdough station doesn’t need to be elaborate. Include playdough and playdough mats or some simple toys or kitchen gadgets.

-merry-go-round – I know that most people don’t have a merry-go-round set up in their backyard, but we happen to. My dad found one at an auction a few years ago and had it put in for us. The reason I share this station though is because it is great for meeting vestibular sensory needs. There are other things you could do to create a vestibular (think spinning or balance and movement) sensory station. A climbing wall, jungle gym for monkey bars or swinging, indoor swing, a tunnel for crawling through, or a spinning chair would all be excellent vestibular sensory stations.

-busy bags – We use busy bags for a variety of things but many of the ones that I make are very sensory rich, so they work well as a sensory station.

–anti-anxiety kit – This includes sensory balls, lavender playdough, a kaleidoscope, mini massager, and more.

-sponges and water – This is an example of a one time activity that the kids enjoyed so much, I turned it into a regular sensory station.

-auditory station – We always have this station set up in our classroom. It consists of a pair of headphones and a CD player. I put out different audio books and music each week.

-bean bag chair – We have a large bean bag chair set up in our homeschool classroom and the kids love it for downtime. They can go there to read, snuggle with me, or just to relax.

We do have some other stations such as a bin full of instruments, a playground, sandbox, and tunnel that I sometimes throw into the mix. Other times, I create an entirely new sensory activity that is really popular with the kids so I turn it into a sensory station.

Sensory Station Ideas:

–water or sand table

–water wall

–sensory bins

-tunnel

–climbing wall

-ball pit (this can be made easily by filling a kiddie pool with balls or pieces of cut up pool noodles)

-jungle gym

-swing (indoor or outdoor)

-spinning chair

–mats for summersaults, rolling, wrestling, flips

–shaving cream painting, fingerpainting, condensed milk painting, freezie painting, ice painting, puffy paint, face paint

-crab walk, crawl

-frog jump, bunny hop, jumping jacks

–light table

-jello, goop, gak, silly putty, slime (those links will take you to recipes to make your own)

-sensory tot trays

-heavy work like carrying books, a laundry basket push, pulling a wagon filled with rocks, carrying pails of water

-hanging area such as a chin up bar or monkey bars

-large hopping ball or exercise ball

-couch cushions or blankets for rolling up in or sandwiching between

-body socks or body tubes

-ice activities like this one or this one

-square or circle made with masking tape on the floor for jumping on one foot or doing lazy 8s

-drums, shakers, or other instruments

-instruments for creating a marching parade

-dancing station with music and a large area to move in

-pouring and scooping

-pots and pans and spoons (for stirring or banging)

-bean bag chair

-rocking chair

-bike riding

-bubble wrap

-salt tray

–texture cards

-scent bottles

-auditory station (headphones and CD player for music or audio books)

–sound therapy machine

-bin with soapy water for washing play dishes (or real dishes), cars or toys

-dress up station

-cooking station for older kids, particularly recipes that create dough that requires kneading or a lot of mixing

The great thing about being able to create your own sensory stations is that you can customize them to meet the sensory needs of your kids or students. You can also change them to fit weather or seasonal needs. Changing them from time to time also helps keep children interested and engaged. What sensory stations have you tried out?

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

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The premise is this: boys like cars; boys like mud; kids like play dough. It’s about that simple.

For this activity, you need brown playdough and some cars or trucks. I use chocolate playdough most of the time because I like the scent and consistency.

Once you suggest that they pretend the playdough is mud, kids, (boys especially) love to make roads in it, hills and valleys, and of course, get vehicles stuck. Then they can send their tow trucks to rescue the stuck vehicles or extract them via helicopter or whatever their imagination comes up with.

We always call this Stuck in the Mud. If I say to my kids, “do you want to play stuck in the mud?”, they know exactly what I’m talking about and seem to enjoy it as much now as they did when they were toddlers. It’s also a great simple sensory idea.

I wanted to share this simple activity with you but needed to get a few pictures in order to do so. I tried making my usual chocolate playdough recipe, but I was distracted and missed half a cup of flour plus I substituted hot chocolate mix for the cocoa. The result was that it was lumpy, strange in colour, sticky, and burnt. The pot took forever to scrub because of the playdough burnt to the bottom of it and I was feeling pretty darn frustrated!

I didn’t have enough cream of tartar or arm muscles to try another batch, so I did what any mom would do and looked up a recipe for no-cook chocolate play dough. I didn’t like the consistency or look of it as much as I like my usual recipe, but it was way easier to make and the kids didn’t seem to mind.

I asked if they wanted to play Stuck in the Mud and Einstein ran off to get some cars! This type of sensory play never seems to get old!

If you are looking for other playdough ideas, you may want to follow my Playing with Playdough board on Pinterest. What is your favourite way to play with play dough?

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

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The kids had so much fun with this and they had no idea that they were actually doing really important sensory work! Setting this activity up could not be any simpler. All that is needed is a bucket full of water and some sponges. I bought two packs of six sponges each at the dollar store. For twelve sponges, I spent $2 and I am planning to turn them into two other sensory activities after this, so it was a very cost effective idea. If you already have sponges around the house, this can be a free activity.

Most kids love a good water fight, but there are two problems with a typical water fight at our house. One is that we live in the country and have to have our water trucked in so we can’t waste too much of it. The other is that in a water fight involving hoses or water guns, things tend to deteriorate quickly and an actual fight usually ensues. We had better luck with the sponges and I was clear to lay out the ground rules before they started. One of the ground rules was that mommy was not a target!

The kids not only got the sensory feedback of the water and the sponges, they also got the feedback from wringing out the sponges, particularly overtop of their siblings’ heads!!!

This easy activity can easily be turned into another sensory game using the same bucket of water and sponges. If the water fight disseminates into chaos or if the kids get bored, they can go over and wash your car or the side of the house. You can add soapy bubbles to the water for this if you want (don’t add the bubbles to the water fight portion of the activity lest someone get it in their eyes) and you’ve now created another simple summer sensory activity and possibly, created enough time for yourself to run and throw a load of laundry in the wash or read a few pages in a book!

If you are looking for other easy activities to do with your kids this summer, you may be interested in joining me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

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