When playtimes are tricky

Sensory integration

﻿Play times can be tricky when our tactile sense is overwhelmed by the other people around us or when we are under responsive and we don't pick up on any of the sensory cues. In today's lesson, we are going to look at games that will make play times easier. We as therapists have tried to think of the best way to continue to support children, young people and their families. We will be exploring topic areas that we regularly provide advice and support on across all ages and abilities. Each lesson will have ideas and activities that can be carried out at home or in school. This information is to be used alongside any specific strategies or resources which have been given by your child's school or therapist. If you have any questions or would like help tailoring this to your child's needs, then please contact your local therapy service. Playtimes. These can be really tricky when our tactile senses are easily overwhelmed, or when we miss out some of the touch cues. So we're going to have a look at different games and different ways that we can make play times easier today. So playing in a group can be tricky, especially if you're worried that people are going to bump into you. Playing clapping games can be something that you don't really like to do either because of all the touching involved. And doing arts and crafts or playing outside and getting your hands messy, may be something that you really don't like to do. And this can really impact on how we play with our friends and it can impact on our friendships as well, which can make it hard to have fun with everybody around you. So let's have a look at some of the things that we can do. When crafts are messy there are a few things that you may want to think about. You can see if you can use utensils, so maybe use a spoon to scoop things or to use a paintbrush instead of painting with your hands. You may want to think about wearing very thin gloves and ask your parents, carer or teacher whether these can be made available to you, especially when you have to handle some gloopy things like when you're doing baking activities or when you're doing hand painting. And another really helpful, it's very, very easy to remember this, but sometimes we forget is to just have a bowl next to you when you're doing messy things, and then you can quickly rinse your hands and use a dry towel to just dry your hands in between. And that can make it easier to tolerate all of these different gooey substances on your hands. Games that avoid bumping is something that you may want to let your friends know about it, and instead of just playing tag, you can maybe think about playing one of these games. One of the games is called follow-the-leader, where one person decides how you're going to move and what you're going to do and everybody else follows in a line behind the leader, and it can be really, really fun to do that at play times. Another game is hopscotch where you have where you draw with chalk on the pavement or on the playground, and then you can play a jumping game with that. Skipping is something else where that distance is good between you and other people. And another game is a rolling dodgeball. So instead of having someone throwing a ball at you, they have to roll it. And it works really well when you can use a really big ball, something like a therapy ball or those gym balls, they are really brilliant for rolling dodgeball games. Another idea is to play slower and more predictable ballgames. So piggy-in-the-middle, badminton, or another trick is when people are playing football and you do want to join in, but you don't like all the kind of scuffle and people bumping into you, you can always offer to be the goalie. And in that way, you have a little bit more control about where that ball is going to come and other people are not going to bump into you because you are in goal. So these are a few tips that you can think about when you play with your friends next time. For today, we are going to make a sensory bag and we're also go to make a little sensory bin. So what we're going to do is you're going to get everything ready first. So pause the video here to collect your items and ask your parent or carer to help you. You are going to need a resealable, strong, clear plastic bag. You're going to need some cake sprinkles. If you haven't got that, you can find anything else that you want to add into your bag that's kind of sensory and looks nice. I mean, duct tape is something really good because it's waterproof and it's really sticky. So that's something else that you will need. So pause the video and get everything ready and when you're ready, press play and I will show you how to make this. Great, so making a sensory bag is really easy, but what it does is it gives you something nice to play with, and you can actually have lots of gooey things things in the sensory bag, but because there's plastic between your hands and whatever's inside it does make it more easy to tolerate. So what you're going to do is you're going to reinforce the sides and the bottom of your freezer bag by folding duct tape over them. Then you're going to pour in your sprinkles and you're going to remove the excess air and seal the bag at the top. Then you're going to add another light bit of duct tape at the top end. So I've made a little sensory bag. If I just grab it here, you can hear it, there it goes. So I've made a little sensory bag already. All I need to do now is I need to add my duct tape around the edges. And then I have something, you can hear it, that I can play with. So that's my little sensory bag. So now it's going to be your go. So you're going to make your sensory bag now. So pause the video here to play this with your family and friends and make your sensory bag with your parents or carer. And once you finish, press play and we will carry on with this lesson. Brilliant, so you've made your sensory bag. Now, we're going to make a little sensory bin. So a sensory bin is something where you are actually, where you're going to have a bowl and you're going to need some dry butterfly pasta. You may want to get some acorns and also to get some cardboard paper, scissors and pins maybe, and you want to have a plastic bowl with a lid. So pause the video here, get all of those things together and then press play when you're finished and we will carry on with this, with making this, this game. Right, so we're going to make a butterfly sensory bin. So I particularly like this because the dry butterfly pasta looks really colourful in the plastic bowl, and then I can add some acorns or I can add some beads maybe, if you want, if you've got some beads around the house and some nice wooden ones work really well. And you can also draw and cut out some butterflies on cardboard and also hide them in the pasta. So with your sensory bin, you can dig your hands in there because it's dry and your hands are more likely to tolerate it. And then you can play, you can just kind of play around with it, just feel the textures if that's the game that you want to play. Or the other game that you can play with your sensory bin is to hide some things and see if you can find them, see how quickly you can find all the butterflies. And it's a game that you can play with your parents, your carer, or the rest of your family. It's really interesting to know, and this is a helpful tip for when you're playing with substances, is that dry materials are much easier for our hands to tolerate than gloopy textures. So if you think about some of those patties or, you know, the gloop that people often play with, you may want to think about adding those gloopy textures into a sensory bag, but for your sensory bin you want to use some more dry textures. And remember after you've played to close the lid. Please pause the video here to finish the task, and then once you're finished making your sensory bin, you can press play and we will finish the lesson together. Well done. Now, can you think of other things that you can use for your sensory bag or your sensory bin? I look forward to kind of seeing more and I will explain to you how you can share your work with National Oak Academy. Share your work with Oak National. If you'd like to please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

When playtimes are tricky

When playtimes are tricky

These resources will be removed by the end of the Spring Term 2026.

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