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Rainbow Bottle Xylophone

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bottle xylophone

Many years ago, we made a DIY instrument…a bottle xylophone to be exact! We used recycled plastic water bottles to create a rainbow xylophone and explored not only colors of the rainbow, but also creating a water xylophone made from plastic bottles. This was a fun activity the whole family loved! Another of our favorite DIY instruments is our DIY tambourine craft.

bottle xylophone

Bottle Xylophone

If you have plastic water bottles or a couple of drink containers or recycled plastic bottles in the recycle bin, this is an easy activity to do with kids. It’s actually a great science experiment too. By exploring how different levels of water make different sounds in the bottle, you can really foster a lot of learning.

Here is one easy way to use plastic water bottles to make a color xylophone with the kids. 

We made these music bottles to explore auditory processing skills: specifically, these musical bottles were perfect for noticing differences in tone of sound. When we notice these differences and put them together with other tones, we get music! This simple instrument is a DIY music activity my kids loved…and they didn’t mind the auditory processing lesson.

You’ll need just a few materials to set up your own bottle xylophone:

  • Empty and clean plastic bottles
  • Water
  • Food coloring (you can make a bottle xylophone without the food coloring, but the rainbow feature is fun, especially if you are including this activity in rainbow activities or a rainbow theme.)

How to make a Water Xylophone with Plastic Bottles

If you follow this blog, then you know that we love to use recycled materials in play and crafts. After our bottles of Coca-Cola were empty, we decided to make our own songs with a DIY water xylophone!


To make a water xylophone using recycled plastic bottles:
This was SUCH a huge hit with my kids.  The process is very simple, and it’s a great activity for kids.

  1. We filled the plastic bottles with varying amounts of water.
  2. We used all six bottles from the six pack of plastic Coke bottles and added liquid food coloring to the bottles.  Each bottle held a different color of the rainbow to make a rainbow water xylophone.
  3. Start by pouring water to almost the top of one water bottle. Then, pour a little less into the next plastic bottle. Continue down the line.
  4. Test the sound by blowing across the top of each bottle. You should get a nice hollow sounding sound. When you have the sound as you like it, add drops of food coloring to create a rainbow. 
Kids love this rainbow water xylophone using recycled bottles to make music.
 

I showed my kids how to blow across the top of the opening of the bottles to make a musical sound.  It was fun to see my kids’ expressions as they realized they could make a sound on the opening of the bottles.  

Even better was watching them make a little tune with the xylophone!  This is one activity that they will remember for a long time to come.  

A hint for pouring water into the plastic bottles: One functional skill that can be challenging for some kids is pouring water. Pouring water into the plastic bottles requires skills such as: 

  • bilateral coordination
  • eye-hand coordination
  • refined dexterity of the pouring (dominant hand)
  • strength

Doing this activity over a kitchen sink or outside can make the process easier for some. You can also use a funnel or a small pitcher with a lipped spout to make the pouring task graded. To foster pouring skills, try these pouring and scooping activities.

This is a great activity for addressing oral sensory needs. Blowing across the top of the open bottles to create a sound can even be a calming oral motor exercise. Check out some of our favorite ways to provide sensory input through oral motor exercises for sensory calming sensory input in our animal cracker oral motor activity and our plastic egg boats activity. 

Kids love this rainbow water xylophone using recycled bottles to make music.
 

A water xylophone would be the perfect addition to a summer bucket list!  Take this idea outside to create memories with your kids!  Just like music invokes memories, making music with this water xylophone will be the hit of the summer break.

Kids love this rainbow water xylophone using recycled bottles to make music.

Other DIY instruments that we loved include:

Don’t forget to check out all of the great resources on the OT Toolbox, including the Auditory Processing Tool Kit.

The resources support listening skills, auditory memory strategies, and includes games and activities to foster auditory processing during functional tasks.

Get your copy of the Auditory Processing Kit here.

Auditory Processing Kit

Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

Back to School Sensory Activities

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back to school sensory activities

It’s that time of year and having a few back to school sensory activities up your sleeve can make all the difference in a stuffy, hot classroom when kids need self-regulation tools after a long summer break. Whether you are looking for classroom sensory diet strategies, or sensory strategies for the school-based OT, putting a back-to-school spin on “sensory” is a hit during the Fall months.

back to school sensory activities

Back-to-School Sensory Activities

The back-to-school season is a prime time to dust off those sensory cobwebs and consider how sensory motor input supports students.

In this blog post, you’ll find a list of ways to support sensory needs using a back-to-school theme. The ideas are great for this time of year when welcoming a new roster of students into the classroom.

  • Our free sensory strategy toolkit is another great resource that supports school-based OTs, educators, and parents of students with sensory needs.
  • You’ll also find many resources, including a printable sensory activity sheet here on this article about calm down strategies for school.
  • These ideas for sensory seekers can be adapted to meet school-based needs (or used in the home for homework time, the after-school period, or homeschooling)

Why Use Back-to-School Sensory Activities?

Heading back into the school year can throw some kids for a spin.  The first few weeks can be a change in routine from the safety of home. For kids who are starting up on a homeschool routine, it can be difficult to pay attention when sensory needs and distractions are in the next room. This can lead to self-regulation needs that support the student’s ability to concentrate and learn after a summer off from the routines of school.

Other reasons for using sensory strategies during the back-to-school season include:

  • Earlier wake-up times after a summer of staying up late and sleeping in. A quick sensory motor brain break can make all the difference.
  • A new routine may throw some students for a loop.
  • The transition period can be a real challenge for some children. It might be the early alarm clock or using time management in the morning that is a challenge. For other kids, moving to a new school, or even just going back to the classroom in general can be a challenge. Try these transition strategies to support these needs.
  • Distractions and Technology: With the prevalence of screen time in kids, and the use of technology/devices, students may find it difficult to focus on schoolwork without being distracted by social media, video games, or other online activities. A quick sensory break can help with attention and distractions.
  • Social-emotional needs: Social emotional dynamics can change over the summer, and students may feel pressure to fit in or establish their social identity when school resumes. This pressure can affect their self-esteem and confidence. The ability to regulate emotions might lead to challenges with learning due to the emotional regulation and executive function connection.

You may have a child of your own that “crashes” after a week of school during this time of year. There is a lot happening that is just exhausting during the return to school. Sometimes, all it takes for an easy transition into the back to school days is a sensory strategy that meets the needs of the sensory child. Let’s explore these ideas below…

  Classroom sensory activities and sensory strategies for back to school or throughout the school year.

 
 
 

 

back to school sensory ideas and strategies for the classroom that teachers can use with sensory kids.




Back-to-School Sensory Ideas

These sensory activities are ones that can easily be used in the classroom or homeschool room.  They are strategies that can be incorporated into the student’s daily routine within the school environment.  

These school sensory activities are presented in list form for ease and planning, but they can be used in a classroom sensory diet or in various strategies.  

The ideas below are ones that easily allow the child to meet their sensory needs in a natural way, so that it is not an interruption to the classroom or other students.  

Rather, some of these sensory strategies are movement and heavy work-based ideas that can easily be adapted for the whole classroom for brain break type of activities. 

As always, these sensory ideas are ONLY ideas and should be regarded as a reference.  Every child is different and has different sensory needs.

The ideas presented below are not regarded as Occupational Therapy treatment and should only be used in addition to and along with an individualized Occupational Therapy plan made following assessment. 

Sensory Activities for Back to School

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases.

1. Wall Push-Ups- Show the student how to push against the wall while doing “push-ups” from a standing position.  This is a great heavy work activity, or a quick “brain break” activity that provides proprioceptive input for heavy work for improved focus, calming, and self-regulation.

2. Desk Fidget- Use a DIY fidget or a store bought hand fidget toy (affiliate link) to allow the child tactile sensory or proprioceptive input to the hands for improved attention and focus while sitting and performing desk work.

3. Chair Push-Ups- Allow the child to push up from the seat with his arms, keeping the elbows strait.  Pushing up through the arms provides proprioceptive heavy work through the upper body.

4. Move desk/furniture.

5. Erase the chalkboard or dry erase board.

6. Sensory errand- Carry milk crates or plastic bins full of books or supplies from center to center around the classroom or from room to room in the building. Some schools have an “important message” to other classrooms or the office in the form of a folder. Just moving, taking a quick walk through the hallway, to deliver a note or other message can offer a much-needed sensory break. For more heavy work input, add a tote bag filled with books or ask the student to push a cart with materials.

7. Shoe laces fidget-  Add a couple of beads to the child’s shoe laces for a fidget toy that can be used discretely while sitting in floor circle time or during desk work.

8. Manual Pencil Sharpener-  Turning and sharpening pencils with a manual pencil sharpener provides proprioception to bilateral upper extremities.  This can be a good task prior to writing tasks.

9. Backpack for carrying supplies from room to room-  Students can carry supplies to other classrooms in a backpack for heavy input.  This can be a calming strategy while walking the hallways to other areas in the school as well, such as while walking to the lunch room or special classes. The hallway can be an overwhelming and high-sensory environment so deep pressure to center the child can be helpful.

10. Stapler heavy work- Staple paper or remove staples from a bulletin board for upper body proprioceptive input.


11. Sensory seat- Air cushion seating such as a wiggle seat cushion (affiliate link) or a frugal, DIY version using a $1 wiggle seat cushion option. Here are more ideas for alternative seating options and even some DIY flexible seating ideas.

12. Place chairs on rugs.  Sliding chairs on classroom floors can lead to auditory overload for some sensory kids.  Try using carpet squares under each individual chair.  When the child pushes his chair out, he can slide the chair right on the carpet square out from the desk.  

13. Hallway March-  Get the whole class involved in a “walk this way” activity.  They can march from the classroom to specials or the lunchroom.  Try other brain break and whole body movements while walking in the line down the hallway, too: Try high knee lifts, toe walking, heel walking, elbows to knees, and patting the knees while walking.

14. Sports bottles for drinking- Sipping water through a long straw or sports bottle (affiliate link) can allow the students to focus and attend given proprioceptive input through the mouth. This is a great whole classroom strategy for helping with attention and self-regulation. Read more about using a water bottle as a sensory tool.

15. Movement breaks in the gym or classroom- A quick brain break can help kids focus during periods of desk work.

16. Push mats in the gym- Moving those big gym mats is a great whole body proprioception activity. Or, ask students to move desks or other equipment that uses the whole body.

17. Auditory support- Headphones for limiting auditory stimulation during center work or times when there is a lot of chatter in the classroom. Here are more tips for auditory sensitivity in the classroom.

18. Visual picture list- Knowing what to expect is a non-traditional sensory strategy. But when you think about it, the visual input is a support when it comes to knowing what is next, how much time is left until lunch, and how much longer the day will last. A visual schedule can be a benefit for the whole classroom.  Try this daily pocket chart schedule. (affiliate link)

19. Simon Says Spelling-  Try practicing spelling words with a movement and vestibular sensory input Simon Says version. Try these Simon Says commands if there are a few extra minutes to use up during the school day or between transitions.

20. Play dough math for proprioceptive input through the hands.  Try a math smash type of activity and use a heavy resistive dough like this DIY proprioception dough. There are many benefits of play dough and sensory input is just one of them!

21. Kneaded eraser for sensory input through the hands- Use a kneaded pencil eraser (affiliate link) for a hand-held fidget that doubles as an eraser with proprioceptive input.

22. Crunchy snack break- Try snacks like pretzels, crackers, kale chips, popcorn, or roasted chickpeas for an alerting snack. Oral motor exercises offer calming or alerting input and using a crunchy (or chewy) snack can support these needs.

23.  Sensory bin for math or sight words-  Create a sight word sensory bin or even use a sensory bin for math or spelling words. This can be a fun and unexpected way to dive back into spelling after the summer break! Add tactile sensory input to learning using a variety of sensory bin fillers.  Ideas include shaving cream, shredded paper, crafting pom poms, among many other ideas.

24. Vibrating pen rainbow writing for sight word or spelling practice-  Proprioceptive input to the hands can be very helpful for many kids, especially if they are writing with too much pencil pressure.

25. Jump/move/hop in hallway- Take a movement and brain break with a hallway movement activity.  Add learning aspect with spelling, facts, or math.

26. Roll a ball on the legs-  Add a vestibular aspect to vocabulary or themed learning, including history, English language arts, or science.  Kids can answer questions and when they answer the question, they roll the ball along their legs by bending down to roll the ball on their thighs.

27. Hopscotch Math-  Add a hopping proprioception activity to the classroom with a hopscotch board created right in the classroom using masking tape.

28.  Graph Paper Writing-  Add a visual sensory twist to handwriting, math, spelling, or any written work by using graph paper.  The added lines can be just the visual spatial prompt needed for kids with visual sensory processing concerns. Here are more sensory based reasons to use graph paper.

29. Make a desk sensory diet box-  Use a dollar store pencil case to create customized sensory diet bins that can fit right into the desk. Items would be used specific to the child’s needs, but might include resistive putty, paper clips for fidgeting, or movable toys (affiliate link). Use these occupational therapy kits for more ideas.

30. Wash desks with spray bottles. Squeezing a spray bottle to wash desks or water plants offers heavy work through the hands.

31. Cut classroom decorations from oaktag. Heavy input through the hands by cutting thicker paper is a great way to add a quick and functional movement break. Students will love to see their handiwork on the walls, too.

32. Create a calm down corner in the classroom– This can include fidgets, mindfulness centers, books, and many more sensory tools. Plus try these other calm down strategies for school.

33. Try a sensory swing- Sensory swings for modulation can be used when applicable and recommended by an occupational therapy provider. Sometimes, you’ll see these in a sensory room or in a therapy room in the school. Here is more information on types of sensory swings.

34. Use the playground! Getting those students outside can make a great sensory movement break. Check out how to use the playground for sensory input and read this resource on sensory diets at the playground.

All of these ideas support sensory needs and are great activities to use during the back-to-school time. We love that they are fun, functional, and the whole classroom can benefit!

Want more ideas to support sensory needs at school? Grab a free copy of our Classroom Sensory Strategy Packet.

Free Classroom Sensory Strategies Toolkit

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    Related resources include our blog post on Ayres Sensory Integration. This is a great place to start with gathering information on the sensory processing systems and the related behavioral, emotional, physical, and cognitive responses that we see.

    Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

    The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook
    The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook

    The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook walks you through sensory processing information, each step of creating a meaningful and motivating sensory diet, that is guided by the individual’s personal interests and preferences.

    The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook is not just about creating a sensory diet to meet sensory processing needs. This handbook is your key to creating an active and thriving lifestyle based on a deep understanding of sensory processing.

    Sensory Solutions for Fireworks

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    sensory solutions for fireworks

    For children with sensory sensitivities, fireworks can be a real challenge. The days and weeks around 4th of July can be a celebration that leads to loud and lengthy firework shows, but there can be isolated booms and cracks that come at all times of day or night. For the individual with auditory sensitivities, this is a huge detriment. Having a sensory diet or sensory solution to the auditory input can support sensory needs.

    sensory solutions for fireworks

    Sensory Solutions for Fireworks

    The intense noise of fireworks can trigger sensory overload, leading to feelings of distress, anxiety, or even pain for these individuals.

    The explosive nature of fireworks results in sharp, unpredictable bursts of sound, which can be overwhelming and disruptive to individuals with sensory sensitivities. The loud noises can cause discomfort, stress, and sensory discomfort, impacting their overall well-being. Plus, for the child or individual that has experienced this discomfort may be traumatized by the potential for booms and cracks of fireworks that seem to come out of nowhere.

    Another sensory consideration when it comes to firework season which can impact sensory sensitive individuals is the crowd. Fireworks displays are often watched in very crowded environments like parking lots, plazas, stadiums, fields, neighborhood lawns, etc. The physicals closeness of a crowd adds additional sensory stimuli like bright lights and vibrations.

    The combination of these factors can further intensify the sensory overload experienced by individuals with auditory sensitivities, making it hard to self-regulate, and can potentially leading to heightened anxiety and meltdowns. We may even see a season of sensory dysregulation.

    How to support the child sensitive to fireworks

    It is important to recognize and respect the needs of individuals with auditory sensitivities during fireworks events.

    Creating inclusive environments that offer quieter alternatives, such as silent fireworks or designated noise-reduced zones, can provide individuals with auditory sensitivities the opportunity to enjoy celebrations without the overwhelming impact of loud sounds.

    Some sensory solutions for fireworks include sensory strategies and physical or location-based tactics:

    • Preparing for the event- talking about what is going to happen at the fireworks event or celebration
    • Using noise cancelling headphones or earbuds
    • Sensory diet tools like deep breathing exercises or weighted blankets to regulate and organize sensory needs
    • Sensory chaining techniques (see below)
    • Earplugs
    • Chewlery
    • Watching fireworks from a distance
    • Watching fireworks from a live streaming of the event or a TV/social media broadcast
    • Countdown from the start of the fireworks
    • Personal space away from crowds

    When it’s time to sleep and the neighborhood is still celebrating, try:

    • White noise sound machine and blackout curtains
    • Music
    • Turn on a movie
    • “Camp out” in the basement for a fun adventure
    • Play a sleep app

    By understanding and accommodating the challenges faced by individuals with auditory sensitivities, we can work towards creating more inclusive and sensory-friendly environments during fireworks displays, ensuring that everyone can fully participate in and enjoy these events. After all, we all have differing sensory needs, and sensitivities can look different for everyone. 

    Sensory Chaining Technique

    One way to challenge sensory systems and trial tools and strategies in sensory situations is through chaining.

    Occupational therapy practitioners are familiar with chaining. There are different types of chaining strategies to support development of skills:

    • Forward chaining- Forward chaining is a teaching strategy that is often used to help individuals learn and develop new skills, particularly in the context of behavior management and task completion. This approach breaks down complex tasks into smaller, more manageable steps, allowing individuals to master each step before moving on to the next one.
    • Backward chaining- Backward chaining is a teaching strategy that can be helpful for teaching new skills as well, however, this approach involves starting with the final step of a task and working backward to teach each preceding step until the entire task is mastered.
    • Sensory chaining- this type of skill development is typically used to slowly and strategically chain a picky eater’s diet from exremely limited and preferred foods to a more diverse food input. This occurs by slowly introducing foods that are similar in texture in a step-by-step process.

    Similar to chaining foods, sensory chaining can be one tactic to increase tolerance to sensory input in the form of tactile sensations, textures, messy play experiences, and even auditory input, or types of sounds.

    The bubble wrap fireworks activity we have described below is a chaining activity to support individuals who are sensitive to fireworks. The activity is hands-on, and led by the child. They can pop the “fireworks” on their own time and gain not only proprioceptive feedback through their hands, but control the “pop” sound.

    This is a fun fireworks themed activity to support the needs of individuals with auditory sensitivities especially when it comes to fireworks being too loud or sudden noises that typically occur during fireworks season. If you have a child sensitive to noise, then fireworks can be auditory overload. Using a sound “safe” activity to prepare for fireworks can be part of a sensory chaining strategy to support children sensitive to loud noises like fireworks.

    This bubble wrap fireworks craft is a “safe” sound!

    Use this fireworks themed sensory activity to incorporate skills such as fine motor skills, fine motor strength, bilateral coordination, and eye-hand coordination with an auditory processing component that is perfect for the 4th of July, or any patriotic holiday! It uses bubble wrap and red, white, and blue colored stickers to make a sensory tool that kids will love.

    You’ll need just a couple of items:

    • Bubble wrap
    • Blue stickers
    • Red stickers

     

     
    I stuck a bunch of red and blue labeling stickers on large bubble wrap.
     
    When Big Sister and Little Guy saw this, they were very excited!
     
     
     
    The pop made a perfect firework sound for each color.  It really did sound like the crack of  little fireworks.  We did a little listening activity, where I would tell them…”Pop red, then blue, then blue.”  We did a few patterns and all reds, and then all blues.
     
    Each little bubble gave a very satisfying crack!
     
     
    And then there was a huge crack as a certain Little Guy jumped on the rest of the un-popped bubbles 🙂

     

    Activities for Auditory Learners

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    Auditory learner

    Here, we are covering activities for auditory learners, but you’ll also discover types of learners (an auditory learner is just one learning style!) and how to best support students with specific listening needs. Let’s get started with auditory processing activities to support auditory learners. For students with auditory sensitivities that impact learning and participation in the classroom, understanding the auditory learner is essential.

    Auditory learner

    What is an Auditory Learner?

    Learning styles are the manner in which we best learn and process information. 

    Examples of learning styles include auditory learners, kinesthetic learners, and visual learners.  Each of us has a preference (either obvious or less obvious) to one style of learning or another.  As children develop, they can progress through different stages and preferences of learning.

    Kids can succeed with a variety of learning styles.  One strategy is to address the sense of hearing when teaching new concepts or reinforcing older concepts. 


    There are many characteristics of a student who is an auditory learner. A few indications include the children who can’t seem to stop talking, the child who repeats verbal information out loud, or the child who prefers discussion in classroom activities.  


    Read below to find more characteristics of auditory learners and activities for auditory learners in the classroom or at home.

    You may have heard the term “audio learner” used as well. An audio learner is another phrase that means auditory learner, and refers to someone who learns best through auditory sources of information.

    Audio learners/auditory learners are individuals who prefer to process information through listening, speaking, and hearing. They have a natural inclination towards absorbing and retaining information through sound and auditory input.

    This means that for them, sources of information such as lectures, discussions, audio recordings, podcasts, and verbal instructions are the best ways to absorb and retain information.

    Audio learners tend to excel in activities that involve spoken language, such as participating in group discussions, engaging in debates, or listening to audiobooks. They often have strong listening skills and can easily grasp concepts by hearing them explained or discussed aloud. To optimize their learning experience, audio learners may benefit from using techniques like reading aloud, engaging in conversations, recording and replaying lectures, or utilizing mnemonic devices that involve sound and rhythm.

    Auditory Memory

    Auditory memory, or audio memory is another concept that should be covered. 

    Auditory memory (aka audio memory) refers to the ability to remember and recall information that has been heard or listened to. It is a component of auditory learning and involves the retention and retrieval of auditory stimuli or information.

    People with strong audio memory can remember and recall spoken words, conversations, lectures, music, or any other auditory input with relative ease. This type of memory can be advantageous for individuals who learn best through auditory means, as they can remember information more effectively when it is presented in an audio format.

    auditory memory

    To improve auditory memory, try strategies such as:

    • repetition
    • verbal rehearsal
    • mnemonic devices
    • voice recordings
    • audio notes

    Using these tools can assist in reinforcing and retaining information for individuals with a preference for auditory learning.

     
    Try these strategies to help kids who are auditory learners in the classroom or at home.
     

     

    Characteristics of Auditory Learners

    Not all children who are auditory learners will experience all of the characteristics below.

    • Prefer listening in the classroom
    • Like to talk
    • Repeats directions
    • Can’t concentrate when there are noises in the environment
    • Can’t fall asleep to music or a television
    • Benefits from repetition of directions
    • Learns best when listening
    • Learns well from videos
    • Easily recalls songs, poems, and phrases
    • Talks out decision processes
    • Remembers facts in detail when hearing them
    • Prefers to hear all of the facts when learning something new
    • Hums or talks to self
    • Easily can identify differences in pitch or tone of sounds
    • Follows verbal instructions better than written instructions
    • Prefers smaller groups in the classroom (limits the auditory distractions)
    • Remembers facts better after repeating them
    • Talks or moves lips while they write
    • Recalls a person’s tone of voice when remembering a conversation
    • When reading or writing, written information may not make sense until it’s been read aloud
    • Writes with light pencil pressure
    • Children who learn best through the auditory sense may benefit from auditory strategies.  
    • May have auditory sensitivities in the classroom

    Try some of the activities for auditory learners that are listed below:

    Activities for auditory learners

    Activities for Auditory Learners

    For individuals who are auditory learners, an auditory learning style of specific activities can support intake and retention of information.

    • Read homework directions out loud
    • Record facts on video and then replay it.  A mobile phone or tablet works well for this strategy.
    • Sing facts to a tune
    • Work on commonly misspelled words like those words with similar diagraphs. Use hands-on, multisensory activities to support auditory needs. 
    • Write a song when memorizing facts or spelling words
    • Teach to other students or even to stuffed animals
    • Practice in front of a mirror
    • Try a whisper phone
    • Listen to books on tape using headphones
    • Rhyme facts
    • Spell words out loud in different pitches and tones
    • Use noise eliminating headphones in the classroom or during tests
    • Find a quiet space for homework
    • Turn off distractions. Consider televisions, phones, or even fans
    • Use mnemonic devices to memorize facts
    • Listen to audiobooks
    • Use oral reports for classroom projects
    • Allow students to record portions of homework or projects onto devices
    • Make flashcards and read them out loud
    • During classroom lessons, clap or speak louder during important parts
    • Speak in syllables


      What are your best strategies to help auditory learners?
    strategies to help kids who are auditory learners in the classroom or at home.

    The Auditory Processing Kit is a printable packet to address listening skills, whole body listening, listening comprehension, active listening, and auditory processing needs. This printable packet contains active listening activities, hands-on strategies, activity cards, visual cards, handouts, and more.

    Auditory Processing Kit

    The Auditory Processing Kit is a tool to support learners by building skills in listening comprehension, auditory processing needs, and much more. The tools offer support to learners with hyper-responsive or hypo-responsive auditory systems. Therapists love the hands-on activities to support learning and active listening through play and handwriting tasks.

    • Listening Comprehension
    • Fine Motor Listening Skills
    • How to Improve Listening Skills Poster
    • Clap It Out Syllables Orthographic Activities
    • Beginning Sounds Letter Activity
    • Rhyming Words Activity
    • Activity Listening Activity
    • Hearing Skills Activity
    • Auditory Memory Strategies
    • What Does Active Listening Look Like?
    • Whole Body Listening Activity
    • Whole Body Listening Poster
    • Listening and Motor Skills Game
    • 2 Step Direction Cards
    • How to Support Hyper-Responsiveness of the Auditory Sense (handout and info sheet)
    • How to Support Hypo-responsiveness of the Auditory Sense (handout and info sheet)
    • Auditory Processing Tools Cards
    • Auditory Processing Speed -2 Digit Numbers
    • Auditory Processing Speed -3 Digit Numbers
    • Auditory Processing Speed -4 Digit Numbers

    Use the handouts and posters to teach about the auditory system and auditory sensitivities, with strategies to support individualized needs. Get your copy of the Auditory Processing Kit today.

    Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

    DIY Whisper Phone

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    DIY whisper phone
    One of our more popular posts here on The OT Toolbox is our post on classroom sensory strategies. For kids who struggle with attention challenges, general sensory processing needs, auditory processing, self-regulation, or other needs, a whisper phone can be a power tool when it comes to reading or processing auditory information.
     
    Below, you’ll find information on how to make a DIY whisper phone for only $3 and how a whisper phone helps kids of all ages! Plus, we’re sharing where we got this awesome idea to make a whisper phone that kids will love! For more sensory play ideas, stick around!!
     
    Affiliate links are included in this post. 
     
    Make a DIY whisper phone to address reading comprehension, letter sounds, and sensory processing needs.
     

    DIY Whisper Phone

    When it comes to therapy tools and equipment, finding the best deals is ideal. But even better is when you can make your own therapy tools at a fraction of the cost and still benefit from the therapeutic benefits.
     
    This DIY whisper phone is just the example. In fact, a whisper phone on Amazon (affiliate link) costs more than $6 so when you are shopping to fill the needs of a classroom or caseload, the DIY version can be a fun alternative. 
     
    Auditory processing activities may include whisper and volume of voice, including using a whisper phone in therapy.
     

    What is a Whisper Phone?

    First, you may be wondering “What is a whisper phone“…read on to find out what exactly a whisper phone is and how they can be so beneficial to so many kids. 
     
    Typically, a whisper phone is a tube shaped like a phone that can be held at the child’s ear and mouth. They can whisper sounds and words and clearly hear individual sounds without background noise. 
     
    They are a great tool for kids with auditory needs AND kids without auditory processing issues. Whisper phones can be so helpful in teaching any child to recognize sounds of letters! Kids can use a whisper phone to hear themselves read, which helps them with comprehension and fluency through auditory feedback.
     
    A whisper phone is a tool that can be so helpful for kids with auditory processing needs or other concerns that interfere with a child’s ability to focus on auditory input. These kids sometimes struggle with pulling out important information from auditory input. 
     
    The whisper phone device can be used to address several areas of auditory needs. Auditory processing challenges can look like a variety of things:
    • Poor listening skills
    • Auditory attention challenges (distractions by sounds in a classroom or home)
    • Difficulty with language comprehension
    • Auditory sensory sensitivities
    • Other listening concerns
    Using a whisper phone can help with skills like:
    • Auditory discrimination
    • Auditory sequencing
    • Auditory memory
    • Auditory figure-ground
    Other times, a whisper phone is used in reading to help kids recognize sounds in words, including pronunciation, fluency, and reading comprehension. This can be helpful for kids without auditory processing needs too! 
     
    Make a DIY whisper phone to address reading comprehension, letter sounds, and sensory processing needs.
     

    How to use a Whisper Phone

    Sometimes a whisper phone is used in the classroom setting during reading tasks. To use this auditory feedback device, it is quite simple:

    1. Hold one end of the whisper phone up to your ear. 
    2. Hold the other end of the device up to your mouth. 
    3. Whisper into the phone and listen for the sound waves to move through the device to directly to the ear. 

    Some whisper phones require two hands like the one we created. Others can be held in one hand. These devices might be a U-shaped piece of tubing, or a few pieces of PVC pipe that are glued together. These types of whipser devices are nice for feedback during reading. 

    To use the whisper device, ask the student to experiment with a variety of sound levels. They can whisper, talk, hum to see how sounds are transferred directly to their ears. 

    As the student to read aloud into the device. Then ask them to read while there is background noise present. Let them experiment and see how loud they need to speak into the device to ensure auditory comprehension.

    Here are more auditory processing activities that can help.
     
    Make a DIY whisper phone to address reading comprehension, letter sounds, and sensory processing needs.
     

    A whisper phone can be used in many ways:

     
    Sound out letters to help kids recognize the sounds associated with each letter. This is SO important in kids whom we later see in therapy who can not associate letter formation and struggle with handwriting and formation!
     
    1. Sound out words to identify parts of words.
    2. Auditory feedback when reading.
    3. Provide a calming sensory diet activity.
    4. Improve self-confidence with reading skills.
    5. Discriminate between sounds and background noise.
    6. Identify tone and volume of speech.
    7. So much more!
     
    Make a DIY whisper phone to address reading comprehension, letter sounds, and sensory processing needs.

     

    How to make a DIY Whisper Phone

    We were inspired to make a DIY whisper phone when we saw a fun activity in the new STEAM Learn and Play Book. This whisper phone is not the traditional hand-held style, but more like the traditional can phones from the therapist’s childhood! 
     
    We made a whisper phone that can be used with two children and is a fun way to address the needs described above. 
     
    To make a DIY whisper phone, you’ll need just three items. We gathered these items at our Dollar store, making the DIY whisper phone a great deal! 
    • Two small funnels
    • One tube
    To make the DIY whisper phone, just connect the funnels to a tube. The bendy tube that we used was long enough to reach between two friends. 
     
    If the tube doesn’t fit exactly, use a bit of tape to hold the tube in place. 
     
    Then, play and learn! 
     
    Make a DIY whisper phone to address reading comprehension, letter sounds, and sensory processing needs.
     
    This whisper phone is so easy to make that kids can make it themselves. In fact, it would be a great group activity for a small group in a camp setting. 
     

    Auditory Feedback Phone (STEM Activity)

    I love that this auditory feedback phone is a STEM activity that kids can create themselves as a STEM and fine motor activity. 

    By making this auditory feedback device, kids are learning about science with the concept of the auditory processing system, the mathematics of sound waves, and engineering to create the technical ability to transport whisper sounds through the device the creates feedback in the way of sounds. 

     

    We got the idea to make a whisper phone from the new (Amazon affiliate link) STEAM Play & Learn book written by Ana at Babble Dabble Do. What a fun book this is for hands-on activities that kids will WANT to do while learning and playing. 
     
    Each page is full of colorful activities that teach.
     
     
     
     
    There are so many fun ways to explore science, technology, engineering, art, and math with this book. For parents or teachers looking for a complement to a specific curriculum, this book is it. Kid can explore so many areas while learning through hands-on play.
     
    The OT in my LOVES the tactile experiences shared in this book! Check out some of the ideas below:
     
     
     
     

    Looking for more ways to address sensory needs? 

    You will love our Printable Sensory Diet Cards that cover so many areas! There are activities and ideas to address auditory processing needs, plus every other sensory system. Grab our Sensory Diet Cards for a complete packet of sensory activities. You’ll find 24 pages of 345 sensory diet activities including:

    • Calming and alerting movement activities
    • Heavy work fine motor activities for pre-writing needs or fidgeting needs
    • Sensory activities
    • Sensory support cards
    These sensory diet cards can be used in the home, classroom, or clinic. They are available now for $9.99 on The OT Toolbox shop. 
    Use printable sensory diet cards to encouraging sensory input through play
     
     
    Fall Leaf themed auditory processing activities for sensory needs in kids.Auditory processing dominoes made with bells are perfect for a color matching activity, and can be graded to meet the auditory needs of all ages.Auditory processing sensory ideas for backyard summer sensory play, perfect for sensory diet ideas for kids.Baby Sensory bottles using recycled spice jars
     
     
     
     
     
     

     

    More ways to use a Whisper phone in auditory processing skills

    Many of the activities in the Auditory Processing Kit can be used with a DIY whisper phone or a commercial version.

    The Auditory Processing Kit is a tool to support learners by building skills in listening comprehension, auditory processing needs, and much more. The tools offer support to learners with hyper-responsive or hypo-responsive auditory systems. Therapists love the hands-on activities to support learning and active listening through play and handwriting tasks.

    • Listening Comprehension
    • Fine Motor Listening Skills
    • How to Improve Listening Skills Poster
    • Clap It Out Syllables Orthographic Activities
    • Beginning Sounds Letter Activity
    • Rhyming Words Activity
    • Activity Listening Activity
    • Hearing Skills Activity
    • Auditory Memory Strategies
    • What Does Active Listening Look Like?
    • Whole Body Listening Activity
    • Whole Body Listening Poster
    • Listening and Motor Skills Game
    • 2 Step Direction Cards
    • How to Support Hyper-Responsiveness of the Auditory Sense (handout and info sheet)
    • How to Support Hypo-responsiveness of the Auditory Sense (handout and info sheet)
    • Auditory Processing Tools Cards
    • Auditory Processing Speed -2 Digit Numbers
    • Auditory Processing Speed -3 Digit Numbers
    • Auditory Processing Speed -4 Digit Numbers

    Use the handouts and posters to teach about the auditory system and auditory sensitivities, with strategies to support individualized needs. Get your copy of the Auditory Processing Kit today.

    Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

    Auditory Attention Activities

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    auditory attention activities

    Below, you will find information on how to improve attention and memory with auditory processing techniques, specifically through auditory feedback. We’re sharing information regarding an auditory processing tool and auditory attention activities to utilize auditory feedback to promote attention and memory within functional tasks. Attention to language, aspects of sound, and auditory memory skills can be impacted by auditory attention. This as well as auditory sensitivities can impact learning and functional participation in everyday tasks.

    Auditory attention activities for kids and adults

    On a daily basis, therapy providers witness the strong connections between attention and memory, and their influence on function. They’re also able to prescribe customized therapy programs that ameliorate each level of auditory processing needed to carry out a task. Activities that work multiple systems while strengthening the foundation of function help to streamline therapy and meet goals. This wholistic approach is a hallmark of the occupational therapy profession.

    Auditory Processing

    We’ve shared various auditory processing activities here on The OT Toolbox. Today, we’re chatting about auditory feedback and the part this plays in improving attention needed in learning. You can find additional resources and activities like this auditory feedback tool at the bottom of this post.

    Tips and strategies to improve attention and memory with auditory processing.

    Memory and Attention are the Foundations for Learning

    Memory and attention work together in the brain to form the basis of our cognitive abilities. Attention is the ability to process information—sometimes selectively—and memory is the ability to store that information for retrieval as needed.

    This foundation impacts everything we do, including basic cognitive tasks (such as brushing our teeth) and more complex tasks (like playing a musical instrument).

    What is auditory feedback and how does this skill play into auditory processing and its impact on attention and memory?

    What is Auditory Feedback

    Auditory Feedback is a natural process in the human body that helps us understand and modulate sound and speech signals in real time. When we speak, our ears receive the signal, and our brains make sense of it.

    In the case of vocalizations, and to a greater extent speech, our brains modulate the productions in real time so that we can quickly adapt, ensuring our message is accurate.

    Strengthening the Foundation

    Simply using the auditory feedback system—or auditory feedback loop—is one way to ensure that memory and attention continue to work well. We do this every day by listening to sounds and speaking.

    In order to improve these skills, we need to challenge the brain in specific ways. We know that the brain is plastic; it is a living organ that changes and adapts to the needs of the body. I

    f someone stops using their left arm, the brain will strengthen connections to the right arm to compensate. Furthermore, the neural connections that aren’t being used for the left arm will start to deteriorate, which is hard evidence for the “use it or lose it” adage.

    Practical and Results-Focused Brain Training

    Disclosure: Affiliate links are included below.

    Capitalizing on the audio-feedback loop and its ability to improve memory and attention in the brain is the business of Forbrain® Bone Conduction Headphones. With these headphones, a simple task can become a multi-faceted memory and attention-boosting transformation.

    Bone conduction hearing is ten times quicker than air conduction and while using Forbrain, which includes a microphone and a dynamic filter, manipulated sound stimuli reach the brain quicker, and are presented in a way that’s naturally challenging.

    Challenging the brain is synonymous with growing the brain!

    The use of bone conduction headphones has been proven to improve therapy outcomes. One study suggests that there is a real basis for the claims that Forbrain can improve voice quality and the executive attentional mechanisms and memory. The results suggest that an auditory feedback device such as Forbrain® could be helpful in improving focus in those who have attention disorders such as ADHD, and those who have difficulties with speech production and auditory processing (Escera).

    For more information on the bones in the ears, check out this list of bone names which covers all of the bones in the body.

    Easy auditory Attention activities:

    These auditory attention activities are easy ways to to improve attention through auditory processing. These strategies can be used at any age, and depend on the need. Learners that struggle with listening comprehension will find strategies that impact attention. Younger children will benefit from quick activities such as nursery rhymes and clapping games that impact auditory attention skills at an age-appropriate level.

    It’s as simple as wearing the headphones while carrying out auditory feedback activities during therapy or during everyday tasks. All of these strategies impact auditory memory.

    Examples of activities might include:

    • Reading a book or poetry aloud
    • Reciting nursery rhymes
    • Clapping games and movement activities
    • Practicing tone and pitch while singing
    • Playing a musical instrument
    • Memorizing material for an exam
    • Performing exercises to improve posture and diaphragmatic breathing

    Forbrain isn’t just for therapists or those of us in a therapy program. If you or someone you know can benefit from the improved memory and attention abilities that Forbrain provides, read more about using a bone conduction headset and grab one of your ownn here.

    Tips and tools for better attention using auditory feedback and other auditory processing strategies.

    References:

    Escera, C. (2015). A scientific single case study on speech, auditory processing and attentional strengthening with Forbrain® . Retrieved from Agency name website: https://www.forbrain.com/uploads/editor/files/Scientific_Research_Forbrain-Carles_Escera-Summary_Report.pdf

    Auditory Processing Kit
    Auditory Processing Kit

    The Auditory Processing Kit is a tool to support learners by building skills in listening comprehension, auditory processing needs, and much more. The tools offer support to learners with hyper-responsive or hypo-responsive auditory systems. Therapists love the hands-on activities to support learning and active listening through play and handwriting tasks.

    • Listening Comprehension
    • Fine Motor Listening Skills
    • How to Improve Listening Skills Poster
    • Clap It Out Syllables Orthographic Activities
    • Beginning Sounds Letter Activity
    • Rhyming Words Activity
    • Activity Listening Activity
    • Hearing Skills Activity
    • Auditory Memory Strategies
    • What Does Active Listening Look Like?
    • Whole Body Listening Activity
    • Whole Body Listening Poster
    • Listening and Motor Skills Game
    • 2 Step Direction Cards
    • How to Support Hyper-Responsiveness of the Auditory Sense (handout and info sheet)
    • How to Support Hypo-responsiveness of the Auditory Sense (handout and info sheet)
    • Auditory Processing Tools Cards
    • Auditory Processing Speed -2 Digit Numbers
    • Auditory Processing Speed -3 Digit Numbers
    • Auditory Processing Speed -4 Digit Numbers

    Use the handouts and posters to teach about the auditory system and auditory challenges, with strategies to support individualized needs. Get your copy of the Auditory Processing Kit today.

    Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

    Paper Plate Activities

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    Paper plate activities and paper plate crafts for occupational therapy

    In occupational therapy, paper plate activities are one of those OT intervention tools that are low-cost and can be used in a multitude of ways to support many different developmental skills. From paper plate interactive activities, to scissor activities, to fine motor development, paper plate crafts and sensory activities can be used to promote many skill areas in occupational therapy interventions or at home and in the classroom.

    Paper plate activities and paper plate crafts to develop skills like fine motor skills, social emotional skills, and gross motor skills.

    Paper Plate Activities

    I get really excited when I talk about the next subject – paper plate activities! Paper plate crafts and activities are so fun and often require very little materials with the end result being so wonderful for kids! 

    Paper plates can easily be used for arts and crafts, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, subject or topic learning, visual motor and perceptual skills, emotions and self-regulation as well as a myriad of games.

    Paper plates can be a go-to when you need a quick activity in any setting or on those cold, rainy days when you need something to keep the kids busy. They are a great motivator for kids and can help build important skills that a child needs to continue to learn and to grow. 

    Paper plates are a thrifty tool for therapy to build those motor and perceptual skills while providing a fun activity that any child will want to engage in during sessions. The use of paper plates in the classroom can be for exploring emotions and self-regulation, creating after reading a book and lots of subject and topic learning fun. Their use in the home can include arts and crafts, instrument making, and games that result in some fantastic family entertainment.

    Paper plates will give you the variety you need to help many kiddos on your caseload, in your classroom, or in your household. So, the next time you’re at the store, grab some plain or even festive paper plates and see what fun you can create with kids and you may find that you enjoy the fun too! 

    Use these paper plate crafts to work on scissor skills, hand strength, dexterity, eye-hand coordination, and more.

    Paper Plate Crafts

    In occupational therapy interventions, we often use crafts as a medium for developing skills (taking us back to our roots of our profession!) These paper plate crafts are great for developing fine motor skills, scissor skills, bilateral coordination, motor planning, executive functioning skills, and more.

    • Mini Beach– Work on hand strength, utensil use, and more to make a paper plate beach craft.
    • Paper Bowl Scarecrow Craft– Use this paper plate craft to work on fine motor skills like precision, dexterity, and mixed medium use. Add in emotional learning to make the scarecrow personalized. Kids can take this craft and add their own unique twists for a multi-sensory craft with open-ended results.
    • Paper Plate Snail Craft– Work on precision, in-hand manipulation, arch development, and other fine motor skills with this paper plate snail craft.
    • Paper Plate Cars This craft is great for addressing scissor skills.
    • Paper Plate Baseball Craft– Improve scissor skills with this paper plate baseball craft.
    • Paper Plate Bubble Gum Machine Craft– Work on eye-hand coordination skills.
    • Thanksgiving Feast Plate – Use this craft to work on functional tasks such as meal skills and utensil use, as well as hand strength.
    • Tin Foil Moon– This is a great craft for working on graded hand strength and bilateral coordination skills.

    Paper Plate Activities for Emotions and Self- Regulation

    The best thing about occupational therapy professionals is that they can use ANY material to work on a variety of skill areas. Use paper plates to address social emotional learning and self-regulation skills!

    Paper Plate Fine Motor Activities

    Paper plates are a great fine motor activity to support hand strengthening, scissor skills, bilateral coordination, and more.

    Paper Plate Gross Motor Activities

    Paper plates can be used in therapy to support gross motor skills, too.

    Paper Plate Learning Activities

    Use these activities to work on functional tasks and executive functioning skills needed in daily occupations such as learning, math, using a phone, telling time, name writing, and more.

    Paper Plate Auditory Processing with Paper Plate Instruments

    You can use paper plates to work on auditory processing, too.

    Paper Plate Visual Motor Activities

    Paper plates are a great tool to use in therapy to address visual motor skills.

    Now, what are you waiting for? Go grab some paper plates and pick an activity!!

    Regina Allen

    Regina Parsons-Allen is a school-based certified occupational therapy assistant. She has a pediatrics practice area of emphasis from the NBCOT. She graduated from the OTA program at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute in Hudson, North Carolina with an A.A.S degree in occupational therapy assistant. She has been practicing occupational therapy in the same school district for 20 years. She loves her children, husband, OT, working with children and teaching Sunday school. She is passionate about engaging, empowering, and enabling children to reach their maximum potential in ALL of their occupations as well assuring them that God loves them!

    Outdoor Sensory Activities for the Backyard

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    outdoor sensory activities for kids with sensory processing challenges.

    If you are looking for outdoor sensory activities, this is the place to start. Here, you’ll find outdoor sensory ideas to address each sensory system. Also included are sensory play ideas to use in the backyard when creating an outdoor sensory diet for children.

    outdoor sensory activities for kids with sensory processing challenges.

    Outdoor Sensory Activities or a Sensory Diet?

    So often, kids are sent home from therapy with a sensory diet of specific activities and sensory tools that are prescribed for certain sensory processing needs. When a therapist creates a home exercise program, they do their best to ensure carryover through small lists of activities, parent education, and 
    motivating activities that are based on the child’s interests and personal goals.

    The important thing to recognize is that there is a difference between sensory play and sensory diets. Read here for more information on what a sensory diet is and isn’t.

    When therapists develop a specific and highly individualized sensory diet, it’s not just throwing together a day filled with sensory input. A sensory diet  is a specific set of sensory tools used to meet and address certain needs of the individual based on sensory need and strategizing.

    Each of the sensory diet activities above should meet specific needs of the child. Every child is different so applying sensory input to one child may look very different than that of another. Parents should use the tactics below along with your child’s occupational therapist.

    So, using sensory diet tools within the context of environments or activities that are deeply meaningful to a family and child such as play that is already happening, can be the meaningful and motivating strategy to actually get that sensory diet task completed. And it benefits the child along with the whole family. 

    These outdoor sensory diet activities are good sensory experiences to meet the needs of children with sensory processing needs or those who struggle with sensory related behaviors, perfect for a home exercise program or occupational therapy activities.

    Outdoor Sensory Activities

    These outdoor sensory activities are those that can be included into backyard play. That may look like independent play by the child or it might mean family time on a Sunday afternoon. Use these outdoor sensory diet activities in the backyard to as sensory tools that double as playtime for the child while he/she learns and grows… or to meet the sensory needs of the child while creating memories and enjoying time together!

    Below is a huge list of outdoor sensory activities, but to focus on each sensory system, check out these resources:

    These outdoor sensory activities are good sensory experiences to meet the needs of children with sensory processing needs or those who struggle with sensory related behaviors, perfect for a home exercise program or occupational therapy activities.

    Bakyard Sensory Activities

    • Slide down a hill on cardboard
    • Grass sensory bin
    • Use a magnifying glass to inspect the grass and dirt
    • Mud kitchen
    • Roll down hills
    • Animal walks with bare feet
    • Create nature “soup” with grass, flower petals, sticks, etc.
    • Pick flowers
    • Cartwheels and tumbling on the grass (barefoot or with shoes!)
    • Water Table with nature
    • Cartwheel or tumbling 
    • Target games
    • Outdoor lawn games
    • Bean bag games
    • Relay races
    • Hide and seek games
    • Simon Says games- Print off these Simon Says commands.
    • Tag 
    • Bell parade
    • Kazoo sound hunt
    • Listening for birds or animals
    • Record backyard sounds and playback the recording. Try to recognize and name the sound and where it was located in the yard.
    • Fill containers with items from the backyard.  Shake plastic containers or even paper bags with the items and see if your child can name the objects.
    • Play Marco Polo in the yard!
    • Auditory backyard games like: Neighborhood Listening Scavenger Hunt, Auditory Hide and Seek, Listening Tag, Noisy Toy Positioning Game
    • Create with recycled materials and make arts, crafts, and activities.
    • Pull plastic ware out of the cupboards and sort the lids onto the containers. Mix colors with food coloring in water.
    • Blow bubbles
    • Jump rope
    • Play Kickball
    • Throw a book picnic: grab snacks, a blanket, and a pile of books and head outside.
    • Dress up with old fancy dresses and clothes from mom’s closet (then throw them in a bag and donate!)
    • Bake
    • Poke holes in a cardboard box and push pipe cleaners through the holes
    • Bowl with recycled plastic water bottles
    • Act out a favorite nursery rhyme
    • Play tag games for heavy work, spatial awareness, and body awareness.
    • Put dollhouses or play sets into a bin of shredded paper.
    • Play hide and seek
    • Climb trees
    • Watch and draw clouds
    • Tell stories where one person starts a story and each person adds a sentence to continue the story.  Write it down and illustrate your story!
    • Make and deliver lemonade to neighbors
    • Go birdwatching
    • Make creative firefly catchers and then catch the fireflies that night.
    • Play charades
    • Act out a favorite book
    • Create with finger paints (make your own with flour, water, and food coloring or washable paint!)
    • Sing songs
    • Turn on music and dance
    • Pick flowers and give them to neighbors
    • Make summer crafts that build skills.
    • Have an art show and invite friends.
    • Create a spatial concepts map
    • Spin in circles.
    • Swing side to side on a swing set.
    • Hang upside down from swing set equipment.
    • Swing on a hammock.
    • Backyard dance party.  Encourage lots of whole body movements and spinning.
    • Cartwheels
    • Tumbles
    • Hopscotch
    • Play Leapfrog
    • Mini trampoline (or the big sized-trampoline) Catch a ball while standing, sitting, swinging, rolling a ball, catching between legs, etc.
    • Hit a tennis racket at a target including bubbles, falling leaves, large balls, small rubber balls, and balloons
    • Catch butterflies in a net
    • Bubble pop, including popping bubbles with a toe, knee, foot, head, finger, or elbow  
    • Play with goop
    • Draw in shaving cream on a cookie sheet outdoors. Then squirt off in the hose.
    outdoor equipment for sensory input in the backyard

    Backyard Sensory Equipment

    There are outdoor play items you may have already that can be repurposed to use in outdoor sensory play. These are common backyard toys or things that might be in your garage! It can be fun to re-think these items for a means of adding sensory input.

    Make a bin of outdoor toys that are readily available in your garage or storage area so that sensory play experiences are at your family’s fingertips. For example, all of these items could be used in an outdoor balance beam.

    • Hoola Hoops
    • Jump Ropes
    • Balls
    • Bat
    • Tennis Racket
    • Butterfly Net
    • Baby Swimming Pool
    • Tarp or Slip and Slide
    • Water Hose
    • Scoops and cups
    • Sidewalk chalk
    • Bike
    • Scooter
    • Skateboard
    • Cardboard
    • Target or net
    • Shovels
    • Buckets
    • Play wheelbarrow
    • Swing set
    • Climbing structure
    • Flashlight
    • Magnifying glass
    • Cones
    • Bubbles
    • Bean bags

    Outdoor Sensory issues

    Summer can mean sensory processing issues that impact kids with sensitivities or over responsiveness to sensory input. For autistic children or anyone with a neurodiversity that impacts sensory processing, summer can mean a real hatred for being outside in the hot summer months.

    So what are some of the reasons that sensory kids have issues with being outside during the summer?

    It can be hard to encourage outdoor play (and gain all of the benefits of outdoor play) when the summer months add a different level of sensory input. Here are some of the reasons that sensory kids are challenged in the summertime:

    For kids with sensory needs, it can be overwhelming to have an open space full of sights, sounds, scents, and textures.

    • Tolerance of the cuffs of shorts or sleeves
    • Tight bathing suits
    • Sensation of sunscreen
    • Sensation of socks or other clothing in hot weather
    • Humidity changes
    • Summer thunderstorms (can change the air temperature)
    • Short clothing that brushes on legs or arms
    • Sandals or open-toed shoes
    • Crowds or places where others are in close contact
    • Wearing a mask in warmer temperatures
    • Honking horns, barking dogs, and other sounds that frequent the backyard or lawn can be too much for the child with sensory sensitivities
    • Bright sun that is at a different angle in the sky than other months of the year
    • Overwhelming smells: cut grass, lawnmower gas, sunscreen, sweat, body odors, garbage scents
    • Interoceptive issues with body temperature, increased need for water, less hunger due to heat

    All of these sensory issues can occur unexpectedly and that unexpectedness of sensory input can be overwhelmingly alarming for those with autism or neurodiversity.

    How to help with summer sensory overload

    • Visual schedule
    • Help the child know what to expect
    • Wear shoes instead of sandals or bear feet
    • Proprioceptive input such as firm touch to the shoulders
    • Limit time outdoors
    • Know triggers for sensory overload and plan ahead when possible
    • Oral motor jewelry
    • Communicate travel or outdoor time needs
    • Calming vestibular sensory input such as side to side or forward-front slow swinging
    • Play that involves throw and play catch with a weighted ball
    • Bucket of water to rinse hands if child is sensitive to messy hands or dirt
    • Sheltered area if child is sensitive to wind blowing on skin
    • Wear a lightweight wind jacket
    • Bring a water bottle with straw for proprioceptive input
    • Calming or alerting snacks
    • Portable fan to help with overheating if needed
    • Hat with brim to reduce bright light or intense light in eyes or on face
    • Umbrella to deflect direct sun rays and prevent overheating
    • Sunscreen with firm touch before going outdoors
    • Scent free sunscreen
    • Sunscreen lotion vs. spray sunscreen (or vice versa depending on the particular needs and preferences)
    • Sensory friendly clothing, bathing suits, goggles
    • Wear sunglasses
    • Wear headphones to reduce background noise
    • Be aware of freshly cut grass which as a strong scent
    • Wear thin gloves for tactile activities
    • Use water shoes or crocks instead of sandals

    More about outdoor sensory diet activities

    Sensory diets and specific sensory input or sensory challenges are a big part of addressing sensory needs of children who struggle with sensory processing issues. Incorporating a schedule of sensory input (sensory diet) into a lifestyle of naturally occurring and meaningful activities is so very valuable for the child with sensory needs.    That’s why I’ve worked to create a book on creating an authentic and meaningful sensory lifestyle that addresses sensory needs. The book is now released as a digital e-book or softcover print book, available on Amazon.    The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook walks you through sensory diet creation, set-up, and carry through. Not only that, but the book helps you take a sensory diet and weave it into a sensory lifestyle that supports the needs of a child with sensory processing challenges and the whole family.  

    Get The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook here.

    The Sensory Lifestyle Handbook is a resource for creating sensory diets and turning them into a lifestyle of sensory success through meaningful and motivating sensory enrichment.
    These outdoor sensory diet activities are good sensory experiences to meet the needs of children with sensory processing needs or those who struggle with sensory related behaviors, perfect for a home exercise program or occupational therapy activities.

    Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

    Toy Theme Play Dough Mat

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    toy theme play dough mat

    This toy theme play dough mat may be just the incentive kids need to build hand strength! Kids can improve hand strength in fun ways when play dough is added to the mix. We’ve been sharing a variety of free play dough mats based on several different themes. These are free printable playdough mats that kids can use to increase hand strength, specially strength of the intrinsic muscles of the hands.

    The fact is that using a printable mat in play dough activities for fine motor skills is fun, innovative, and creative. Kids love them!

    Use this free printable toy theme play dough mat to boost fine motor skills and hand strength that kids need for fine motor tasks, perfect for those kids that love play dough activities!


    Toy Theme PlayDough Mat

    Kids love toys, right? I haven’t met a child who isn’t captivated by a new toy. This toy theme play dough mat builds on the fundamental “job” that kids have…play!


    You can print off this printable play dough mat that focuses on toys and an toy theme and use it to work on fine motor skills and the intrinsic muscle strengthening that kids need to complete many functional tasks…and even play!

    Toy Themed Play Dough Mat for Fine Motor Skills

    Show your child how to use the finger tips and thumb of one hand to roll a small ball of play dough. By using just one hand, they can develop and define the arches of the hand, while strengthening the other muscles of the intrinsic muscle groups at the same time.   

    Then, ask the child to place and press the play dough on the circles on the toy play dough mat. They may need to pull off a bit of dough to make the play dough ball fit into the circles. This is a great activity for boosting visual perceptual skills too!  

    Looking for more ways to use play dough to increase fine motor skills? Add these play dough activities to your therapy toolbox!

    Gold, Silver, & Bronze Metallic Crayon Play Dough

    Patriotic Crayon Salt Dough Recipe

    Crayon Salt Dough Recipe

    Crayon Floam Dough Recipe

    Crayon Shaving Art

    Shades of Red Crayon Play Dough

    Harold and the Purple Crayon Play Dough

    Here are more free play dough mats:

    Free Ice Cream Play Dough Mat

    Free Bird Play Dough Mat

    Free Toys Play Dough Mat

    Free Astronaut Play Dough Mat

    Free City Skyline Play Dough Mat

    Enter your email in the form below and access your free printable play dough mat. Then, pull out the play dough!   

    Grab this FREE printable Toy themed play dough mat to help kids strengthen the intrinsic muscles of the hands!

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      Kids will love this free playdough mat with a toy theme while building the hand strength and fine motor skills.
       

      Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

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