What Is a Personalized Sensory Box

Children with Sensory Processing Disorders (SPD) have difficulty interpreting information through one or more of their senses. As a result, these children have problems regulating their responses to sensory information. For these children and their parents, each day brings overwhelming challenges which lead them to seek professional help. Usually they will be sent to an Occupational Therapist, to address sensory integration / sensory processing needs.

One of the strategies used to calm or to stimulate the senses, is the use of a personalized Sensory Box. A Sensory Box is just a container where you place items for your child to explore with his senses. Simply stated, sensory boxes provide a medley of sensations ~ smells, feels, movements, sights, sounds, textures… to increase environmental awareness, relaxation and cognitive stimulation. Parents should have a sensory box at home and also one for their child at school.

Sensory Box Goes To School ~ What To Do

Following the recommendations of your occupational therapist, work with your child’s classroom teacher, child’s teacher assistant and/or special needs teacher and decide what would be best to place in your child’s individualized sensory box to be left in his classroom. 

Be sure to personalize the box with your child’s name and have a convenient, easily accessible spot to place it in the classroom. Or better still, have the child help you decorate and make the box HIS. Decide who is responsible to clean the items, remove the worn items and buy and replace new items. Maintaining these boxes takes commitment and organization, but is well worth the effort.

Have a plan on how the other students will be told about the sensory box and how to prevent other kids from using the items. When explaining this to the class, it would also be an optimum time to discuss why some children need sensory boxes or other special needs aids. Moreover, bring out and read to the students the special needs picture books on Sensory Processing Disorders. List and links to reviews below.  

At first, the adults working with your child will initiate the use of the items but the goal is for your child to learn to self-regulate and use these items when he needs them.

If all is done correctly, when your child gets an item from his box, the other students should see it as natural as getting a tissue to blow his nose or going to the pencil sharpener.

A personalized sensory box…so simple but oh so effective.

How have you made use of a sensory box?

Related posts:
*What Goes In a Personal Sensory Box

*Picky, Picky Pete ~ A Boy and His Sensory Challenges Written by Michele Griffin and published by Future Horizons. Review here *Sensitive Sam ~ Sam’s Sensory Adventure Has a Happy Ending! Written by Marla Roth-Fisch and published by Future Horizons. Review here

*The Goodenoughs Get in Sync ~ Five Family Members Overcome Their Special Sensory Issues Written by Carol Kranowitz and published by Future Horizons. Book review here

*Special People, Special Ways ~ Each page portrays positive images of children with various disabilities Written by Arlene Maguire and published by Future Horizons. About here

2010 Book of the Year Award by Creative Child Magazine ~ Winner, Runners-Ups and Procedure

Picky, Picky Pete written by Michele Griffin and published by Future Horizons is the 2010 Book of the Year Award by Creative Child Magazine. Before posting the runners- up, let me tell you about the Creative Child Magazine and the procedure to find the winners.

About Creative Child Magazine

Their web site says: “Creative Child Magazine is a national bi-monthly publication that provides parents with the latest information on how to nurture their child's creativity. With departments such as Kids at Play, Health and Safety, Discovering Creativity, Nurturing Talent and Tomorrow's Child - Investing for Your Child's Future, Creative Child Magazine is essential and the most complete parenting publication for raising well-balanced children.” You can subscribe here https://www.creativechild.com/subscribe and get 6 issues for only $24.

About Creative Child Magazine’s Awards Program
There is nothing better than being recognized and recommended by the very people who will buy and benefit from your product. This is how Creative Child Magazine chooses their yearly winners. The products submitted for the awards are reviewed by moms, music educators and early education professionals.

Over a hundred guests reviewers meet for an organized 2-day review event held in Henderson,

Nevada. The guest reviewers move from one review station to the next, each with a different category of submitted products. The conclusions of the reviewers are all noted on the required review forms for each category of products.

Their site states: “The review forms are to include written comments and a score value based on criteria that corresponds to the product's category. Upon completion of the event all review forms are collected by Creative Child Magazine staff assistants. All scores are tabulated and comments are reviewed.”


How Are the Creative Child Magazine Award Winners Chosen
Please note that these awards do not examine the products on how it adheres to safety for children. Parents concerned with the safety of the products featured in Creative Child Magazine could contact the Consumer Products Safety Commission.

To determine the finalists products for DVD, CD, Book, Game and Toy of the Year, the comments, scores and data from the reviewer forms are tabulated.

Their site states: “Only one product per category can win a Toy of the Year award, as well as, CD, DVD, Book and Game of the Year. The remaining finalists receive a prestigious Preferred Choice Award.
The Seal of Excellence is another prestigious award that is given to those products that are not finalists but do exceed expectations based on the criteria for nurturing creativity and education in children.”

And the 2010 Winner and Runners-up  on Special Needs Books Are:

2010 Book of the Year Award by Creative Child Magazine

Picky, Picky Pete  ~ A Boy and His Sensory Challenges Written by Michele Griffin and published by Future Horizons. Review here

2010 Preferred Choice:

Bookworm ~ Discovering Idioms, Sayings, and Expressions Written by Karen Emigh and published by Future Horizons. Also 2009 Preferred Choice

Let's Make Faces! ~ Have Fun Drawing Different Faces for Different Feelings Written by Gerard Emerson and published by Future Horizons. Also 2009 Preferred Choice

Sensitive Sam ~ Sam’s Sensory Adventure Has a Happy Ending! Written by Marla Roth-Fisch and published by Future Horizons. Also 2009 Book of the Year Award. Book review here

Special People, Special Ways ~ Each page portrays positive images of children with various disabilities Written by Arlene Maguire and published by Future Horizons. Also 2009 Preferred Choice

The Goodenoughs Get in Sync ~ Five Family Members Overcome Their Special Sensory Issues Written by Carol Kranowitz and published by Future Horizons. Book review here

2010 Seal of Excellence

There Are No Word ~ Story of Jaxon MacKenzie, non-verbal, autistic 12-year-old girl written by Mary Calhoun Brown and published by Lucky Press, LLC. 

Related Posts: 
*The Goodenoughs Get in Sync ~New Edition~ 5 Family Members  Overcome their Special Sensory Issues by Carole Kranowitz

*Meet Carol Kranowitz and Joye Newman Authors of Growing an In-Sync Child
*Sensitive Sam by Marla Roth-Fisch ~ A Review
*Picky, Picky Pete by Michele Griffen ~A Reviw