SNOW WAY! Sensory Activities for Winter Days

Winter can be cold and snowy, but it’s always a wonderful time to engage in different sensory activities! Use the snow, cold weather, and holiday season to expose your child to countless sensory-based play activities, both indoors and outdoors. Playing with objects of various scents, textures, colors, and sounds, or engaging in activities that require your child to move their body in different directions and transition between various positions are great for providing sensory input. This will help them learn more about the world and how to process the sensory information they are constantly receiving.

Build a Snowman

Do you want to build a snowman? Yes! Getting outside to roll snowballs and build a large snowman provides great proprioceptive input. Proprioception is also known as the “joint sense” and lets us know where different body parts are in space, how they move, and how much pressure our body wants or needs to stay regulated. Encourage your child to pack the snow in their hands, roll it on the ground to gather more, and build massive snow balls to stack on top of each other!

Watch those Snowflakes

While you’re still outside, why not lie in the snow, make some snow angels, and stare at the snowflakes falling down? This provides great visual input! You and your child can pretend you’re inside a snow globe, looking at all of the snowflakes falling around you. You can also gather snow in your hands and encourage your child to blow it into the air! This provides great oral and visual input, all while your child is simply enjoying the snow day.

Sip Something Tasty

Go on inside and warm up with some hot chocolate! Sipping and sniffing a warm cup of hot-cocoa will give your child some great tastes and smells for their sensory system to process. Put a spin on the classic hot chocolate by stirring it with a candy cane or adding whipped cream or marshmallows. The added flavors and textures will provide increased oral input for your child.

Create a Snow Sensory Bin

Sensory bins are a great way to explore different textures, colors, and smells in one place! Help your child create a snow sensory bin by gathering some snow and adding other items. Feel free to include items from outside, such as rocks, leaves, or sticks. Add some from inside the home too, such as spoons and cups to scoop and pack the snow. Hide waterproof toys inside the bin and encourage your child to search for them. Sprinkle some glitter, paint, or food coloring into the bin for a visually-exciting spin on the usual white snow. The options are endless!

Questions or concerns?

If you have questions or concerns about your child’s responses to different kinds of sensory input, please contact us at info@playworkschicago.com or 773-332-9439.

 

Morgan Haak

Occupational Therapy Student Intern

 

References

Proske, U., & Gandevia, S. C. (2012). The proprioceptive senses: their roles in signaling body shape, body position and movement, and muscle force. Physiological reviews92(4), 1651-1697.

 

Photo Credits: Nelly Aran via Pexels; Victoria Borodinova via Pexels; Nelly Aran via Pexels; Jill Wellington via Pexels; Matej via Pexels

Falling in Love with Fall Sensory Activities!

Photo Credit: Mel Bailey via KneesBees

Fall is a season full of creative activities to do both indoors and outdoors. Use this season to expose your child to creative and different sensory play activities to get their imagination flowing. Sensory exploration can occur through different textures, smells, visual input, and even using something ordinary in a new way.

Paint a pumpkin 

Finger painting a pumpkin exposes your child to a whole new world of painting. From the slippery textures of the paint to the rough texture and ridges of the pumpkin your child will be able to allow their imagination to run wild on this novel canvas!

Photo Credit: Shaunna Evans via Fantastic Fun and Learning

Pumpkin carving

Gooey gooey goodness! Pumpkin carving is a great way to encourage your child to get hands-on with a mixed texture…the gooeyness of the inside of the pumpkin mixed with the firmness of the pumpkin seeds. This activity is a great way to promote your child to engage in more messy play!

Photo Credit: Cat Bowen via Romper

Crunching and jumping in leaves

Crunching in your hand or even stomping with your feet, fall leaves are a great way to engage your child in sensory play using a familiar object. Have your child help in creating a leaf pile to jump into to get their senses ready for the big jump. The crunchier the leaf the better!

Photo Credit: Sarah Clouser via Herviewfromhome

Fall sensory bin

Creating a fall sensory bin is a fun and exciting way to explore the different textures and smells of this season! Have your child help in creating the bin to increase their excitement. This bin can be created using all sorts of textures and everyday items from dried corn, popcorn kernels to pine cones and even cinnamon sticks to get their senses ready for the season.

PlayWorks Therapy

Questions or concerns ?

If you have questions or concerns about your child’s responses to different sensory inputs, please contact us at info@playworkschicago.com or 773-332-9439.

Urooba Khaleelullah, MOT, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist