Your whole whānau can enjoy these fun sensory activities with simple items you have around home.

Where am I?

Blindfold a friend or family member and carefully walk them to a part of your house or garden.

Challenge them to use their smell, hearing and touch to guess where they are.

Guess the sound?

The aim of this game is for a friend or family member to be blindfolded and guess what object or item you are using to make a sound.

If you’re not sure what objects you can use around home, you can play this YouTube video.

Feely boxes

Using empty tissue boxes or bowls, fill these with different objects found around the house, then cover them with a tea towel. You can challenge a friend or family member to use their sense of touch to guess what’s underneath the tea towel.

Smelling boxes

Using empty tissue boxes or bowls, fill these with items that let off a particular smell such as a spice or a flower, and then cover them with a tea towel.

You can challenge a friend or family member to use their sense of smell to guess what’s underneath the tea towel.

Jump Jam

Get active at home by getting the whole whānau involved in a dance session.

Turn on your favourite music videos and get dancin'!

The Burrito

If your child is stressed, wrapping them tightly in a burrito blanket can help them feel calm.

Find a blanket that is large enough to wrap your child in. Ask your child to lie down on the blanket, wrap them up like you would a burrito – tucking the bottom up, and the sides across.

You can talk together about what type of burrito they are or explaining the steps of a making a burrito.

Rearranging the furniture

Changing the furniture around is great for promoting positive mental health and the whole whānau can get involved.

Younger children can draw a bird’s eye view of where they want to put their furniture, you can then discuss this with them.

To make this a little bit more challenging for the older kids, extend this idea by getting older children to use a tape measure to figure out whether or not everything will fit in its new position.

DIY sensory hut

If you’ve got a spare tent at home, set it up inside to create a relaxing getaway for your child. Pad the floor with soft blankets or pillows to create a plush look and feel, and add soft lighting such as Christmas lights.

Inside the tent, include a box of tactile items that promote calm for your child such as their favourite toy or book. You can also play some soothing music such as Enya or nature sounds.

Dining in the dark

A meal becomes a sensory adventure when kids eat blindfolded. Prepare the meal or snack in advance so that the kids aren’t aware of what is being served to them.

Try different foods and cut them into the same shape and size, this adds an extra challenge. This activity can be messy so make sure to not use glassware or anything that can easily break.

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