The Sensory System

Definitions and activity ideas

Hello parents and caregivers! My name is Abigail Simmons, and I am an Occupational Therapy student. I completed my doctoral capstone project with High Horses January-April 2022. Part of my project focus was on the sensory processing system and how it affects the riders at High Horses. I wanted to create a guide to help parents and caregivers. If you’re struggling with your kid having meltdowns, jumping off the furniture, making big messes, or constantly eating, this guide may help you!

*a quick note* I am still a student, so, what I am writing is based on my emerging expertise from school courses, fieldwork experience, and personal study. I am hoping to offer insight into the sensory system, and suggestions to help inside days go smoother, I am not looking to diagnose your child or offer treatment. If you believe that your child may benefit from specific treatment for the sensory system, you can contact an occupational therapist (who you can find from a quick google search) to learn more about this type of treatment. If you want to know more about the sensory system, I will include recommended books and other resources at the end of this guide.

What is the sensory system?

(In a nutshell)

Every person has sensory processing. Simply put, the sensory processing system is a way for the body and brain to communicate with each other. The body uses its senses to receive information about the world and send that info to the brain. The brain receives the info from the body, organizes it, and then decides what the correct response is. The brain then sends a signal to the body to produce the correct response. There are 8 different senses that the body uses:

Sight – the information your eyes take in
Sound – the information your ears take in
Taste – the information your tongue takes in
Smell – the information your nose takes in
Touch – the information you take in through your skin when you feel or touch something
Vestibular – how your body keeps you balanced and upright
Proprioception – linked to body awareness, how your body can identify where its parts are in relation to other things
Interoception – information your internal organs take in like your stomach or bladder

Different sensory systems function in different ways. Children are still growing and developing, which includes their sensory system. Because of this, sometimes children deal with more sensory-based challenges than adults do. Additionally, sometimes a child has a sensory system that does not function properly. Sometimes when a child has a medical or neurodevelopmental diagnosis, they also have sensory system struggles. Whether your child may be struggling because of a diagnosed disorder, or just because they are still growing and developing their sensory system, we often see 2 different reasons for challenging behaviors.

Too Much Information:

Sometimes the brain can overreact to the information it is receiving. Sometimes information from certain senses is interpreted as an emergency, dangerous, or threatening. The brain then switches into a fight or flight response and shuts down any rational thought processes or responses until the threat can be eliminated. When the brain is in fight or flight due to a specific sensory overreaction, we often see challenging behaviors such as aggression, crying, hiding, anxiety, avoidance, refusal, etc. The brain is searching for a way to regain control over itself and calm down. Sometimes this can happen with information from just 1 of the 8 senses or sometimes it can be more. Sometimes children have a consistent trigger to this overreaction (like getting wet), other times the trigger can be inconsistent or "out of the blue" (one day it is getting wet, the next day it is getting sticky). Children who deal with this over-reactivity are often called sensory avoiders because they tend to avoid any sensory stimulation that could be interpreted as dangerous or threatening.

Too Little Information:

Sometimes the brain will not be able to register the sensory information it receives from the body. This can cause inaccurate or insufficient information in the brain, resulting in an incomplete picture of its environment, which can cause incorrect, awkward, or clumsy responses. Sometimes this can happen with information from just 1 of the 8 senses or sometimes it can be more. Different behavior commonly seen when this happens includes clumsiness, frequent falls, an overly tough kid who does not respond to pain, lack of pleasure or preference in food, unawareness of temperature, consistently dropping or spilling items, etc. These children may seem sleepy, lazy, or like they do not care about anything. Sometimes children will seek out a lot of sensory input through the senses in order to try to get a better picture of their environment; trying to compensate for the lack of information. These children are typically referred to as sensory seekers because they seek out things that will give them more information. Behavior commonly seen when a child is seeking information includes aggression, taking risks, climbing, jumping, bumping into things repeatedly, liking strong odors or tastes (sometimes ones others dislike), enjoying temperature extremes, regular chewing and mouthing at an older age, fidgeting, spinning, etc.

What can you do to help your child?

Avoider Activities:

Children who are avoiders can be tricky to help out because they want to protect their overreactive senses from being triggered at all costs. This can cause them to withdraw completely and only engaging in “safe” activities that they have determined will not trigger them. When your child is cooped up at home, they may be surrounded by possible “triggers”, which may cause them to withdraw and hide in their room, engaging in a safe preferred activity, or they may have constant meltdowns because they feel trapped. Ways to help them immediately:

Identify a few activities that your child loves to do (that you don’t mind them doing, your mental health is important too!) and put them in a list (words or pictures, whatever will communicate best with your child)
Identify at least 2 safe places for them to hang out in and list these as well (could be their room, the basement, the garage, parent’s room, wherever they feel safe)
Identify a few comfort things your child loves and add these to the list (could be a blanket or stuffed animal, hugs and kisses from mom, a warm bath, comfort food, etc. anything that helps your child feel calm and comforted).
Put together this list with your child, let them decide what to call it (my calming things, when I feel upset I can, etc.), decorate with them, enlist their help in identifying the items. Then hang the list somewhere that they can easily reference it. Maybe make a few of them and hang them in their room, the bathroom, playroom, kitchen, etc. Talk with your child and let them know that whenever they feel overwhelmed, yucky, or worried, they can take a break and go to a calming place, do a calming activity, or find a comfort item. With this “safe list” established, you can start to encourage your child to be more present during the day rather than withdrawing. This can also help prevent meltdowns, redirect meltdown behavior, and decrease the length of a meltdown.
Here are some additional things that may be calming to your child’s system:
- Massage/back rubs (typically heavier pressure is better than light soft touches)
- A warm bath, maybe with bath salts or essential oils like lavender (some kids like a brush or loofa massage with consistent heavy pressure), let your child set the temperature
- Sucking on hard candy, a spoonful of peanut butter, or frozen fruit (think back to infants sucking a thumb or pacifier to self soothe)
- Squeezes or hugs
- Sitting with a weighted blanket or being wrapped up tight in a “kid burrito” with a blanket (especially if they liked being swaddled as an infant)
- Making a “human sandwich” by placing a couch cushion or play mat on the floor, your child on top, and squishing them with another cushion or mat
- “Steamroller” with a therapy ball or yoga ball. Have your child lay on their stomach and roll the ball over their back and legs with consistent pressure. You can also try this with a volleyball or other handheld ball going up one leg, up to the nape of the neck, and rolling back down the other leg
- Pushups on the floor or against the wall. You can also have your child push their back or bottom against the wall
- Rocking in a rocking chair, swaying slowly, or gentle slow swinging

Seeker Activities:

Sensory seekers often engage in challenging behaviors in order to receive the sensory information they are wanting. For example, if your child pushes, they are getting the pressure and feedback of the push through their muscles. The same concept applies to biting and other behaviors. Some activities that may help your seeking child include:

Heavy work
- Put books or weights in a laundry basket and have your child pull them around the house. You can attach a rope to it and have them pretend to be a horse pulling a wagon
- Put books in your child’s backpack (up to 10% of their body weight) and have them carry it on their back
- Have them carry boxes or bins across the house and stack them.
Have them jump on a trampoline, bed, or couch
Make a “human sandwich” by placing a couch cushion or play mat on the floor, your child on top, and squishing them with another cushion or mat. You can use a pool noodle, wooden spoon, stick, or another long object to “spread the mustard” on them before placing the “other piece of bread” on top.
“Steamroller” with a therapy ball or yoga ball. Have your child lay on their stomach and roll the ball over their back and legs with consistent pressure, heavy pressure.
Pushups on the floor or against the wall. You can also have your child push their back, shoulders, head, or bottom against the wall
Spinning on a swing or office chair
An obstacle course with jumping, balancing, and animal walks
Have your child crunch on carrots, pretzels, chips, or other hard crunchy foods
Offer your child hot sauce or siracha to put on their meals
Give your child chewy foods such as licorice, gum, dried fruit, granola bars, etc.
Place essential oil diffusers or air fresheners in the spaces your child spends time in or purchase an essential oil necklace or bracelet and put strong smelling oils on them.
Encourage your child to hang upside down
Have your child bounce on a beach ball or therapy ball
Have your child hang from their hands on a pull-up bar or monkey bars

Have your child do some of these before trying to focus on something, sit still, or when they seem to be “bouncing off the walls”.

If you have a child who seems under-reactive but does not seek, here are a few activities to try if you want to motivate or “alert” them:

Spinning in an office chair
Crunching on crunchy foods or ice cubes
Take a shower with more extreme temperatures (colder than usual or a little warmer than usual)

Printable version of this guide

Additional Resources

High Horses Academy