By Ketki Agarwal, Founder – iThrive Child Development Centre
If you’ve ever seen a child struggling to stay seated, covering their ears in the cafeteria, or breaking down halfway through the school day, chances are — it wasn’t “bad behavior.”
It was a nervous system under stress.
Modern classrooms ask a lot from kids — sit still, listen, focus, follow, don’t interrupt, don’t stim. But many children, especially those who are neurodivergent, walk into school each day with sensory systems that are already working overtime.
What they need isn’t more discipline. What they need is a space that helps them reset.
That’s where sensory rooms come in — and why they’re no longer a “nice-to-have.” They’re essential.
A sensory room is a thoughtfully designed space that supports regulation through sensory input. These rooms use tools like:
The goal is simple: help a child’s nervous system return to balance — whether they need calming down, waking up, or just space to feel grounded.
These spaces are especially helpful for children with sensory processing differences, autism, ADHD, or anxiety — but they support all students. Every child benefits from learning to listen to their body and respond to their needs.
At our centre, we work with children every day. We have seen the breakdown again and again. Children are doing their best, but many are overwhelmed. That’s where sensory rooms come into play.
Here’s how:
I have said this many times and will reinforce it one more time: a child in distress isn’t ready to learn.
Regulation — not compliance — is the foundation for attention, memory, and problem-solving. Sensory rooms give students the chance to reset their systems, so they can return to the classroom with better focus and emotional control.
What looks like “acting out” is often sensory overload.
When students have a safe place to decompress before reaching the tipping point, schools see fewer meltdowns, fewer disruptions, and smoother transitions.
Over time, children who use sensory rooms start to notice their patterns:
“I feel overwhelmed — the movement zone helps.”
“I can’t focus — I need something calming.”
This isn’t just self-regulation. It’s self-advocacy — and it’s a powerful life skill.
Sensory rooms don’t replace the classroom — they strengthen it.
Teachers are better able to support diverse learning needs when children have a space to recalibrate. The classroom becomes more emotionally available for everyone.
It’s not about fancy equipment. It’s about intention.
A strong sensory room includes:
Above all, it should be a space where children feel: Safe, Seen and in control of their experience.
When we make space for sensory needs, we’re not just reducing meltdowns or improving focus.
This is something I learned early in my own parenting journey.
As my son’s pre-school principal used to say, “Let the child be.” This message changed everything for me.
Earlier, I would worry when I arrived at pick-up and found him always in the sandpit while the other children were in the classroom drawing or colouring. But that one sentence shifted my whole perspective.
I realised they weren’t outcasting him — they were giving him the space to be himself.
And this was 15 years ago. We’ve come too far since then to not have sensory rooms in schools.
Sensory rooms, even if they begin as something as simple as a sandpit, aren’t just tools for individual students — they’re part of a wider shift toward inclusive, responsive learning environments. They help us move from managing behavior to understanding needs. From reacting to supporting.
I believe that every school should have access to this kind of space — not someday, but now.
This blog is in collaboration with I-THRIVE Child Developmental Center, Ahmedabad — a leading child development clinic offering multidisciplinary support for children with diverse developmental needs. I-THRIVE provides comprehensive services including early intervention, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, special education, and behavioural support, enabling children to build essential life skills in a nurturing, child-centred environment. With a strong focus on sensory integration and holistic development, the centre works closely with families to create meaningful, long-term impact.
Visit their website here: https://www.ithrivecentre.com/
Young children learn best when they’re involved in hands-on activities. Sensory play is one such way to get started! It encourages them to explore the world through their senses, fostering creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving skills. With a few simple DIY activities, you can create rich learning experiences that are both enjoyable and educational.
Today, we’ll explore everything you need to know about sensory play: what it is, why it matters, its benefits, and some fun DIY ideas to try at home.
Sensory play involves activities that stimulate a child’s senses, like touch, sight, sound, smell, and taste. It’s an important part of their development as it helps build nerve connections and brain pathways that support cognitive growth, fine and gross motor skills, and emotional regulation. This, in turn, enhances focus, communication, and the ability to make sense of the world around them.
From kitchen shelves to crafty items, simple household materials can turn into wonderful tools for sensory exploration. Here are some ideas:
Sensory experiences create powerful learning opportunities for young minds. The following DIY ideas make sensory exploration simple, inclusive, and full of developmental benefits:
Fill containers with water and let children pour, scoop, and watch objects float or sink. You can introduce temperature differences using warm and cool water to make it a fun preschool science activity that explores cause and effect.
Blowing bubbles strengthens oral-motor skills, focus, and hand-eye coordination. Experiment with bubble wands of different sizes to explore air pressure and visual tracking.
Use zip-lock bags or trays filled with slime, dough, or water beads. This tactile activity builds fine motor skills and sensory awareness. Children sensitive to touch can use tools like brushes or spoons.
Create boards using sandpaper, felt, foil, or fabric swatches. Children can touch, match, and explore textures, making it a perfect activity for calming sensory breaks.
Allow children to scoop, pour, or draw shapes in mud or flour. This messy play enhances motor control, creativity, and sensory integration. Scooping and shaping in flour or mud can be
extended into simple preschool craft activities, where the child creates patterns, shapes, or mini art pieces as part of sensory exploration.
Fill bottles with rice, lentils, or beans to make homemade instruments. Children can explore rhythm, patterns, and auditory recognition while having fun.
Fill jars with varying water levels and gently tap to create different tones. This activity encourages hand-eye coordination while introducing pitch variations.
Dye rice or water with food-safe colours and let children sort, scoop, or mix them. It improves colour recognition, fine motor skills, and concentration.
Watching glitter swirl or liquids move can calm overstimulation, encourage mindfulness, and teach patience.
Fill clear bottles with beads, sequins, or buttons. Shaking or rolling the bottles provides a soothing visual and auditory sensory experience.
Small cloth bags filled with cinnamon, clove, or mint stimulate memory and descriptive skills through scent recognition.
Enhance playdough with vanilla, cocoa, or essential oils for added olfactory stimulation, keeping unscented versions for sensitive children.
Materials like cereal, pasta, or mashed fruit allow safe exploration of taste and texture, ideal for toddlers.
Freeze small toys or coloured water in ice cubes. Children can observe melting, texture, and cause-and-effect relationships.
Want to make sensory learning even easier?
Explore safe and inclusive sensory kits at SensoryAll’s product collection!
Below are some things to consider for creating a safe and stress-free sensory play experience for your child:
Sensory play is a wonderful way to nurture curiosity, creativity, and cognitive development in children. By creating simple DIY activities with everyday materials, you can offer enriching, safe, and inclusive experiences that children will love.
This post is in collaboration with KLAY Preschool & Daycare - India’s leading chain of preschools and daycare centres supporting over 60,000 families across more than 160 locations, offering playgroup, nursery and kindergarten programmes rooted in early-childhood development. KLAY offers programs for children from 6 months to 10 years old, focusing on a safe, nurturing, and play-based learning environment. It provides a variety of services including preschool, after- school care, and full- or half-day daycare, with a curriculum inspired by Montessori and Reggio Emilia principles.
Visit their website here: klay.co.in
