5 Amazing DIY Ways To Meet A Child's Sensory Needs At Home

5 Amazing DIY Ways To Meet A Childs Sensory Needs At Home

Are you looking for activities that can keep your special needs child active at home during a lockdown?

There are several special educational needs courses that you can enrol in and learn about such activities and various other methodologies to handle a child with sensory issues at home.

When you are stuck at home for an unlimited period, it is quite difficult to engage yourself in something and keep yourself motivated. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the day-to-day routine of every student especially those with special needs, sensory processing disorders, and has faced trauma in the past and is dependent on the framework of the school to stay stable and connected.

Thus such students must have a space at home that provides a similar kind of support and environment and help them grow in this setup and during a transition. It also eases them out of a meltdown and gives them a much-needed break before the actual one begins.

As stated before, keeping yourself engaged can be quite a task when you are at home for a long time. The challenges can be more difficult for kids with sensory processing issues and in such cases, some activities are more effective than others.

Here are few sensory-friendly games or DIY’s that one can incorporate at home to meet the sensory needs of a child.

Dedicate a space at home is often suggested by therapists to create a separate space for children with sensory processing disorders. One should not be worried about the size of the room as only a part of a room with a box of sensory items will be useful.

You just need to customize the space for them. For e.g, you can make a homemade tent with the help of few pieces of furniture and a blanket. You can also create a desk shield to cover around a child’s work area.

• Create Homemade Sensory Tools

Sensory tools play an important part in meeting the sensory needs of a child and assist them in calming down and gaining back focus. E.g. you can build a sensory bin. Sensory bins or any container filled with items are said to stimulate one or more of the five senses and can be a smooth, low-demand activity for children.

It can be made by filling a container with items like dry beans, pasta, rice, and cotton balls. You can also add tools like measuring cups, shovels to motivate kids, and shifters kids to explore.

• Play-Dough

Play-dough can be used for any activity as it is a great component to boost motor skills. It also acts as a medium to minimize frustration and might suit children who like to touch things.

You can hide small objects in a ball of dough and ask your child to find it or roll the dough and make a ball out of it. If you see your child with sensory issues react to the smell of store-bought Play-Dough, search for a recipe for homemade play-dough.

• Puzzles

Asking kids to put puzzles together is a great activity for kids who usually get overexcited. The activity can be incorporated to make the kids calm. Puzzles enhance motor skills and also help kids with visual-spatial processing issues. Few of the jigsaw puzzles for younger kids even make sounds when the pieces are kept in the right places.

• Finger and Food Painting

Finger painting is another activity for kids with sensory issues. You just need to arrange a smock, a roll of paper, and some finger paints for your child and set him free. Even if your child is sensory avoidant, you can make him do the activity to introduce him to new textures. You can also intrigue his sense of smell by using various kinds of squishy foods to “paint” on a cookie sheet.

So, if you have a special child at home, you can introduce these activities to keep them active when they are stuck at home for a long time. For gaining more knowledge, you can also enrol for any special needs teaching courses online and learn about various techniques to handle children with special needs.