Blooming Early Years

Children with sensory processing disorders face unique challenges, and you might wonder what are the best activities for children with sensory processing disorders.

Children with sensory processing disorder may struggle with focus, confidence, or emotions. Parents often feel unsure about how to help and keep looking for the best activities for children with sensory processing disorders.

Children with sensory processing disorder may bristle and bolt at loud noises, pick their skin, and even bump into and fall over things. They may also want to wrestle all the time.

In this post, which is about the best activities for children with sensory processing disorders, you can use the sensory-friendly, OT-approved activities and sensory toys outlined in this article to help them manage their senses at home right now.

This guide offers simple, expert-approved activities to help your child grow and thrive. These activities promote calmness, build focus, and improve confidence. With patience and practice, you can engage your child and make learning fun!

Keep reading to find out the best activities for children with sensory processing disorders.

Understanding Sensory Processing and About Children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)

Sensory processing, or sensory integration, refers to the way our nervous system interprets sensory messages and turns them into appropriate physical responses.

Your body processes sensory input whether you’re eating or reading, but some children have a condition that jumbles up sensory signals and makes day-to-day tasks become troublesome hurdles.

This condition is referred to as Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Occupational therapists can help create a sensory menu—or list of individualized sensory regulation activities—that helps kids with sensory processing disorders behave more functionally.

Children with sensory processing disorder (SPD) may feel things intensely — or not at all. They may be hypersensitive to noise, fluorescent lighting, cafeteria smells, and new movement.

Or they may feel their senses are muted and physically seek out stimulation — playing rough, bouncing boundlessly, or touching everything and everyone all the time.

Understandably, these sensory challenges often interfere with learning, especially for students with SPD and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who already battle impulsivity.

At school, these students may work regularly — and in person — with an occupational therapist (OT). Right now, those services are either canceled, limited, or delivered using an online platform, which is not ideal.

However, during school closures and summer months, parents can make a difference by addressing their kids’ sensory needs at home. Use the list below to incorporate sensory input in fun indoor and outdoor activities that will help your child achieve better focus and reduce unwanted sensory behavior.

Two Unfamiliar Senses and How They Affect Your Child

Sight, sound, hearing, taste, and touch. Everyone knows these five senses, but OTs also use sensory integration techniques to redirect problematic responses associated with the sixth and seventh senses involved with movement and balance: proprioception and the vestibular sense.

Proprioception, the sixth sense, has to do with understanding your body, recognizing your strength, and knowing where the body parts are. Proprioception allows you to touch your ears when your eyes are closed and stand a safe distance from cars on a busy road. Receptors for this information are in the muscles and joints. Children with proprioceptive challenges misjudge how much force to use when picking up objects and may play too roughly with others. Some enjoy the feeling of pressure (like being squeezed) and may prefer wearing tight clothing.

[Could Your Child Have Sensory Processing Disorder? Take This Self-Test]

Clumsiness and bumping into things also cause safety concerns and may be signs of difficulty with balance — the seventh or vestibular sense. Fluid in the inner ear helps the brain detect motion and tells us how fast we’re moving. It can be stimulated by changes in the head’s position. Kids with challenges in this area may rock, spin, or tilt their heads frequently or avoid changes in position and move slowly to keep from getting dizzy.

The ideas below can give your child the sensory input they need to feel more in control of their body. Activities are grouped into three sensory areas. Incorporate as many as you can into your child’s week regularly or use them as needed during times of boredom, low energy, or distress.

Sensory Integration Techniques

To effectively support children with sensory processing disorder, sensory integration techniques, such as using a sensory bin or navigating an obstacle course, provide essential tactile, proprioceptive, and vestibular feedback that can enhance their comfort and development.

Occupational therapy practitioners use these methods to address sensory processing issues in a playful yet purposeful manner.

Imagine a sensory gym tailored to offer a comforting experience for your child. Equipped with swings and ball pits, it’s a place where your child can explore and learn in a way that’s best suited for them.

Incorporating heavy work activities can be remarkably calming, delivering proprioceptive input that helps regulate their sensory system. Pushing, pulling, and lifting promote a tranquil environment and improve their body awareness and muscle tone.

Craft a sensory bin filled with rice, beans, or sand to allow tactile exploration, or set up an obstacle course that challenges their motor planning and coordination. These activities are integral to sensory integration techniques.

They are designed to playfully stimulate the vestibular system, fostering balance and spatial orientation. By engaging in these therapeutic activities, you’re helping to pave a path for positive growth and sensory comfort for your child.

The Best Activities for Children with Sensory Processing Disorders

1. Proprioceptive Input Activities

Have you ever wondered how simple pushing, pulling, and climbing can be therapeutic for children with sensory processing disorder? These actions are part of proprioceptive input activities, which involve heavy work that provides deep pressure and resistance to muscles and joints.

They are essential for helping children with SPD to integrate sensory information effectively. Proprioceptive input activities can be seamlessly incorporated into a child’s daily routine. They can include fun and engaging exercises, such as pushing a trolley, sweeping, or jumping on a trampoline.

These activities offer the necessary sensory input, promote physical activity, and enhance focus before tasks requiring attention.

Here’s a table outlining some practical proprioceptive input activities:

2. Tactile Sensory Play

As you explore tactile sensory play, you’ll find that activities like finger painting or using shaving cream can be both fun and therapeutic. Creating DIY sensory bins with various textured materials encourages hands-on discovery and learning. These engaging experiences soothe and enhance body awareness and fine motor skills.

In the area of tactile sensory play, the best activities for children with sensory processing disorders include the following:

i. Exploring Textured Materials

Going into the world of textured materials, you’ll find that sensory bins offer a dynamic and engaging way for children with Sensory Processing Disorder to encounter a variety of tactile sensations while also enhancing vital developmental skills.

Whether you’re addressing tactile defensiveness or encouraging seeking tactile experiences, sensory bins are a versatile tool.

Here are some ideas to get started:

• Fill a bin with rice, beans, or beads and hide small toys for a treasure hunt.
• Create homemade playdough for kneading, rolling, and shaping.
• Incorporate items like sponges, feathers, and fabrics with different textures.

ii. DIY Sensory Bins

Creating your sensory bins at home can be a fun and effective way to support your child’s tactile exploration and sensory integration. By using simple household items, you’ll provide rich sensory input that can help your child process sensory information in a safe and controlled environment.

Moreover, it’s a beautiful way to bond as you both discover the joy of creating together.

Here’s a table with ideas for objects to create your kids’ sensory bins:

3. Vestibular Strengthening Exercises

Vestibular strengthening exercises can be a game-changer when you’re looking to bolster your balance and coordination. Movement like swing therapy supports sensory integration and brings joy and freedom.

Incorporating these exercises into your routine can significantly enhance your body’s response to movement and gravity, offering a solid foundation for daily activities.

The best activities for children with sensory processing disorders in the area of vestibular strengthening exercises include the following:

i. Balance Coordination Drills

To enhance your child’s balance and coordination, consider incorporating balance coordination drills, such as Log Roll Yoga and sensory swings, which target the vestibular system and are pivotal for sensory integration.

These activities stimulate the vestibular receptors in the inner ear, promoting sensory processing and bilateral coordination through dynamic movement activities.

• Log Roll Yoga: Strengthen your child’s muscle tone and coordination by encouraging them to perform rolling movements across the floor, simulating the sensation of tumbling.
• Sensory Swings: Use swings to provide gentle, rhythmic motion that enhances balance and spatial awareness.
• Daily Dance Parties: Engage in joyful movement with music to help your child develop coordination and rhythm while having fun.

ii. Swing Therapy Benefits

Incorporating swing therapy into your child’s routine can significantly bolster their vestibular system, improving balance and coordination with each gentle sway. This form of sensory integration, essential in Sensory Processing Disorder management, offers a harmonious blend of fun and therapeutic benefits.

As your child engages with the motions, they’re not just playing—they’re undergoing vestibular strengthening exercises vital for their development.

Swing therapy benefits extend to enhancing muscle tone, postural control, and bilateral coordination. It’s a cornerstone of occupational therapy that taps into the body’s need for movement and gravity.

Additionally, pairing swing therapy with activities like log roll yoga can create a robust regimen for balancing and strengthening their nervous system, all within the comforting embrace of your home.

4. Auditory Processing Strategies

Understanding how to navigate auditory processing challenges can significantly enhance daily functioning for individuals with Sensory Processing Disorder. Responding to sensory stimuli and noises can be overwhelming, but using the right auditory processing strategies can mitigate discomfort and improve overall well-being.

Here are a few practical approaches that occupational therapists often recommend:

• Use noise-canceling headphones to minimize overstimulation in noisy environments.
• Break down auditory information into smaller parts to make it more digestible.
• Employ visual aids and schedules to reinforce auditory instructions and reminders.

Using noise-canceling headphones can create a quieter space for yourself, allowing better focus and reducing stress caused by unexpected or loud noises. When receiving complex information, it’s helpful to have it broken into smaller, manageable chunks. This can prevent feeling overloaded and ensure better comprehension and retention.

In addition, supplementing verbal communication with visual supports can be incredibly beneficial. Visual aids or written instructions can be a reliable reference when auditory processing becomes challenging.

Visual schedules or planners are also excellent tools to complement auditory cues, keeping you organized and prepared without relying solely on verbal reminders.

Hearing and Listening Activities

Hearing and listening activities are essential for a child’s sensory development. Your child’s occupational therapist may recommend that you help improve your child’s auditory system by engaging in sensory regulation activities. These activities could include:

• Sound-centric games:
  – Imitating drum rhythms with a stick.
  – Guessing the origins of various sounds.
• Simple listening activities:
  – Listening to favorite songs.
  – Visiting the beach to hear the sounds of the ocean.
  – Taking a hike to listen to nature sounds.

Additionally, there are several products available to purchase that can help create a multi-sensory therapy experience at home. An example is a music and movement-based program by Soundsory, which uses specialized headphones and a forty-day program to improve sensory processing, emotional regulation, and development of cognitive skills.

5. Visual Coordination Practices

Visual inputs encompass the information our eyes receive from the surrounding environment. However, visual input may overwhelm you if you have sensory integration dysfunction.

By engaging in sensory integration activities that focus on visual inputs, individuals can gradually improve their ability to process and respond to visual stimuli, leading to a more balanced sensory experience and enhanced overall well-being.

While sensory bins filled with varied textures can sharpen your visual perception, they also enhance fine motor skills as you explore and play. These bins are not just fun but a cornerstone in developing visual and tactile skills for children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD).

Occupational therapy often employs playful methods to engage children in therapeutic activities that meet their unique needs.

Additionally, creating with homemade playdough can be a multi-sensory feast. It encourages children to follow directions and molds their visual coordination as they pinch, roll, and shape. This simple activity is not only therapeutic but also fosters creativity and imagination.

Introducing log roll yoga into your routine can significantly benefit muscle tone, postural control, and bilateral coordination. Calming and organizing practice can positively impact your child’s vestibular system, which is critical for sensory integration.

Engage in games like hot potato and straw races to inject fun while honing visual perception and coordination. These games promote attention and social interaction, which are valuable for children with SPD.

Visual Activities

The best activities for children with sensory processing disorders that may help a child with visual system problems include:

• Fine motor skills activities:
  – Stringing beads.
  – Engaging in object-finding picture games.
• Memory and recognition games:
  – Playing card-matching games.
  – “I Spy” Books or Games.
• Interactive light-based activities:
  – Playing flashlight games, such as moving a flashlight on the wall to follow another flashlight’s movements.
  – Shadow puppet play – creating engaging stories with hand or puppet shadows on the wall.

An occupational therapist may recommend that you limit visual stimuli surrounding your child to avoid overwhelming the system. It’s important to consult your therapist about how much stimulation is good for your child. In some cases, a reduction in extraneous stimulation could include clearing a classroom of clutter and asking the teacher to place her at the front where there are fewer distractions.

6. Oral-Motor Skill Development

Integrating fun and practical activities can significantly enhance your child’s oral-motor skills. Chewable jewelry, often called ‘chewelry,’ offers dual benefits by providing a safe option for chewing while aiding in sensory regulation.

Additionally, using straws for drinking and engaging in whistle games can improve these skills enjoyably and interactively.

In the area of oral-motor development, the best activities for children with sensory processing disorders include the following:

i. Chewable Jewelry Benefits

Chewable jewelry offers a practical solution for children with sensory processing disorder, enhancing oral-motor skills and providing necessary sensory feedback in a discreet and socially acceptable manner. As you explore options for sensory integration, consider these chewable jewelry benefits:

• Promotes Self-Regulation: Aids in managing sensory needs, offering a tool for self-calming during overwhelming situations.
• Improves Focus: Satisfying the oral sensory input can help children with sensory processing concentrate better on tasks.
• Portable Convenience: Easily incorporated into a sensory diet, it’s a handy option for occupational therapy on the go, ensuring consistent sensory input throughout the day.

ii. Straw Drinking Techniques

Using chewable jewelry’s benefits for sensory regulation, straw drinking techniques offer another avenue to enhance oral-motor skills and coordination. You’re actively engaging in sensory integration by practicing various straw exercises, such as blowing bubbles or sipping thicker liquids.

These activities stimulate the vestibular system and proprioception, creating a more balanced sensory experience. Remember always to prioritize proper oral hygiene and safety while utilizing these techniques.

It’s crucial to consult with therapists to tailor the practices to individual needs, ensuring that the straw drinking exercises serve as practical heavy work activities for the mouth, strengthening oral motor skills in a way that’s not only beneficial but also enjoyable. Your guidance can make a significant difference in someone’s sensory journey.

iii. Whistle Games Engagement

Engage your child in whistle games to foster the development of oral-motor skills and enhance sensory processing playfully and effectively. These activities support motor skills and contribute to your child’s vestibular and body awareness, which is very important for those with sensory processing disorder.

Here’s how you can incorporate whistle games into your child’s routine as one of the best activities for children with sensory processing disorders:

• Start with simple blow-and-chase games, using the whistle to propel a cotton ball across a table.
• Introduce different whistle sounds to practice modulation and control.
• Encourage whistling along to favorite tunes to make it a joyful, therapeutic activity.

7. Olfactory and Gustatory Exercises

Exploring a variety of scents can enhance your child’s olfactory skills, allowing them to identify and connect different aromas with their experiences. Sensory integration is vital in occupational therapy, especially for a child with sensory processing disorder.

By introducing distinctive scents and helping your child describe each, you’re broadening their sensory repertoire and aiding their cognitive development. Incorporate taste-testing activities that invite your child to explore various flavors and textures.

This stimulates their gustatory senses and can be a fun and educational experience. Use scented markers or play dough to combine creativity with sensory exploration, making the experience enjoyable and memorable.

Involving your child in meal preparation is another practical approach. It offers a hands-on way to experience different tastes, textures, and temperatures, fostering independence and life skills.

Tasting and Smelling Activities

Your child’s sense of smell and taste are closely linked and should allow the ability to enjoy positive flavors and scents or react poorly to unpleasant or dangerous ones. Your child’s occupational therapist will specify the tasting and smelling activities that she thinks will help your child’s unique condition. These might include:

• For children lacking sensitivity to smell and taste:
  – Guessing the smell of various scratch-and-sniff stickers.
  – Playing blindfolded food-guessing games.
• For children who are extra sensitive to certain flavors:
  – Gradually incorporating new flavors into familiar foods.
  – Scented Play Dough play – engaging your child in sensory play using scented play dough to explore different smells in a fun and relaxed setting.

8. Deep Pressure Applications

When your child feels overwhelmed, deep-pressure applications like weighted blankets or lap pads can offer a comforting embrace, helping them regain emotional balance. These tools are more than just cozy; they’re an integral part of sensory integration techniques used in occupational therapy.

They provide passive proprioceptive input that can be incredibly soothing for children with sensory processing disorder.

Here’s how you can incorporate deep-pressure applications into your child’s routine as one of the best activities for children with sensory processing disorders:

• Weighted Blankets: These can be used during rest time or while your child is seated, adding a gentle, steady pressure that mimics a hug.
• Snug Kiddie Armchairs and Beanbags: Perfect for creating a comforting space, they offer the snugness that can help your child feel secure.
• Pillow Packing: Placing pillows on your child while lying on a mat delivers deep pressure stimulation that promotes calmness and focus.

9. Interactive Metronome Therapy

While deep pressure applications help calm the senses, Interactive Metronome Therapy offers a dynamic approach to enhancing coordination and timing in individuals with sensory processing challenges.

This computer-based program is a valuable tool in occupational therapy, and it is designed to improve the synchronization of movements to a specific beat. As you seek to help your child navigate the complexities of sensory processing disorder, consider how this Therapy could support their development.

Interactive Metronome Therapy focuses on honing attention, motor planning, and processing speed, which are often difficult for children with sensory integration issues.

By engaging in exercises that match rhythmic beats with physical actions, your child can develop better motor control, sharpen their attention, and fine-tune their coordination and rhythm. This can profoundly impact their daily activities and overall quality of life.

Moreover, this therapy is adaptable, allowing you to target specific areas where your child may struggle, such as timing or attention deficits. It’s a hands-on, engaging way to bolster your child’s needed functional skills.

With consistent practice, children can make significant strides in managing sensory processing disorder, all through the innovative use of Interactive Metronome Therapy.

What Your Child’s Occupational Therapist (OT) Wants You to Know About Sensory Challenges

Sensory input allows us to experience the world more intimately through our emotions. Feeling comfort from a strong, reassuring hug or from petting a fluffy cat; crying during a movie with an evocative score; or being drawn to the smell of freshly washed sheets.

Most brains can receive sensory input from the world, process it, and respond. However, some brains have trouble organizing and responding to the information they receive from the senses.

Children with these challenges may hurt a peer by squeezing them too tightly (stimulant-seeking) or jolt away and cry when a classmate touches their hand (stimulation-avoiding).

Self-harming in response to a loud or bright environment or requiring extra verbal cues are also common manifestations of SPD, which frequently co-occurs with ADHD, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and other developmental delays.

Gauging whether your child’s behavior is sensory-seeking (needing extra squeezes and hugs) or sensory-avoiding (having a meltdown to avoid a handshake) can help you determine what type of activity to use.

For example, a child who continually picks at or rips things may benefit from a paper-tearing activity; a texture-filled scavenger hunt can help a child with an aversion to touch by exposing them to how different objects feel.

Recommended by expert occupational therapists, below are top tips on the best activities for children with sensory processing disorders:

A. Teach Touch Tolerance and Foster Tactile Awareness

If you notice your child obsessively touching objects or picking at their skin or hair, they are seeking tactile sensory stimulation. Offer these activities instead.

#1. Paint with your fingers

Break open the finger paint or use a large baking sheet to “paint” with shaving cream. (Substitute ranch dressing if your child can’t stand the smell of those items.) Use this activity when your child shows sensory-seeking behavior.

#2. Explore sensory bins

Fill containers with rice, dried beans, or water beads. Mix in cheap, plastic toys, erasers in various sizes and shapes, or other objects for your child to feel for with the hands. Fill another container with different kinds of fidgets — small stretchy tubes, poppers, switches, pieces of fabric, squishy objects, or stress balls.

#3. Create a texture-filled scavenger hunt

Challenge your child to find three or more objects around the house. In Round One, they can seek soft items. In subsequent rounds, they can find sticky, hard, or rough items.

#4. Make bumpy play dough

Add beads or buttons to putty or playdough and have your child pull out the objects.

#5. Tear paper or rip apart Velcro.

#6. Play with water

Turn on the sprinkler. Break out the water guns or fill spray bottles (you can color the water with food coloring if your child isn’t sensitive to dyes) and have water fights. Or, glide across the backyard on Slip’nSlide for classic outdoor fun.

#7. “Cook” with your hands

Make dough from flour, water, and salt. Knead it, roll it, or form round “cookies” with it.

B. Use Muscles and Joints to Build Body Awareness

If your child is showing signs of irritation, low energy while playing with others, seeking hand or body squeezes, or bumping into things, they are looking for proprioceptive input — sensations from joints and muscles. These lifting, pushing, and pulling activities can help.

#8. Build an obstacle course indoors and/or out

Use a variety of furniture, mats, boxes, chairs, and other objects to create a dynamic course that requires running, jumping, moving, and lifting objects, using the body’s weight, rolling, and balancing. Set time limits and goals, and get involved yourself to increase motivation.

#9. Exercise using their own body’s weight for 15 minutes at a time

Begin with a 5-minute warm-up, then complete a minimum of three sets, 10 reps of five or more exercises such as push-ups, planks, sit-ups, and wall squats. End with a few minutes of slower-paced moves to cool down. Encourage your child to do these workouts twice a day several times each week.

#10. Drop down to the floor and play

If floor mats aren’t available, play using soft items such as pillows, mattresses, blankets, or soft furniture. Encourage coordination through climbing, jumping, moving, pushing, and rolling on, around, or through these items.

#11. Crawl like a spider

Imitating how animals move can be a great motivator during transition times. Challenge your child to climb like a cat. Move like a monkey. Or call out different animals and have your child show you how they move.

#12. Play with pillows

Have an old-fashioned pillow fight or get inside the pillowcase and have a sack race across your playroom. Body socks are another form of sensory-stimulating fun.

#13. Give body massages at least once a day

Focus on the arms, legs, and back and use different levels of pressure to foster greater awareness of body parts.

#14. Use heavy products

Gravity blankets, vests, or shoulder straps can be useful during stationary tasks or when making transitions. You can also fill a backpack or fanny pack with toys to add heft.

C. Improve Balance and Coordination to Strengthen the Vestibular Sense

Any type of movement can stimulate the vestibular receptors — centered in the fluid found in the inner ear. Use these activities during transitions between activities or before starting a new, challenging task. You can also offer them when a child is spinning, running, or jumping excessively.

#15. Use sensory swings

I recommend purchasing a swing set online. They can be pricey but worth the money. Regular swings are an acceptable — though somewhat limited — substitute. Tire swings or a Sit n’ Spin are great, but you can also take your child for a spin on the grass or carpet using an old sheet. *Important Note: To avoid overstimulation, do not permit spinning for more than 15 minutes at a time, and be sure there are 30-minute breaks in between spin sessions.

#16. Jump for joy

When your child appears dysregulated, take movement breaks on a mini trampoline or the one outside in your backyard. You can also have them jump in place. Be sure to set limits on how much they should jump and explain when jumping is socially appropriate.

#17. Have a daily dance party

Dancing to music or playing dance video games is a great social and stimulating activity. Encourage dancing several times each day for at least five minutes at a time.

#18. Scoot around on scooters

Your child will have a lot more fun getting where they need to go on a scooter. The best ones are flat and can accommodate both sitting or reclining positions.

#19. Practice gymnastics

Gymnastics forces the brain to work in coordination with the body and helps with motor skill development. Rope swings and backyard rings are good options. A vinyl balance beam is another great way to build awareness about the body while balancing.

#20. Use yoga balls instead of chairs

Your child can bounce to their heart’s content seated on a yoga ball.

#21. Use wobble seats and swivel cushions

When your child needs to be stationary for a while, these seating options are a better way to go.

Key Takeaways You Need to Know on the Best Activities for Children with Sensory Processing Disorders

• Sensory integration techniques, such as sensory gyms and obstacle courses, can provide comforting environments and promote positive growth for children with sensory processing issues.
• DIY sensory bins with textured materials, such as rice, beans, or beads, can enhance body awareness and fine motor skills for children with SPD.
• Vestibular strengthening exercises, like log roll yoga and sensory swings, can improve balance, coordination, and spatial awareness.
• Using auditory processing strategies, visual aids, and schedules can help individuals with SPD better comprehend and retain information while improving visual coordination and perception.

What Blooming Early Years Leave You With

Sensory processing issues can cause many challenges for children. The integration of sensory therapy can help children with sensory challenges to develop better control of their body, awareness of their body senses, and improved cognitive skills.

Children with sensory issues may benefit from sensory-seeking activities like playing in ball pools or using therapy balls. They may also benefit from activities that provide vestibular input, such as swinging or using a laundry basket as a ride-on toy.

For children with autism spectrum disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, therapy balls or fanny packs filled with heavy balls can provide proprioceptive input. Activities such as using a medicine ball or playing catch can also be helpful.

Sensory integration exercises, such as voice volume control or a pretend volume control button, can help with oral motor control and speech development. Sensory regulation activities, such as using bear hugs or chewy foods, can help children reach their optimal level of arousal.

Parents, teachers, and occupational therapists can use these resources for children regularly to help them progress through the phases of sensory development. By incorporating fun activities such as playing with lava lamps, using paper plates of different colors, or playing with a ball, children can improve their perceptual and visual skills while having fun.

Children with SPD may benefit from specialized sensory-stimulating activities during therapy, and with a solid home program. An occupational therapist who is well-trained in how to manage SPD can help teach you the speech therapy activities that are best for your child to live their happiest, fullest life. If you care for a child with SPD, talk to their doctor or therapist for more information about how you can help.

Frequently Asked Questions on the Best Activities for Children with Sensory Processing Disorders

What Is the Best Therapy for Sensory Processing Disorder?

The best Therapy for sensory processing disorder often includes personalized occupational therapy tailored to your child’s specific needs, incorporating sensory-friendly activities and strategies for daily life.

Why is sensory regulation important?

Sensory regulation is crucial because it helps individuals, especially children, process and respond to sensory information in a way that is adaptive and appropriate. Proper sensory regulation enables a child to maintain an optimal level of arousal and focus, which is essential for learning, social interaction, and daily functioning.

When sensory input is not regulated effectively, it can lead to issues like sensory overload, under-responsiveness, or difficulty in engaging with the environment, impacting a child’s emotional well-being and development.

What Are the Best Therapeutic Activities for Sensory Processing?

You’ll find sensory bins, homemade playdough, and log roll yoga effective for sensory avoiders. They offer tactile stimulation, encourage following directions, and improve coordination—all while being fun and supporting their needs.

What Are Coping Strategies for Sensory Processing Disorder?

Coping with sensory overload isn’t easy, but you’re not alone. Implementing a sensory diet and creating a calm environment are vital strategies that can offer much-needed relief and support daily functioning.

What are the best sensory regulation techniques for my child?

The best sensory regulation techniques for your child depend on their unique sensory needs and preferences. It’s essential to observe and understand whether your child seeks or avoids certain sensory experiences.

Consulting with an occupational therapist who specializes in sensory integration therapy can provide personalized strategies and activities tailored to your child’s specific sensory profile.

How Do You Calm a Child With Spd?

To calm a child, create a serene space with soft pillows and a bean bag for retreat. Engage them in activities like pushing a cart or using weighted blankets for comforting pressure.

At what age should you start sensory play?

Sensory play can be introduced at a very early age, as it is a critical part of infant development. Even newborns benefit from gentle sensory therapy activities like skin-to-skin contact, soft music, or different textures.

As infants grow into toddlers and young children, the range and complexity of sensory integration activities can expand. The key is to introduce sensory experiences in a safe, supervised, and age-appropriate manner, allowing children to explore and learn at their own pace.

Starting early can aid in the development of motor skills, language, and cognitive growth, and foster an overall sense of curiosity and exploration.