Our Sensory Room Design Team was tasked with designing a calming room in a small space. A specific request from the school was to include a tent or hideaway spot in the sensory room. The team set to work incorporating available materials and maximizing the space available to create a room that would promote sensory integration and cognitive and motor planning development. We installed an Actionwall to encourage coordination and teamwork. To increase  visual tracking and its soothing effect, the design team decided to install both a projector and bubble tube. Various seating options, including bean bags, were placed around the room, so that children can sink into them comfortably. The semi-dark playhouse was the perfect idea for  a calming oasis for the kids. A weighted disc blanket also helps soothe, through deep pressure similar to receiving a hug. Gentle music and fiber optic lights transformed  this room into a fully immersive experience, adding calm both visually and auditorily and preventing the students’ overstimulation.

Once each class at Lifeskills Preschool began to use the new calming sensory room, the space was deemed “phenomenal!” Teachers use positive reinforcement, learned routines and visual stimuli to teach students to proactively utilize the room as a coping strategy. There are already positive benefits for students’ inner confidence and ability to self-regulate. Lifeskills Preschool will be adding an additional sensory room in October 2020.