10 Sensory Activities for Kids With Autism

Play is the work of children.  They learn about their world through their five senses and exploring their natural environments.  This looks like sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell.  Play is the vehicle for this exploration.  Toys and activities should be presented that stimulate their senses to deepen the sensory experience.

When creating activities for children, specifically those with Autism, sensory play should be involved to strengthen the child’s sensory experience and encourage exploration and understanding of the world.  Sensory play promotes creativity, problem solving, and curiosity.  It also evolves a multi-sensory experience helping children develop their fine and gross motor skills, language development, and cognition.  Below are 10 sensory activities to introduce to your children to have fun and encourage learning too!

1. Sensory Bin:

   A sensory bin is a great activity because it can be created with items found around your house. First, you will need a container (i.e. shoe box or clear acrylic case). Then, you will fill that container with one type of filler (i.e. could be rice, beans, leaves, water, rocks, sand). Next, select small items to place in the container (i.e. spoon, scoopers, paint brushes, tiny toys or trinkets). Now, it is ready for your child to explore. Have them touch the various textures, use the utensils, and explore, using their five senses, to engage with their sensory bin.
   
   

2. Shaving cream:

   Grab shaving cream from your bathroom and bring it to a table. Spray the shaving cream onto the surface for the child. Use food coloring to change the color of the shaving cream (bonus tip- use the choice strategy to increase language by having them choose the food coloring they want to use). Introduce toys, such as cars or animals. The children can pretend to clean and bath the toys or create race tracks or footprints within the shaving cream.
    

3. Make homemade cookies:

   Children love to imitate what they see adults doing. Bake with your child. The children can use their hands to roll the dough, use cookie cutters to make different shapes, sprinkle flour, and taste the raw dough and baked cookie. This also helps teach children real life skills while allowing them to explore with their five senses and maybe get a little messy!
   
   

4. Create slime from scratch:

   Who doesn’t like slime? It introduces the sticky, slimy texture that helps the children learn about textures through their sense of touch. To make slime, start with ¼ cup water, ⅔ cup of Elmer’s White Glue, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 2-3 cups of shaving cream, 1 ½ tablespoons of contact solution, and liquid food coloring. Put the glue in a bowl and mix in baking soda and water. Then, mix in the shaving cream. Incorporate the food coloring and then slowly pour in the contact solution. Now, it’s time to play! Present toys or utensils for the child to use while playing with this sticky slime!

   
   
   

5. Finger painting:

   Finger painting is a classic sensory activity for a reason. Finger painting allows children to physically engage with the medium and feel the paint on their fingers to create their artwork. To increase the sensory experience, glitter can be included to introduce a different texture. Let them use their fingers, brushes, forks, cotton swabs, or any other items you can find!
   
   

6. Sensory Tubes or Bottles:

   Similarly to the sensory bins, these tubes provide sensory input but can be portable! Sensory tubes or bottles can also be used for sensory and emotional regulation. First, remove tube or bottle labels and then fill with hair gel or glitter glue, water, hand soap, and loose glitter. You can also present the child with stickers, beads, food coloring, and tiny trinkets. The hair gel or glitter glue slows down the movement of the glitter, trinkets, beans, and food coloring provide visual stimulation for the child to roll around and turn upside down for some fun.

7. Water Tray:

   This activity is a great summer activity. Grab a tray or container and fill about halfway with water. Then, you can fill the water with different colors or soap. You can then place toys, balloons, and utensils within the water so the kids can splash around and explore the wet sensation on their hands or on their toys.

8. Utilize your ice tray:

   Freeze water in various size ice trays. In the water, freeze small toys. These toys can be small animal figurines, balls, or cars. Once the water is frozen, dump the ice out of the tray and place them on a mat for your child. Allow them to spread the ice around the mat, feeling the cold temperature. The warmth from their hands will melt the ice and reveal the treat inside. If you choose to color the water with food coloring, spreading the ice along the mat will also create watercolor paint for another sensory experience.
   
   

9. Bubble Foam:

   This activity is a unique spin on the traditional bubble play or bubble bath. To make bubble foam, you’ll need bubble bath, water, and food coloring. Use the bathtub or a clear acrylic tub for the bubble play. First, mix ½ cup of water and 1⁄4 cup of bubble bath. Then, add the food coloring to get the desired color of bubble foam. Place your child’s cars or animals within the foam. They can make foot prints or tire tracks within the foam. They can also search for the items hidden beneath the Foam. The bubbles create a foam texture which will keep your toddler entertained for hours.
   
   

10. Rainbow Pasta:

    Rainbow pasta is a super quick and easy activity that you can prepare on the fly. First, cook spaghetti, linguini, or angel hair pasta. For an extra detail, add a little bit of each pasta to provide your child with varying widths on pasta to increase the sensory component. After the pasta is cooked, divide the pasta into multiple ziploc bags. In each bag, add some food coloring of different colors. Close the bag and shake up to dye the pasta. Then, rinse the pasta off with cold water. The pasta should be placed into a bowl or acrylic container. Your child can play by touch the pasta with their hands or using utensils, such as tongs, to engage the pasta. Playing with rainbow pasta is a great sensory experience. It provides a slimy texture where the pasta slips through their hands, while allowing them to use different colors to create different patterns and learn the colors.
    
    

**Mess free option! If you don’t really like messes or your child is sensory avoidant, use Ziploc bags to put the sensory materials inside (i.e. water, slime, sand, rice, shaving cream, paint).  This controls the mess within the baggie but still allows your child to squeeze, feel, roll, and experience the sensory material to explore their environment.