On nature as ”Sensory Room”

Posted on by Malin - Sensational Learning with Penguin

Nature as 'Sensory Room' - Sensational Learning with Penguin

When Penguin was younger, we sometimes visited a place that had a ‘Sensory Room’, also known as ‘Snoezelen’. In hindsight, we could have got so much more out of those visits if we’d been guided by an occupational therapist on how to make the most of it all, but at the time I didn’t know much about sensory processing or indeed what part an occupational therapist could possibly play for my child with ASD.

The space they had designated as Snoezelen was divided into two rooms, one bright and one dark, both filled with things like swings, cushions, bubble tubes and coloured lighting of various kinds. It was always a great feeling to step into that magical world, diving into a ball pit with transparent balls lit up by colour-changing lights, wobble about on a big waterbed, lay back on a swinging platform with strings of light dangling around you, or just sit in front of a bubble tube watching the glittering streams of bubbles.

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Penguin really enjoyed those visits, and at home we created some “tasters” of similar experiences, mainly by constructing some dark snug spaces with special lights in. We also had an indoor swing (this), which was brilliant for years, until Penguin became too big and boisterous and in effect made it into a wrecking ball…

In the back of my mind I’ve been harbouring dreams of creating a proper, good size sensory room at home, but the reality is that I may never have the space or resources to do this. That used to bother me, making me feel that I wasn’t doing enough to help my son. But, for almost a year now our living space has been quite small, much smaller than we the house we used to live in previously. On the other hand, we’ve spent A LOT more time out and about, and this is why I no longer feel that our life is lacking in sensory lights and ball pits. Don’t get me wrong, I’d LOVE to have a giant ball pit! But I no longer worry about Penguin missing out on something of momentous significance for his development by us not having a sensory room.

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I now feel that most of the benefits of a good sensory room can be achieved by stepping outside, searching out great sensory experiences in nature. And in contrast to the frankly extortionate prices of quality sensory equipment, most nature experiences can be had pretty much for free.

I don’t mean to diss sensory rooms though. I think they’re lovely spaces and I’d be very happy to visit one again sometime. And if I win the lottery I might still invest in one… maybe. However, in this post, I’d like to highlight some of the sensory benefits which can be offered by the great outdoors.

On the Snoezelen webpage, four areas for which their sensory environments can be useful are highlighted: Relaxation, stimulation, development and therapy. They also describe what the sensory rooms aim to offer in these areas, such as: “to calm and reduce agitation through the use of gentle light, soothing sound, relaxing smell and touch”, “to stimulate users by providing exciting visuals, music and sounds, invigorating smells and textures to explore”, and (for learning aspects) “color matching, understanding of cause and effect, and creating themed environments to teach within”.

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I’m feeling quite confident that nature can offer those same things, except perhaps music, which on the other hand is perfectly possible to add yourself, if you wish to do so. I realise that there are some aspects of indoor sensory rooms that can be positive, such as them not being weather dependant. For example, strong winds can be overstimulating for Penguin (and many others), so on a windy day nature would perform quite poorly as a calming space, unless we’d find somewhere well-sheltered.

Now, to take a look at how nature measures up, I’ve created three short slideshows from pictures taken over the past year. The first slideshow focuses on calming sensory experiences, the second on more alerting sensory stimulation, and the third one relates mainly to learning and development.

Before you watch these, it might be useful to know that sensory rooms with light walls are generally meant to be more calming, while ones with dark walls are more stimulating/alerting. This might seem to go against what is usually said about how light and interiors affect us, but in this context we need to consider the contrasts created by the sensory lights and other equipment that these spaces contain. To put it very simply, if you have disco lights on in full daylight, they don’t seem half as exciting as they do in the dark. Also, in the dark, our senses tend to become more alert, sharpened, to register more information from all our sensory channels, rather than relying mainly on visual unput (as we tend to do in daylight). When translating this into natural environments, I also find that spaces which have several contrasting stimuli going on simultaneously are generally more stimulating.

How a person percieves sensory stimulation varies between different individuals, and can also vary from time to time within the same individual. Not everyone will find it calming to watch the rythmic, rolling movement of waves, though I think we can agree that most of us will. Maybe you’ll find that something I’ve suggested as an alerting experience here, would probably have a more calming effect on you, or on your child. While something that has a calming effect on a sensory seeking individual might be alerting and even overwhealming for someone who is hypersensitive to that kind of stimulus.

With that said, I hope these images of nature as ‘sensory room’ can serve as inspiration and food for thought. These environments are out there for us to enjoy, and I think they can be put to great use, when consciously considering these sensory aspects.

I. Nature as a “calming sensory space”

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II. Primarily alerting sensory stimulation

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III. Aspects of learning (rythm, counting, motor skills, cause & effect, balance, science, art, litteracy, body awareness, social interaction, joint attention, defining textures, colours, shapes, scents, sounds etc.), in nature as a space for sensory development

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I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Maybe you’re someone with great experience of sensory rooms, in which case I’m sure there are one or two things you’d like to add. Maybe you feel I’ve missed some important aspects in this post? Please let us know in the comments, I look forward to hearing from you!

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Country Kids

37 thoughts on “On nature as ”Sensory Room””

  2. Fantastic! Great idea for getting kids outdoors and for those who dont have access to sensory rooms. We have a local sensory garden.. I’m wondering now if I should suggest this to some of my clients with kids with ASD who aren’t getting any intervention/therapy yet… thanks! Sarah Elle

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    1. Thank you Sarah! Lovely to hear that there’s a sensory garden near you!
      In regards to making any recommendations, that’s quite complicated… It would almost be a whole new post in itself to reply to that ☺️ You’d need to consider which kinds of sensory stimulation that could be helpful for each individual child; What they like, what they crave for, and what they tend to dislike and avoid.
      There’s a fb page called The Autism Discussion Page, run by a retired professional called Bill Nason, and he shares his accumulated knowledge in a great way. He’s posted (and published, in book form) examples of questionnaires for sensory evaluation, which might be helpful (as most of his posts are) to parents waiting for more support? There’s also a book called Raising a Sensory Smart Child, which has a lot of practical ideas and information, as well as questionnaires for basic evaluation of sensory preferences/issues. x

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  3. I’m a massive believer in the outdoors and what can be achieved from good old fresh air. I’d not considered the sensory aspect to it before but you are totally right about it. I carry my babies and they often stare into the world and take everything in, it’s truly amazing to see what they learn. We spend a lot of time in woods now I have a toddler. Such a magical creative space!! ‪Thank you for linking up to the #familyfunlinky‬

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  4. Pingback: “Beside the side of the silvery sea…” – Sensational Learning with Penguin

  5. A really interesting post, the slides are lovely. We love getting outdoors as a family and it certainly makes me feel better to walk through the trees or sit by tranquil water. I haven’t really stopped and considered the sensory aspect of being outdoors before, but I know being outdoors is great for our wellbeing. #AdventureCalling

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  6. What a great piece. Our daughter has ASD and we spend a great deal of time outside using the sensory experiences of nature to enrich our lives. Thank you. #AdventureCalling

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    1. Thank you! That’s really good to hear, that you share similar experiences with your daughter. The outdoors has so much to offer if you just take time to notice, and to us getting outside is a great way to relieve stress, too. Thank you very much for taking your time to read and comment, and I look forward to exploring your blog!

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  7. How clever. Nothing beats being outdoors, and adding sensory relief through that is genius. We get so stuck on being indoors and entertaining our kids. But what better way to let off steam than outside and in the fresh air. Great post! #globalblogging

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  8. I totally agree, nature can really work wonders on kids, it really does provide a high sensory relief. It’s funny sometimes when you sit and think about it how much being outside in nature really is perfect for a sensory escape. Penguin clearly loves being able to explore everything that nature has to offer whenever you escape into Nature’s Sensory Space.

    Thanks for sharing with me on #CountryKids.

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  9. I am undergoing something right now and I agree how nature can calm and reduce stress. I always feel better outside in nature than enclose inside. The same with my son too. Thanks for sharing this. A lovely read and I have learned a lot.

    #countrykids

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  10. Thank you so much, Merlinda!
    I was touched by how your son mentioned that in your #countrykids post, about how things are better when you’re outside. I hope that what you’re going through will eventually lead forward to better times x

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    1. Thank you! Yes, there’s certainly a great deal of auditory input to be had, and if you’re creative with it you might really turn it into music (this reminds me about a Björk documentary I watched years ago! 😊) x

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  14. There really is something so calming about the seaside. I wish we lived closer so that we could spend more time there. My daughter always has the best time whenever we manage to go to the beach #CountryKids

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  15. We love spending lots of time outdoors but I’ve never thought about it in comparison to a sensory room before. You’ve written this so clearly though that it makes perfect sense and I’m definitely going to be thinking about this next time we’re out on a walk #CountryKids

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  17. This is very cool and, more importantly, has real benefits too. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love a ball pit at home to, but like you say, there is so much to be explored in a sensory fashion by stepping outside. Brilliant.Thanks for joining us on #adventurecalling . We open again for more posts tomorrow morning. I hope you can join us.

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  19. Such a great post- totally agree that the great outdoors can be the best sensory experience. I’ve seen this in children who I’ve been with doing outdoor activities, too. Fantastic learning going on as well as having a calming effect at times. Thank you for this post- I’ve re-tweeted for others to see it too.

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