Diving into the central nervous system pyramid: sensory
While most people are familiar with the five senses (taste, touch, sight, hearing, and smell), there are actually seven or even eight senses to consider, depending on who you ask. The two others on the pyramid are the vestibular (balance) and proprioceptive (spatial orientation and movement) systems. The other that is commonly referred to in the occupational therapy world is interoception (internal signals from the body). We’ll take a deeper dive into each of the senses individually, but first it’s important to understand the different sensory processing needs that a child might have. This allows us to understand a child’s sensory profile and create an ideal sensory diet.
If a child is sensory seeking they appear to enjoy the sensory experience and are constantly seeking more of it in their environment. If a child is sensory avoiding they appear bothered by the input or experience and are often trying to avoid that experience.
Children can exhibit low registration, meaning they notice less of the sensory stimuli in the environment and/or interpret it at a lower intensity than others. Or children can exhibit sensory sensitivity, meaning they notice the input more than others and may interpret it at a higher intensity.
Like most things in the parenting and education worlds, this is all a balancing act. A child’s profile may be that they’re sensory seeking and exhibiting low registration when it comes to tactile/touch input, but they’re sensory avoidant and exhibiting sensitivity to auditory/hearing input. As parents and educators, it’s important for us to understand the sensory systems so that we can recognize these patterns in our children and help to create a sensory diet that meets their needs. When a child is under-stimulated, they may get bored and not attend to the experience. When they’re over-stimulated, they may become so overwhelmed that they cannot attend to the experience. This is why inviting children to engage in fun, multi-sensory activities and experiences is critical. We want to provide a multiplicity of experiences to ensure that all senses can be engaged and stimulated in different ways.
Here are some easy multi-sensory experiences to do with your children or students:
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Interactive read alouds - Let them engage in the story by saying certain repeated parts, moving like the characters, etc…
Walk outside
Allow exploration with art materials - let them get messy (favorite easel)
Play pass with different types of balls or toys
Swing outside
Jump on a trampoline (indoor option)
Swim
Dramatic play with peers and adults
Blow & pop bubbles
Build blanket and couch cushion forts and allow jumping and crashing
Create an obstacle course with household items or Balance Pods/Weighted Ball Set and Cones & Rings Set
