Sensory activity ideas don’t have to be complicated to be effective. These suggestions can easily be done without a lot of prep work in the home or in the classroom. Sensory exploration is beneficial for all children, but for children with Sensory Processing Disorder, it is a critical piece of the puzzle for better sensory integration, preventing sensory meltdowns, and successfully navigating the world around them.

To make the list less overwhelming and also to help you focus on specific sensory areas, I have divided the ideas by sensory systems, though there will be some overlap.

Auditory Sensory Activities:

• use noise reduction headphones
• use a sound machine or white noise such as a fan or fountain
• simplify language when giving verbal instruction
• play clapping games (you can find great ones on YouTube)
• read books with rhyming or repetitive patterns
• snap, clap or stomp
• play a sound discrimination game (near, far, loud, soft, high, low)
• blindfold child and call out directions for them to find a treasure
• audiobooks
• play a game where you quietly sit and listen to find as many sounds as you can
• listen to music
• have your child learn to play an instrument
• go for a walk and listen to sounds in nature
• make instruments out of household items and have a marching parade around the house
• teach your child to anticipate noises that may occur such as the sound a balloon will make when it pops
• drum patterns on the table with your hands and have your child copy the pattern
• make a rainfall rattle together or rainfall sensory bottle
• egg shakers can be held in the palm of the hand and provide a calming sound for some kids
• use microphones or voice changers
• play games such as “Simon Says” that involve following directions
• pop bubble wrap
• the steady tick of a metronome can be calming
• add jingle bells, whistles, harmonicas, or plastic eggs filled with rice or popcorn seeds to sensory bins 
• have them close their eyes and guess the sound (ripping paper, grinding coffee beans, popping popcorn)
• play the telephone game where you whisper something and see if the message changes

Oral Sensory Activities:

• blow bubbles (lavender bubbles are extra calming)
• chew bubble gum
• bubble painting 
• keep a feather in the air across the room
• drink a thick milkshake or smoothie through a straw
• whistle
• learn to play on a recorder
• play a harmonica
• party blower
• “suck it up” (pick up small objects by sucking through a straw)
• drink through a curly straw
• wear chewelry
• try crunchy foods (carrot sticks, apples…)
• try chewy foods (marshmallows, gummy bears…)
• make an edible necklace with Os cereal and string liquorice 
• suck on hard candies (not safe for young kids)
• try candy that is fizzy, spicy, tangy, sweet, or sour
• blow up a balloon
• blow out candles
• use a vibrating toothbrush
• whistle or hum
• lick cold ice cream
• drink through a sports bottle
• blow a pinwheel
• use a firm toothbrush to brush teeth, gums, roof of mouth

Visual Sensory Activities:

• use visual schedules 
• I-Spy books or pages
• sensory bottles
• sensory bags
• reducing clutter
• using toy rotation
• mazes
• sensory bins
• I-Spy bottles or bags
• making shadow puppets on the wall
• shape matching games or activities
• photo scavenger hunt
• colour mixing activities
• road trip Bingo
• colour matching activities
• glow sticks
• lava lamp
• puzzles
• prism
• kaleidoscope
• spraying a target with a water gun
• exploring with a magnifying glass
• drawing or painting or crafting
• light table or light box play
• find or copy patterns

Tactile Sensory Activities:

• sensory bins
• shaving cream finger painting
• trace letters, shapes or numbers in salt
• playdough
• kinetic sand
• cloud dough
• fidgets
• sensory bottles or bags
• jump in a pile of leaves in the Fall
• sculpt out of clay
• make slime 
• water beads
• play in the mud
• finger paint with pudding 
• bubble bath
• bathtub paints
• make tactile sensory cards
• make a sensory cube
• sensory balls
• playdough mats
• cotton ball throw painting
• rainbow soap foam
• fill balloons with different things like rice, water beads, flour, playdough
• sensory walk
• use glue to create raised lines
• sand table or sandbox

Olfactory Sensory Activities:

• smelling bottles
• scented bubbles
• scented playdough
• scented sensory bin
• bath salts
• scented oobleck or scented slime
• essential oils
• make cinnamon ornaments
• use scented rice, beans or salt in sensory play
• scented sensory paint
• scented cloud dough
• scratch and sniff stickers
• smelly markers
• take a walk and explore the smells in nature
• scented chalk paint
• finger painting with pudding or pumpkin pie filling 
• play a guessing game with scented candles
• use chapstick with different smells
• match pictures of foods to their smells
• use a spice (like cinnamon) to create a writing tray
• scented fidget toys or chewelry
• chew scented bubble gum
• taste and smell different foods
• strong smells help with alertness (lemon, peppermint, pine)
• softer smells help with calming (lavender, chamomile)

Vestibular Sensory Activities: (movement and balance)

• spin or twirl
• play Ring Around the Rosie 
• play Duck Duck Goose
• cartwheel
• summersault
• rock
• climbing wall
• parachute play
• trampoline play
• bike or tricycle riding
• run in large circles
• jump rope
• have a marching parade
• Chinese skipping
• ride a scooter
• dancing
• teeter totter
• log rolling
• dancing
• spinning chair
• bounce on an exercise ball or large hopper ball
• swinging
• do handstand
• go through an obstacle course
• swing in a hammock
• climbing and sliding at a playground
• do the Hokey-Pokey

Proprioception Sensory Activities:

• jump
• hang upside down
• tight hugs
• push a laundry basket full of books
• crab walk
• “wheelbarrow” games
• pretend to be a snake
• cotton ball throw painting
• rolling a ball
• chewing bubble gum
• chewelry
• theraband activities
• chair sit-ups or wall push-ups
• bubble wrap body slam painting 
• play Twister
• hopscotch
• trampoline games
• wearing tight fitting clothing
• yoga stretches
• tap foot
• put theraband on chairs for swinging legs
• Move ’n’ Sit cushion
• pillow fights
• stacking books or wood or bricks
• wearing a weighted vest or shoulder roll

Find sensory activity suggestions for the home and classroom and so much more in Sensory Processing Explained: a Handbook for Parents and Educators. 

You can also get these ideas in convenient printable lists which are ideal for using in the home, classroom or in a therapeutic setting.

What Does Behaviour Have to do with Sensory Systems?

Sensory activities don’t always mean high-energy, fast-faced or messy activities. Some sensory activities help to calm children and bring about peace and calm to their little hearts. Lavender is a calming scent and can provide more grounding to a child who is struggling with anxiety or who is having a hard time self-regulating.

Calming Sensory Activities With Lavender

Calming Lavender Scented Bubble Recipe from here at The Chaos and The Clutter

Calming Lavender Playdough from here at The Chaos and The Clutter (not pictured)

Lavender Scented Beans for Sensory Play from And Next Comes L

Calming Lavender Sensory Bin from here at The Chaos and The Clutter

Natural Lavender Scented Rice from The Imagination Tree

Lavender Scented Slime from And Next Comes L

Natural Lavender Play Dough Recipe from Natural Beach Living

More Calming Sensory Activities

Lavender Scented Sensory Paint at The Preschool Toolbox

Lavender Soap Foam from And Next Comes L

Calming Lavender Water Bin for Sensory Play from Frogs, Snails and Puppy Dog Tail (not pictured)

Lavender and Glitter Sensory Salt at The Imagination Tree

Lavender Waterbead Sensory Bin from The OT Toolbox (not pictured)

Soothing Lavender Playdough Recipe at B-Inspired Mama (not pictured)

Lavender Epsom Salt Writing Tray from And Next Comes L

Lavender Scented Cloud Dough Recipe from The Imagination Tree

Calming Lavender Bath for Kids at Frogs, Snails and Puppy Dog Tail (not pictured)

My favourite lavender to use for calming is this essential oil.

If you’re looking for more calming sensory activities, join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

Blowing bubbles is a calming activity for children. As well as being calming, there are many other benefits to blowing bubbles. Sensory play with bubbles can involve all the sensory systems.

These suggestions give ideas on how to use bubbles to involve many of your child’s sensory systems:

Visual Sensory System Bubble Play

Make observations together. Ask your child questions such as “do you see the rainbow inside?”, “what colours do you see?”, “which one is the biggest?”, “how many bubbles can you count?”

Blow one bubble and watch together to see where it goes. Track it as it flies through the sky and see where it lands or when it pops.

Vestibular Sensory System Bubble Play

The vestibular system can be engaged through bubble play by running after the bubbles, making giant bubbles with large movements such as large circles and figure 8s. Here’s a recipe for making giant bubbles.

You can create a lot of bubbles at one time for kids to chase by using a bubble machine.

You can also blow bubbles along the ground or point a bubble machine towards the ground and have your child stomp them out.

Oral Sensory System Bubble Play

Make art and stimulate the oral sensory system at the same time by doing bubble painting.

Develop those oral muscles by blowing bubbles using different tools. Experiment with seeing how the impact of blowing softer or harder has on the size of the bubbles.

Practise gaining oral control by trying to stack bubbles on top of each other and create a bubble tower.

Another good way to increase oral sensory input is by using a bubble snake to blow the bubbles through.

Tactile Sensory System Bubble Play

Put the bubble mixture in a large tub and have kids explore with their hands, sponges, kitchen utensils, and scoops.

Catching bubbles is a good tactile sensory play activity. 

Blowing bubbles using your own hand as the bubble wand is also great for tactile input. Kids can do this by dipping their hand in the bubble mixture and either blowing through their fist or by making a circle with their thumb and index finger and blowing through that.

Olfactory Sensory System Bubble Play

Use scented bubbles such as these calming lavender scented bubbles to engage the olfactory sensory system. You can purchase scented bubbles or make your own.

Proprioception Sensory System Bubble Play

Blowing bubbles is a good activity for stimulating proprioception. Give your kids different tools for blowing the bubbles with. Some ideas:

• socks (blow bubbles through the sock)
• mesh tubing
• spaghetti strainer
• wire whisk
• pipe cleaners bent into different shapes
• seven straws taped together in a circle
• hula hoop for giant bubbles
• fly swatter
• empty toilet paper or paper towel roll
• bubble wands
• drinking straw

Another way to use bubble play for proprioception is to have your child imitate being a bubble themselves. Have them “fill their body up” with air, shape themselves into a bubble, then pretend to float away.

Auditory System Bubble Play

Have your child try popping the bubbles with different techniques such as clapping the bubble between their hands, poking the bubble, stomping on the bubble, or slapping the bubble to see what each sounds like.

If you are looking for other sensory activities for kids, join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards. Calming Lavender Scented Bubble Recipe