Making things happen

Sensory play

This activity can encourage the children to use their limbs to explore a range of sensory stimuli. 

You may find that your children react in a positive/negative/neutral way to the stimuli offered. 

At school the children will be exposed to the same, or similar stimuli repeatedly in order to establish whether their responses are consistent.

*New! Sensory play example videos below*

Shaving foam

cornflour and water (mixed together)

ice

Warm water

soil

leaves

grass

dry food stuffs - cous cous, rice, porridge oats, lentils

Look for your children moving their limbs in the stimuli

Look for your child attempting to explore the stimuli in different ways - do they bring their hands together? do they bring their hands to their mouths? 

Look for your child listening to the noise that the stimuli makes when they move their limbs in the different stimuli

What position does your child need to be in to best access the resources you are presenting to them?

Does your child need something underneath the stimuli that is: a contrasting colour to help them see the stimuli, or helps the stimuli to make a noise so that they know it is there?

Can you add a smell to the stimuli so that if your child has a visual impairment they know that there is something there?

Can you enable your child to access the resources you offer by supporting them at the elbow to reach for the resources?

Suspended resources

At school the children have opportunities to play with resources which have been suspended from an A-frame or a washing line, to encourage them to reach with their hands or use their feet to move the objects. 

Whilst you may not have either of these things in your home, you might be able to tie some string or rope from a window handle, to a door handle to create a temporary space to suspend things. 

This activity is very versatile you can suspend anything that your children may find interesting here are a few suggestions:

Any favoured toy, 

balloons, 

instruments, 

Sensory bottles, 

paintbrushes

Look for your children making attempts to locate the suspended resources

Look for your children taking a particular interest in one resource over another (if you have suspended more than one thing)

Look for your children trying again if they haven't succeeded in locating the suspended resources initially

Look for your children reaching slightly further to locate a resource that has been placed slightly out of their reach. 

You may find that your children are best positioned on the floor for this activity.

You may wish to position your child so that they are able to access the resources you suspend with either their hands or their feet. 

If your child has a visual impairment you may wish to add something that makes a noise to the suspended resources to make them a little easier to locate.