Sensory activities
Children love to learn in a variety of different ways and these can be incorporated into different sensory experiences. Whilst supporting your child with their learning, you can do this using different textures. We are not asking you to buy anything specific, these are ideas if you have them at home.
- Using chalk on the pavement in the garden
- Using play sand to write out words
- Using paint to spell out words
- Counting/multiplying bubbles that are blown into the air
- Playing with water in the garden. Can they make big splashes, little splashes, count the splashes they make.
Sensory Circuits
Your child may have been taking part in Sensory Circuits whilst they were in school. You can replicate this at home, but your child must complete them in the alerting, organising and calming order to have maximum effect.
Each section (alerting, organising and calming) takes about 5 minutes to complete with each activity taking 1-2 minutes. This means that not all activities listed are to be completed in one session - different activities can be done on different days.
Alerting activities - Select from the following list:
Star jumps
Running/fast paced walking in a small lap of the garden
Spotty dogs
Running back and forth across the garden
Step ups -Step up and down the bottom step of the stairs
Organising activities - Select from the following list:
Have a line on the floor (by tape, chalk on the pavement, use a crack in the pavement) for your child to walk along putting one foot in front of the other - a bit like a tight rope artist.
Log roll back and forth along the floor
Bounce a ball up and down using hands alternatively
Balancing on one leg then the swap to the other leg - hold onto a chair if you need to
Calming activities - Select from the following list:
Crawl on your belly along the floor
Ask another member of the family to gently press down on your shoulders. You can state whether the shoulder press is too hard or too soft so they can change it for you.
Wall press ups. Stand vertical to the wall with palms of both hands on the wall and feet flat on the floor. Lean gently towards the wall, bending arms at your elbows and back again.
Fizzy activities
Fizzy activities help with fine and gross motor skills. Here are some activities you can try at home:
Snake - slither across the floor
Butterfly - flutter around the room
Elephant - stomp with both feet
Kangaroo - bounce around
Frog - hop like a frog
Flamingo - stand on one leg
Finger isolation activities