Sensory Processing

What is Sensory Processing?

Sensory processing refers to the way in which a child registers and perceives information through a variety of sensory channels including tactile (touch), visual, auditory, proprioception (muscle-joint sense, sometimes referred to as "heavy work"), and vestibular (movement/balance systems) (Ayres, 2005). This sensory input provides the child with information about the environment and body position in relation to the environment in order that the child may respond purposefully and successfully to the demands of the environment. Intact sensory processing is the foundation for maintaining organized participation in school activities and routines. 

Heavy work activities in the school environment

• Take crunchy food breaks ( raw vegetables, pretzels, dry cereal, raisins)

• Fill crates with books….transfer books from one area of room to anther

• Wash the tables

• Play jumping games, like leap frog and use bubble wrap for jumping. Use a jump rope or hula hoops to jump over.

• Lift weighted balls

• Play “row, row, row your boat” sitting on the floor, pushing and pulling each other

• Use theraband attached to a door, then pull it and let it snap

• Attach theraband to a chairs legs….to allow for pushing against while sitting

• Help to rearrange chairs/desks

• Do errands to the office, carrying books, carrying weighted jugs with handles.

• Pushing against the wall….help “hold up the school”  or “ the room feels small this morning, can everyone help me push the walls out to make it bigger?”

• Push around big trucks filled with blocks, push with both hands to knock things down.

• Play on hands and knees…walking on knees, doing push ups, etc.

• Play ‘cars’ under a table where he needs to push with one hand, and weight bear with the other.

• Open doors for people

• Do chair push ups

• Animal walks ( crab, bear, army crawl)

• Jump on a mini trampoline

• Isometric exercise breaks ( squeezing his own body, joint compressions provided by others)

• Pull pillow case filled with bags of sand up the ramp.

• Use jugs filled with bird seed/sand/rice/beans, and use as “MARKERS” to the child’s location. Needs to carry them to each location to mark where he is located.

Heavy Work Activities for Home

The following are heavy work activities that may be incorporated into a child’s daily routine in the home environment.

• Carry heavy items (baskets with cardboard blocks, grocery bags, etc)

• Chew gum, eat chewy or crunchy foods, or sip water from a water bottle with a small straw while doing homework.

• Push or pull boxes with toys or a few books in it (carpet provides more resistance than wood/linoleum, etc.)

• Fill a pillowcase with some stuffed animals in it for weight.  Push or pull the pillowcase around the house.

• Take cushions off couches, vacuum under them, then put them back.

• Climb on cushions or ‘crash’ into them.

• Pull a heavy trash can or toy bin.

• Perform household chores such as: vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, dusting, carrying laundry baskets, wiping off the table after eating, carrying buckets of water to water plants/trees, clean windows of the front of appliances using a spray bottle, help change the sheets on a bed.

• Perform yard work such as: mowing the lawn, raking leaves, pushing a wheelbarrow, shoveling sand into a wheelbarrow, digging dirt.

• Pull a friend or a  heavy item in a wagon

• Push a heavy item in a wheelbarrow.

• Drink thick liquids through a straw.

• Carry heavy cushions

• Have pillow fights

• Play in a sandbox with damp heavy sand.

• Push chairs into the table after a meal.

• Participate in activities such as gymnastics, wrestling, karate, swimming.

• Wash the dog.

• Wash the car.

• Jump or climb in inner tubes.

• Fill up a child’s size suitcase with heavy items and push/pull the suitcase across the room.

• Go “camping” by pulling a heavy blanket across a few chairs.

• Have the child help rearrange bedroom furniture.

• Have the child put large toys away.

• Participate in climbing activities.

• Swing from a trapeze bar.

• Push against a wall.

• Run and jump.

• On hands and knees, color a rainbow with large paper on the floor or with sidewalk chalk outside.

• Walk up a ramp or incline.

• Make wood projects requiring sanding/hammering.

• Play a pushing game where two people lock hands facing each other and try to see who can push and make the other person step back first. Use other body parts, but be sure to have rules ( no biting, hitting, scratching, if one person says stop, then stop)

• Two children sit on the floor, back to back, with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Interlock arms and then try to stand up at the same time.

• Two children play ‘ row, row , row the boat’ sitting on the floor, holding hands, pushing and pulling each other.

• Do chair push ups.

• Play jumping games like hopscotch and jump rope.

• Jump on a mini trampoline.

• Bounce on a hippity hop ball.

• Play catch with a heavy ball, or bounce and roll a heavy ball.

• Do animal walks ( crab, bear, army crawls)

Books for Parents

Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Integration Issues by Lindsey Biel and Nancy Peske

Sensory Integration and The Child by A. Jean Ayres

The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder, Revised Edition by Carol Stock Kranowitz and Lucy Jane Miller

The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun, Revised Edition: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder by Carol Stock Kranowitz

Sensational Kids: Hope and Help for Children with Sensory Processing Disorder by Lucy Jane Miller and Doris A. Fuller

The Sensory-Sensitive Child: Practical Solutions for Out-of-Bounds Behavior by Karen A. Smith and Karen R. Gouze

The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children by Ross W. Greene

Websites to check out: