| Life Skills Clinic – Occupational Therapy

Sensory Scientist Group – Summer 2018

**Every child is an individual and will respond to sensory information differently - not all
activities are appropriate for all children**

Sensory Integration:
“Sensory integration is the organization of sensations for use. Our senses
give us information about the physical conditions of our body and the
environment around us. Sensations flow into the brain like streams flowing
into a lake. Countless bits of sensory information enter our brain at every
moment, not only from our eyes and ears, but from every place in our
body. We have a special sense that detects the pull of gravity and the
movements of our body in relation to the earth.”

- Sensory Integration…
o An unconscious process of the brain (occurs without us thinking
about it – like breathing)
o Organizes information detected by one’s senses (taste, sight, hearing,
touch, smell, movement, gravity, and position)
o Gives meaning to what is experienced by sifting through all the
information and selecting what to focus on (such as listening to a
teacher and ignoring the noise of outside traffic)
o Allows us to act or respond to the situation we are experiencing in a
purposeful manner (known as an adaptive response)
o Forms the underlying foundation for academic learning and social
behavior

- Reference Book: Sensory Integration and the Child: Understanding Hidden Sensory Challenges – A. Jean Ayres, Ph.D.
 | Life Skills Clinic – Occupational Therapy

Sensory Scientist Group – Summer 2018

**Every child is an individual and will respond to sensory information differently - not all
activities are appropriate for all children**

Tactile:
- What is the Tactile Sense?
o Our sense of touch
o The largest sensory system
o Receptors are located in the skin and receive sensations of touch, texture,
temperature, vibration, pressure, pain, and movement of the hairs on the
skin
o Also contributes to sense of body awareness and development of motor
planning skills
o Play a vital role in development and behavior

- Activity ideas to target tactile sensation include:

o Exploring a variety of textures
o Hiding items for a “treasure hunt” in play dough or dry texture bins (such as
dry beans, rice, uncooked pasta)
o Play dough, salt dough, slime, etc.
o Gardening
o Helping with food preparation / playing with foods of different textures
o Arts and crafts
o Dress up
o Massage
o Toys that vibrate
o Bubbles
o Playing in Shaving Cream
o Touch N’ Feel books
 | Life Skills Clinic – Occupational Therapy

Sensory Scientist Group – Summer 2018

**Every child is an individual and will respond to sensory information differently - not all
activities are appropriate for all children**

Auditory:
- What is the Auditory Sense?
o Our sense of hearing sounds
o Our ability to discriminate, detect, and filter sounds
o Auditory system works closely with visual and vestibular systems
o Sound waves in the air stimulate auditory receptors located in the ear and
send information to the auditory cortex in the brain
o Our brain combines auditory sensations with information from other sensory
systems to make sense out of the sounds we are hearing

- Activity ideas to target auditory sensation include:

o Singing
o Listening to favorite music (make note of calming vs. arousing music)
o Explore nature noises (animals, storms, water sounds, etc.)
o Blowing whistles
o White noise machine / alpha wave recordings
o Identify and label sounds
o Reduce background noise as needed
o Use earplugs if necessary
 | Life Skills Clinic – Occupational Therapy

Sensory Scientist Group – Summer 2018

**Every child is an individual and will respond to sensory information differently - not all
activities are appropriate for all children**

Visual:
- What is the Visual Sense?
o Our sense of vision
o How our eyes retrieve visual information, send it to the brain to interpret,
and then relate this information to other types of sensory input from other
systems in the body
o Visual system works closely with the Vestibular and Auditory sensory systems
o Receptors are located in the retina in the eye

- Activity ideas to target visual sensation include:

o I-Spy
o Matching Games
o Writing / Pre-writing worksheets
o Spot the Difference activities
o Word searches
o Finding objects amongst other objects
o Mazes
o Looking at visually interesting/stimulating objects (lights, colored lightbulbs,
lava lamps, sensory bottles, bubble tubes, etc.)
o Looking at picture books
o Looking at nature
o Accommodate environment as necessary (dim the lights, avoid fluorescent
lights, use sunglasses, etc.)
 | Life Skills Clinic – Occupational Therapy

Sensory Scientist Group – Summer 2018

**Every child is an individual and will respond to sensory information differently - not all
activities are appropriate for all children**

Gustatory:
- What is the Gustatory Sense?
o Our sense of taste
o Can also be our sense of awareness of the mouth
o Receptors are the taste buds in the mouth
o Helps us to discriminate between safe and harmful things that enter the
mouth
o Works closely with olfactory sensations (smell)

- Activity ideas to target the gustatory sensation include:

o Exploring various food tastes
o Eating cold foods (foods of varying temperatures)
o Eating crunchy vs. chewy foods
o Eating foods of varying textures/ combining textures & tastes
 | Life Skills Clinic – Occupational Therapy

Sensory Scientist Group – Summer 2018

**Every child is an individual and will respond to sensory information differently - not all
activities are appropriate for all children**

Olfactory:
- What is the Olfactory Sense?
o Our sense of smell
o Discriminates, detects, and filters odors
o Receptors are located in the olfactory bulb inside the nose; this sends
information directing through the limbic system to the brain

- Activity ideas to target the olfactory sensation include:

o Smelling essential oils
o Spending time outside (breathing in nature, so to speak)
o Sniffing spices, candles, herbs
o Exploring the smells of different types of foods (sweet, spicy, citrus, etc.)
o Exploring tastes
 | Life Skills Clinic – Occupational Therapy

Sensory Scientist Group – Summer 2018

**Every child is an individual and will respond to sensory information differently - not all
activities are appropriate for all children**

Proprioception:
- What is Proprioception?
o Our sense of body awareness
o Tells us about the position of our body in space
o It helps us move our bodies
o Proprioceptive sensory receptors are located in the muscles, joints,
ligaments, tendons, and connective tissues.
o These receptors receive sensory information when our muscles are
contracting and stretching, also by the bending, straightening, pulling, and
compression of the joints between bones.

- Activity ideas to target proprioception include:

o Climbing
o Wall Push-ups
o Rough housing
o Deep pressure by being wrapped tight in a blanket or being squished
between pillows
o Playing tug-of-war
o Swimming
o Jumping / Jumping on a trampoline
o Kicking a ball
o Animal walks
o Scooter board activities
o Wheelbarrow walks
o Household chores (sweeping, vacuuming, dusting, wiping down counters)
o Gardening
o Playing with play dough
o Crawling (under tables, through tunnels, up stairs)
o Scooter boar activities
 | Life Skills Clinic – Occupational Therapy

Sensory Scientist Group – Summer 2018

**Every child is an individual and will respond to sensory information differently - not all
activities are appropriate for all children**

Vestibular:
- What is the Vestibular Sense?
o Our sense of head movement and balance
o It tells us how we are moving in space, how gravity is impacting our body,
and tells us if/how our head is changing positions or staying still.
o Helps us stabilize our eyes
o Receptors are located in the inner ear

- Activity ideas to target the Vestibular system include:

o Swinging (in blankets, in hammocks, on a playground swing)
o Spinning (on a tire swing, on a sit-n-spin, on swivel office chair) – not
excessively!
o Bouncing (on large balls, on a trampoline)
o Rocking / Swaying
o Climbing
o Hanging upside down
o Rolling (rolling up in a blanket and then rolling out, steamroll)
o Dancing
o Gymnastics
o Sliding
o Active, child-propelled movement rather than passive movement
o Activities performed while lying on stomach/propping themselves up on
elbows
o Balance activities (skating, bike riding, kicking, etc.)
o Activities that coordinate movement of eyes, head, and hands (throwing,
catching, ping pong, etc.)
 | Life Skills Clinic – Occupational Therapy

Sensory Scientist Group – Summer 2018

**Every child is an individual and will respond to sensory information differently - not all
activities are appropriate for all children**

Motor Planning/Praxis:
- What is Motor Planning/Praxis?
o It is our ability to use information from all of our senses (specifically
proprioceptive, tactile, and vestibular systems) to plan out and execute
movement.

- Activity ideas to target Motor Planning/Praxis include:

o Playing on the playground equipment (with supervision)
o Going on walks
o Walking up/down stairs
o Going on hikes
o Dancing
o Playing sports
o Jumping on the trampoline
o Climbing
o Tumbling / Gymnastics
o Swimming
o Riding a bike
o Scooter board games
o Obstacle courses
o Arts and crafts
o Food preparation (with supervision)
o Zumba
o Twister
o Yoga
o Simon Says
o Ring Around the Rosie