Try some of these powerful calming sensory strategies to help kids remain focused, engaged, and content in the classroom!
This post contains affiliate links. Read more.
The back-to-school season can be filled with excitement and high hopes for a fresh new start. But it’s also important to recognize how challenging this time of year can be for kids.
Shifting from summer to school brings academic demands and expectations along with a whole new schedule, which may mean different bedtimes, wake-up times, pick-up and drop-off times, and even mealtimes. Going to school also means adjusting to complex social nuances and managing all different kinds of relationships.
Kids who attend school outside the home must also adapt to a new classroom routine and culture and the expectations of a new teacher. Put this all together with some of the most intense sensory input in the world…have you ever been in a school cafeteria!?…and it’s no wonder that going back to school can be stressful for many kids.
But the back-to-school season doesn’t have to be all gloom and doom! There are many simple calming sensory strategies and therapy tools that can be used to help kids with self-regulation during school days, regardless of their school setting or whether they have identified sensory needs.
Calming Sensory Strategies for School
1 || A quiet space and a way for the child to signal when she needs a break.
A quiet space can be as simple as a corner with a bean bag chair and some pillows, a small tent or canopy made from a sheet, or even a desk with a partition for some privacy. A quiet space is a great way to limit auditory, visual, and other input so a child can regroup and calm herself down.
Don’t forget to provide kids with a clear way of indicating when they need to use the quiet space – a sign up sheet or a laminated card they can give to the teacher to request time in the quiet space are great options.
2 || Calming Tactile Input
There are many great ways to provide calming input through the tactile system. One simple tool that is easily used as a calming sensory break during the day is a tactile bin. Fill a shoebox-sized plastic container with sand, dry rice, or dry beans and let kids run their hands through it.
Applying deep pressure to the body with hugs, a weighted blanket or weighted stuffed animal, or squishes with a pillow or beanbag chair provides full-body calming sensory input for kids who might be overwhelmed or anxious at school.
3 || Calming Oral Sensory Input
The oral sensory system can be another great avenue for calming and self-regulation. For many children, chewing can provide calming oral sensory and proprioceptive input. Try oral sensory snacks like bagels and fruit leather or even gum.
Many kids benefit from using chewy pendants, bracelets, or other items to provide this calming input. Chewigem USA
Other great calming oral sensory activities include sucking against resistance (e.g. sucking a thick smoothie through a straw) and blowing (e.g. blowing a feather or pompom across a table).
4 || Calming Auditory Input
One of the quickest way to help kids who are overstimulated and overwhelmed is to quiet things down. Using a quiet voice to address kids and get their attention rather than raising your voice over the noise is a great start. Having a way to monitor sound in the classroom, like a noise meter, is also a great idea.
Other auditory strategies include playing white noise while students are working (e.g. rain sounds, ocean sounds, or even using a fan) to help block out typical school sounds like chairs scraping the floor and kids coming in and out of the room from the bathroom.
Quiet, calming music is another great option. These can be used either for the whole classroom or for individual students with headphones. Noise reducing headphones are also great for kids who become overstimulated by sound in loud situations (e.g. lunchroom, assemblies, gym).
5 || Calming Visual Input
Some children become overwhelmed and overstimulated by visual input. The movement, light, and other distractions in a school setting can simply be too much.
There is usually enough natural light coming through the windows during the day for kids to see and simply turning off or dimming the lights is a quick and easy way to decrease visual stimulation.
It’s also important to try to limit other visual distractions in the learning environment for kids who are easily overwhelmed. This means creating a clear, clutter-free workspace by storing supplies and materials off of tables and desks and limiting decorations and other things hanging on the walls. Some children may also benefit from visual dividers or working in a study carrel.
Other calming visual activities include repetitive visual input like watching fish in a fish tank or looking at sensory bottles and calm down jars filled with liquid and other objects (water, oil, water beads, glitter). Many children also respond positively to a visual picture schedule, which lets them know what’s coming next throughout the day.
6 || Calming Proprioceptive Input
A lot of kids benefit from proprioceptive input in the form of heavy work. Heavy work means moving the body against heavy resistance. This provides stimulation to the muscles and joints that can be calming and organizing.
Heavy work activities include: squishing/squeezing play dough or a stress ball, pulling against resistance bands, pushing/moving chairs or desks, climbing, holding a heavy door open, and carrying books.
Chewing also comes into play here. Chewing against resistance as described above is another great way to provide calming input to the proprioceptive system.
7 || Calming Movement
Many children find repetitive and rhythmic vestibular input, including rocking, swaying, or gentle swinging to be extremely calming. This kind of sensory input can be a great and easy way to help a child reset when they are overstimulated, overwhelmed, or dealing with tantrums. Adding a rocking chair or two around the room and having an exercise ball handy are simple ways to provide calming movement when kids need it.
Try one of these Row, Row, Row Your Boat activities or some gentle back and forth movement on a scooter or on a therapy ball.
8 || Yoga, Breathing, and Meditation
Using these tools in educational settings is becoming more and more mainstream – with very good reason. Moving slowly through a yoga sequence can provide calming stimulation to the vestibular system, the proprioceptive system, and the tactile system.
Including calming breathing techniques for kids throughout the school day is another way to calm the entire nervous system.
9 || Fine motor and visual tasks that are familiar, quiet, and repetitive
Completing familiar, repetitive tasks can be a very calming experience for many kids. Arriving at school and completing one or two quiet, independent activities can be the perfect start to the day for kids who become overwhelmed easily.
Easy ideas for calming fine motor tasks include:
-Stringing beads (check out this great story threading idea!)
-Simple put-in tasks like this pompom task
–Fine motor sorting tasks
–File folder tasks
–Fine motor learning activities
-Dealing With Tantrums: Fine Motor Reset Activities
10 || Calming Combinations
When it comes to finding calming solutions for kids, it’s best to allow some time for experimentation and trial and error. And sometimes, the best solutions involve combining two or more strategies and using them together.
Here are some examples:
-Dig/play in tactile bin while listening to white noise or quiet music on headphones
-Sitting or lying with a weighted blanket while looking at sensory bottles
-Chewing gum or a chewy snack while working on a calming, independent fine motor task
-Rhythmic rocking or swaying with calming breathing technique
We would love to hear from you! What are your favorite calming sensory and other strategies to use in educational settings? Leave a comment below or comment on our Facebook page!
Check out our DIY Calm Down Kit and these great sensory ideas to help calm kids when you’re on-the-go.
Latest posts by Claire Heffron (see all)
- Groundhog Day Activities: Groundhog Obstacle Course - January 26, 2023
- Valentine’s Day Activities for Kids: Hearts & Arrows Visual Game - January 24, 2023
- Snowman Activity for Kids: Snowman Charades - January 22, 2023
I really like these techniques. My 8 year old was diagnosed with ADHD last year and even though she does take Adderall for school she does have moments were she becomes overwhelmed. I do think she would find them fun rather than work at calming down (if that makes sense). I do try when she is overwhelmed talking in a calm voice and asking her to focus on my voice and to turn on her ears it does help tremendously. Thank you very much for these fantastic ideas all if this is new to me and my daughter, I don’t want to make ADHD something negative in her life.
Sincerely,
Deanna Acosta.
Hi Deanna! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! I’m so glad you found some useful strategies in this post. I love that your goal is to take the negativity out of your child’s diagnosis as much as possible – strategies like these are often a great place to start! Thanks for following along with us, we appreciate it! :)
Love these suggestions! My daughter would come home from kindergarten last year totally stressed and simple sensory bins really helped her calm down.
Thank you so much for this article. I work in the special services department at school as a para professional. I will be implementing these strategies with the autistic child in our room. GREAT ideas!!!
We use a lot of these strategies for our ASD children. But, there are a few things in the list we don’t do. Thanks for sharing. I have shared with all the teachers.
Rather than using Noise Cancellation Headphones, use head phones with Therapeutic Listening, classical music or white noise.
Noise cancellation headphones can sustain difficulty with sounds due to less opportunity for building the inner ear muscles. Please provide opportunities to strengthen our sensory system, rather than pacify it.
I don’t think we need constant input to be healthy in an auditory sense. Many people including many autistic people find a great deal of benefit in noise cancelling headphones specifically.
These are great strategies. I’d be very interested to read information about how to instruct teachers, and even students themselves, in determining which strategies are most effective for each particular individual.
I would love to print this information off, is there a way to print it nicely?
I really need help trying to find a pattern for my 3 yr old daugjter. She has sensory processing disorder I believe she has an OTtherapists for her school which is great but I need help grasping a routine for home and drop off in the morning’s
Very interesting post, thank you for this post, a rewarding experience. In the modern world, modern problems and needs, someone is lazy, someone wants to save time, but you get a high-quality written product, I am sure that https://edusson.com/write-my-literature-review is such a resource from a review on Writing services and performers of such works popular in sets can easily and quickly solve such issues, I myself select what I need and use there, I recommend you to try something new, good luck!
Working as a well-paid freelance chemist https://onlinefreelancejobs.net/chemistry-job/ isn’t as difficult as you may assume. You may join our authors’ team and have access to the whole list of available orders by following a few simple steps. Chemical project creation that adheres to academic writing standards, good communication skills, and timely order fulfillment are all necessary. You’ll breeze through our registration process and experience the benefits of freelancing if you possess all of these characteristics.
Thanks for sharing this wondrful piece of cotent.
It will surely help kids to develop the ability of self-regulate in every circumtances
Thank you so much for writing this piece. As a paraprofessional, I work in the school’s special services department. These tactics will be implemented with the autistic youngster in our class. AWESOME suggestions!!!
I’ve found that this calming techniques are very professional and helpful. Thanks for sharing.
I am often to blogging and that i truly appreciate your content. This great article has really peaks my interest. I’m going to bookmark your blog and keep checking achievable info.
This great article has really gain my interest and I’m really Impresses with it. I’m going to bookmark your blog and keep checking achievable info.
Great post
Thanks for sharing such an amazing post
I have read your blog and I gathered some new information through your blog. Thanks for sharing the information
I am very satisfied with visiting here. Thank you for good content. And please visit my website as well.
Hi everyone, it’s my first go to see at this web page, and paragraph
This blog is really helpful to know sensory Strategies for School and I love this blog because it helps my children.
I require you to thank for your period of this extraordinary read !!! I definately welcome every last bit of it and I have you bookmarked to take a gander at new stuff of your blog a certain prerequisite read blog!
This site and I consider this web website is extremely instructive! Keep on setting up!
“This post is extremely superb. I extremely like this post. It is outstanding among other posts that I see read in quite a while. You rock for this better than average post. I truly value it!
“
Exceptionally marvelous !!! When I look for this I discovered this site at the highest point of all websites in web crawler. Personally I think overjoyed I discovered the blogs.
You have provided valuable data for us.Excellent post.
Extremely decent blog and articles. I am realy extremely glad to visit your blog.
Presently I am discovered which I really need. I check your blog regular and attempt to take in something from your blog. Much obliged to you and sitting tight for your new post
I like it when people get together and share views. Great website.
What a post I’ve been looking for!
Good article! Keep sharing this type of information to expand user knowledge.
Appreciate it! An abundance of posts
Great idea! it was very helpful article you did!
Amazing! Its truly remarkable piece of writing, I have got much clear idea regarding from this article.
Incredibly useful and detailed information. You are growing rapidly and it shows in your blogs.
This is really interesting, You’re a very skilled blogger.
Great post, you have pointed out some excellent points, I as well believe this is a very superb website.
This content is simply exciting and creative.
What a post I’ve been looking for!
Pretty useful article.
The article you shared, it was very interesting and meaningful.
Thank you for your post. I have read through several similar topics! However, your article gave me a very special impression, unlike other articles. I hope you continue to have valuable articles like this or more to share with everyone!.
I discovered your blog post site on google and appearance many of your early posts. Always maintain on the really good operate. I just now extra increase your Feed to my MSN News Reader. Seeking forward to reading much more within you down the road!…