The perfect sensory room is easier to make than you might think 🥰
We have some sensory room ideas to share with you. We provide the best sensory projector for when you want to really brighten up the room.
There a place in each of us where we go to feel calm, rest and to feel at home. Sometimes it is not easy to go within to find the harmony and peace we crave and for some of us, it can be near impossible to calm the mind and easily embrace a state of joy.
One might need a proper suited environment to help totally relax preventing our minds from being over and under-stimulated by external factors.
When it comes to children with special needs and sensory differences, creating a specialised sensory space can be the best idea. Sensory rooms and spaces are environments specially created to provide a sensory experience, designed to calm, reduce anxiety and improve focus for children on the autism spectrum or with different sensory differences.
Here we will describe some ideas to help create a great sensory room within your own home. Some of these options, when you check them online might seem pricey, but there are plenty of DIY options helping you to create a space for you and your kids to immerse in a healthy sensory experience.
Have you walked outside on a rainy day and suddenly seen someone carrying a strong pink umbrella and you felt your eyes hurt? Colours are an important feature to consider when thinking about some sensory room ideas. We all have our favourite colours and we already know which ones are calming or energising for us. Therefore, depending on the mood we want to create, we need to follow the colour path with caution in our new sensory space.
According to parentingspecialneeds.org, some of the best sensory-friendly colours are greens and blues. Research states these colours have shorter wavelengths and therefore do not overstimulate the brain. The softer the hue, the less tendency of chaotic feelings associated with them.
You will not go wrong with pastel colours as they bring with them a calm and peaceful feeling for an overstimulated child. Aiding a relaxing ambience and even creating a great environment for a good sleep.
It has also been found that if your child wants to write, paint or draw to opt for more neutral-toned paper, rather than the traditionally used white paper, as this keeps sensory stimulation at bay.
Lights suggested to be avoided are fluorescent lights, as mentioned by parentingspecialneeds.org. Those who don’t suffer sensory difficulties already feel eyes hurt when shining bright colours into eyes, so imagine how a child with these difficulties feels when they are exposed to these lights.
In conclusion, whether we are talking about toys, walls, blankets, lights or any other devices you might want to use in a sensory space, keep it natural when it comes to colours.
We have collated a small inventory of items which can make up a fantastic sensory room. You may not have a huge space to create a separate room dedicated to sensory activities. This doesn’t mean you have to miss out on these great products. You can still have a corner or wall that is invested for the use of a small projector, which is a healthy but not overbearing addition to any home.
This will not only add fantastic lights to your room, but you can also use it to project stories, images that you love to soothing and calming effects.
The Opti Aura sensory room projector produced by Optikinetics is the perfect device for such activities. The Aura to this day still uses effective technology that the company was founded upon and we now have around 200 different effect discs for you to try.
No matter the effect you will choose, a mesmerising experience will begin. The liquid wheels provide a relaxing and calming environment to immerse yourself with and the picture wheels can either bring back memories or help increase focus, creativity and imagination.
The Aura s projector is suitable for all, whether as a home projector to create hypnotic and cool effects for parties, as a soothing light for spas and therapists or as a great cost-effective light for a home Snoezelen or sensory room.
The Aura can project a moving image of any size, although it is recommended that the maximum image projected is 4m in diameter. For best results use the sensory projector in a dark room projected onto a light coloured surface.
Opti Aura sensory projector has a simple ‘plug and play’ operation and can be turned on and off, dimmed and set to 30-minute timer mode from the unit itself, making it a fantastic night light too.
Every space should have a secret spot. A sensory tent where the kids can hide to relax or play could be the best single option for a sensory place if you do not have an entire room to dedicate. Sensory tents help in calming, organising, and giving children a great sense of security.
You can decorate the tent as much as you like, adding different lights, projections, fidget toys, blankets, and any other object your child enjoys. Most children with sensory difficulties would rather spend some time alone when they are overstimulated by various external factors, therefore having a special sensory tent in your house will be a win-win as you can also keep an eye on them.
If you have an entire room as a sensory environment or just a corner, you must add some sensory toys in your mix. No sensory room idea should exclude this.
Depending on your child preferences the range of fidgeting and sensory toys greatly varies. You can also consider the colours and how your child reacts to different types of activities. We recommend you check this skybadger.co.uk article, where you can find a variety of sensory toys from fluffy pillows to different toy packs.
LilBits Toys is another impressive resource with creative and innovative sensory toys and activities. Just have a look where you will likely find something suitable for your children.
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© 2019 All rights reserved. Concept by 27 Flow Street
38 Cromwell Road,
Luton, Bedfordshire
LU3 1DN, United Kingdom ukadmin@optikinetics.co.uk
+44 (0)1582 411413
11211 Air Park Road,
Suite 1,
23005 Ashland,
Virginia, USA
optius@optikinetics.com
+1 800.575.6784
