Sensory Play

Play that is high in play value, is usually so because it involves sensory and motor elements combined. Sensory play is not separate therefore from play in general; however as adults who want to provide for play, it can be useful to emphasise the sensory aspects. Sometimes this helps when designing a playspace: to analyse what sensory elements are built into the play opportunities.

Issues:

• Play equipment is designed with little attention to sensory qualities
• Although opportunities to explore the senses might be available in parks or playgrounds (for example, trees and grass), they are often not integrated into the designated playground.
• Access: sometimes sensory areas in playgrounds or parks are provided separately to the general play areas and therefore can result in exclusion.
• Usability: play equipment maybe less usable for diverse children due to the limited sensory qualities, or lack of attention to the impact the sensory qualities have on play.
• Low in play value: sensory areas that are designated as special sensory play areas or gardens, are often not high in play value (for example if the emphasis is only on sound, smell and touch): in these examples children may passively experiences such places with low levels of movement or interaction

Successful design for inclusion:

Playspaces need to consider offering varied opportunities for sensory experiences within the playspace, that enhance play value:

• Ensure the pathways to the sensory play areas and playground components are accessible and level
• Maximising your sensory knowledge: Knowing that there are seven senses helps to begin with: sense of smell, vision, taste, hearing, touch, movement (vestibular) and body awareness (proprioception). Outdoor play typically involves a lot of body movement, and body awareness activity so it is helpful to enhance this with smell, touch, sound and visual aspects added. It is also useful to know that all our senses can be considered in relation to stimulation and calming: the playability model helps us think about that: for example, for play involving the sense of touch, a play component can invovle hard or soft surfaces, smooth or rough surfaces. Here, smooth or soft is typically more calming while rough or hard is more stimulating.
• Avoid segregation of sensory play: aim instead to build in sensory experiences to the overall playspace design by integrating natural elements such as planting, loose parts, sand, water, trees, and grass.
• Provide calming sensory experiences as well as stimulating ones: for children who need calming sensory experiences, consider providing quiet spaces eg hiding spaces, play dens in playground where children can go alone or in small groups to self-regulate more easily. Such places can be designed to be calming, with soft colours or natural materials, quiet spaces, away from the busiest parts of the playground.

Provide diverse sensory experiences: Opportunities for exploring the senses can include specialised components such as a hilder wicker noise maker and talk tubes (see figure 1). Opportunities to explore the senses in general play components include the use of different materials such as wooden structures, sand and bark mulch. Opportunities to explore colour and light can provided for in the provision of enclosed slides which allow users to explore light through the tube, or by adding coloured Perspex into roof or window areas in hiding/small spaces.

Figure 1: Hilder wicker noise maker in Fitzgerald’s park, Cork, Ireland 

Figure 2: Talk tubes for talking and listening (turn taking!) in Fitzgerald’s park, Cork, Ireland 

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Figure 3: Bucket and chain, for enhanging sensory play, digging in the sand in Fitzgerald’s park, Cork, Ireland. Note wooden structures as well as soft sand for diverse tactile experiences. 

Figure 4: Purpose-built water playspace in Calgary, Canada, enhancing sensory play (tactile, auditory, movement, and visual for the contrasting colours). 

Figure 5: Using natural topography to encourgae water play is also easily done to enhance sensory play: here two preschoolers enjoy splashing in water in the park 

Figure 6: Xylophone positioned child-height in playspace, Calgary, Canada 

Play value and Universal Design strategies  

•  Consider access routes, transfer stations and location of natural materials within reach (for example, raised planting).
• Ideally, attempt to integrate items to explore the senses in the designated playground, rather than having them on the outskirts/perimeter or in a separate area. 
• Additional items to explore the senses can be considered, to maximise variety and stimulate explorative and imaginative play.
• Sight – consider for example ribbons, coloured materials, colour contrast, colours for relaxing as well as exciting colours.
• Sound – consider for example wind chimes, planting that provides sounds (e.g. bamboo), musical activities.
• Taste – non-poisonous or edible plants.
• Touch – consider textures that are soft, rough, bumpy, hard smooth etc. In addition, planting that has leaves that fall in Autumn offer additional opportunities for play.
• Smell – consider for example scented planting and shrubbery.
• Movement (vestibular)- consider for example fast and slow, high and low, rotation and rolling play opportunities. The vestibular sense can be easily over stimulated (if your child gets car-sick easily for example, they may not enjoy play involving high speeds and fast movements). So having varied types of play opportunities that offer different levels of vestibular experiences is important
• Body awareness (proprioception)- note that priprioception is an unconscious body awareness that is enhanced by activities such as jumping, heavy lifting, pulling etc, so play that invovles tugging ropes, pulling yourself up to the top of the slide, climbing, moving logs and trampolining all help with priprioception  

See Outdoor Play Resources from Middletown Centre for Autism, Ireland for autistic children if you want to find out more about meeting sensory needs for children who seek or avoid sensory experiences in their play.