Sensory diets in the early years
When we think about diets, we often think about calorie counting and meal preparation. But, in the world of early education and care, it can mean something quite different.
A diet is a plan of what we intend to consume, with the intention that it will promote a specific outcome. For the majority of people, their diet surrounds what they eat, and the nutritional choices they make are based on a condition to their body: for example, eating more protein to build muscle, or fewer fatty foods to reduce health risks.
For children with additional needs, a sensory diet is used in a similar way, designed with sensory activities that promote regulation throughout the day. It’s an individualised plan based entirely around the child’s unique needs, just like our bodies need a unique diet to keep us healthy. Though not necessarily about food, a sensory diet is a plan that can be used to promote different feelings and responses from children who engage with it, such as to calm down or improve focus.
In this learning workout, we are going to explore what a sensory diet is and how it can be used to promote feelings of regulation and security. Though it is usually the job of an occupational therapist to design the core diet, understanding the role of the sensory diet and its importance to the structure of a child’s routine is valuable for all professionals working to support their needs.
What is a sensory diet?
Coined by occupational therapists Wilbarger and Wilbarger in the 1990’s, sensory diets are designed by occupational therapists as an evidence-based approach to supporting children with additional needs in their sensory life.
A sensory diet is a schedule of activities that are completed throughout the day with the specific intention of ensuring that the child’s full sensory needs are being met. Just as we all have different preferences for our nutritional diet, our sensory preferences are unique to ourselves, meaning that we all require a slightly different kind of input to help us feel safe and secure.
For children with additional needs, it can sometimes be challenging to identify specific sensory needs and figure out what they should do next to meet them. For children in the early years this can be especially challenging as they are still acquiring the essential language to communicate their needs, and the cognitive skills to identify and regulate their emotions. A sensory diet can provide an effective outlet to support their development.
Sensory diet plans are usually designed by an occupational therapist who will work with the child and their family to create a programme that fulfils a child’s sensory needs throughout the day. Sensory diets can be very individualised and it can be difficult to implement a range of provisions all at once for everyone in the room. However, when identifying patterns in behaviour and responding to these needs, a sensory diet can be a helpful tool to support regulation. For example, some children will appear lethargic when they wake up from nap time, and may need support by providing some high energy, whole-body movement, such as dancing or hopping and jumping, to help to feel awake and alert.
Noticing such patterns in behaviour and communicating with family at home are not only helpful for understanding the nature of these behaviours or reactions, but also to provide additional context and maintain consistency as to how those at home, and those in setting, respond to a child’s individual sensory needs.
What constitutes a sensory diet?
As with our nutritional diet, every person will require different sources and needs based on their unique make-up. In the case of a sensory diet, this depends on the daily routine, general health and wellbeing, as well as development and capacity. And just like our nutritional diet, it will fluctuate every day! Whilst there are moments that become more predictable for what support might be needed, such as at transitions, it’s important to pay attention to the child in the moment and respond most appropriately to what you see, rather than what you expect.
Using a sensory diet aims to promote a desired response or reaction based on the experiences that the sensory input creates. For some, this may look like a stimulant to provoke alertness, whilst for others it might involve a calming technique to tackle overwhelm and overstimulation.
Let’s look at some examples of sensory provisions that can be easily implemented to support children in your provision.
Getting moving with whole-body action
Incorporating our fully body in movement can have a huge impact on our sensory needs by invoking senses from the proprioceptive and vestibular systems, responsible for sense of movement. Activities that involve lifting, pushing and pulling are effective for full-body action, or actions like swinging and spinning.
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Dancing activities, especially involving spinning around
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Pushing prams, tyres or cars
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Hopping, skipping and jumping games
Tactile senses through touch
Our sense of touch allows us to detect all sorts of feelings and sensations, which can promote different feelings. We often associate sensory play to the calming sensations of touch so this is a popular provision that you’re probably already using!
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Materials often used for mark making, such as mud, sand or shaving foam.
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Malleable resources like playdough, stress balls or dynamic fidget toys.
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Sensory activities that promote changes in temperature and state, such as ice cubes that melt by adding warm water.
What can we see?
Our sense of sight is used on a daily basis but sometimes our visual perceptions can result in feelings of overwhelm and stress. Have you ever walked into the room and felt a sense of panic at the chaos before you? Visually-calming resources can be used to promote a sense of tranquillity to overcome overstimulation.
- Keep displays neutral and use a few colours rather than bombarding a space with lots of bold tones.
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Resources like fairy lights, touch lights, shakers and sensory bottles can all be used to reduce intense lighting in the space and provide a focus.
Using sensory diets
A formal sensory diet will be strategised by a qualified occupational therapist or healthcare professional. For us to be able to implement the ‘diet’ whilst the child is in our care, it’s important that we understand how to deliver the key ‘ingredients’ for optimum impact, Having a full awareness of sensory strategies and having any necessary resources available, to support can contribute massively to promoting healthy relationships and ensure that all sensory needs are met for everyone.
Additional references and further reading
