IRPS

Sensory Activities for Your Child

Your senses work together. Each sense works with the others to create a picture of who we are physically, where we are, and what is going on around us. Sensory experiences include touch, movement, body awareness, sight, sound, and the pull of gravity. Sensory integration is the vital function of the brain to produce this picture – the organization of sensory information for on-going use throughout our daily lives. For most of us, effective sensory integration occurs automatically, without effort. For some, it is a process that is inefficient, demands attention and demonstrates no accuracy. Sensory integration is a building block to more complex learning and behavior.

Sensory Activities can help our bodies to organize, alert or calm through specific activities. Depending on how your child is behaving, he or she may benefit from one of the following activities:

Alerting Activities

These activities benefit the "undersensitive" child who needs a boost to become effectively aroused.

• ¨ Crunching dry cereal, popcorn, chips, crackers, nuts, pretzels, carrots, celery, apples or ice cubes
• ¨ Taking a shower
• ¨ Bouncing on a hippity hop, therapy ball or beach ball
• ¨ Jumping up and down on a trampoline

Organizing Activities

These activities can help regulate a child's responses and behavior.

• ¨ Chewing granola bars, fruit bars, licorice, dried apricots, cheese, gum, bagels or bread crusts
• ¨ Hanging by hands on a chinning bar
• ¨ Pushing or pulling heavy loads
• ¨ Getting into an upside down position

Calming Activities

These activities can help the oversensitive child decrease hyper-responsiveness to sensory stimulation.

• ¨ Sucking a pacifier, hard candy, frozen juice bar or spoonful of butter
• ¨ Pushing against walls with hands, shoulder, back, bottom, and head
• ¨ Rocking, swaying or swinging back and forth slowly
• ¨ Cuddling or back rubbing
• ¨ Taking a bath