Military Special Needs Network
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Making Sense of Sensory Issues
Guest Blogger Feature:
My daughter has some sensory difficulties, and so I created her an awesome book to help teach sensory awareness. This turned out to be the cutest book – and it cost me NOTHING. Just using things around the house and a little bit of time, you can create a wonderful book to help your child with sensory issues.
Materials Needed:
- 5 paper bags (lunch sacks, party bags, etc)
- String
- Glue
- Tape
- Stickers
- Scissors
- Various textures – smooth, rough, soft, hard, or anything your child might find interesting
Step #1: Gather your five paper bags together. Lay the paper bags on top of each other and fold in half to have an idea where the book spine will be.
Step #2: Use your scissors to punch two holes about ½ “from the top and ½ “from the bottom of the book spine. Make sure you go through to the very last lunch sack so all the holes are aligned. Put string through both holes and tie together.
Step #3: Once the “book” part has been made, it’s time to make the pages. Look around your home to find materials with interesting textures. What things are smooth, rough, soft, or hard? Some interesting textures are: straws, play-mat foam, tissue paper, and even the bags that potatoes come in!
This example shows many different textures for two pages in the book. The left side is a shiny wrapping paper bunched together and taped down with purple duct tape. I added stickers for additional color. I also wrote the word “crinkle”, so when I am playing with my little one, I can also teach her some vocabulary, in order to expressively convey
what the sounds is. The page on the right side is an example of how you can use the stickers to make a pretty scene. This one is called “Birds on a Wire.” I used the wire ties that come inside trash bags. You can just place them however which way, and then secure with tape. Finally, place the bird stickers on their new perches.
In this example, I used dry grass bunched together and glued onto the page. I added a tiger sticker and the word “tiger” to help and teach language skills. On the right page, I used more stickers and implemented texture. What is as soft as a bunny? Cotton balls! I just glued a couple to the stickers. As you go through your book’s pages, you can describe what they are feeling and they can see the words as well.
In this example, I use different lengths of straws and added site words. The right page is one of my favorites! A simple bag around a 3lb sack of potatoes makes a great texture. I cut a small piece off and made this awesome tiger cage! I used duct tape to hold down the materials. It’s great because my one year old can pull on it and it doesn’t come off.
I hope you all get some really great ideas from this. Materials are all over your home – just look around and make your child an awesome sensory book!
About the Author: Lorraine is a super awesome Navy wife and her family is currently stationed in San Diego, CA. She is the mom to two beautiful children.
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