02/03/2026
If you ask most people how many senses we have they will answer with five--sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. But researchers have expanded our understanding of sensory experiences to include proprioception, vestibular, and interoception as well.
Our eight senses can help us navigate the world. So it goes without saying that those that encounter sensory processing issues have an even more difficult time engaging effectively with their environment. According to Lindsey Biel and Nancy Peske in their book, Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Processing Issues, there are many things we can do to create supportive environments for our children.
🪁 Proprioception, the sense of body awareness, is crucial for motor planning and coordination. Engaging children in activities that provide deep pressure, such as heavy work tasks and proprioceptive games, helps children develop a sense of their bodies in space (Biel & Peske, 2009).
Incorporating activities like climbing up and down, jumping, and pushing heavy objects supports proprioceptive development. Having your child help carry things such as the laundry basket or groceries can provide an opportunity to hold to a variety of weights and practice shifting balance while walking with objects. At younger ages, the act of crawling has many opportunities for proprioceptive skills as a child works to feel themself in time and space while coordinating movement.
🪁 Interoception, the sense of internal body awareness, involves recognising and responding to internal cues such as hunger, thirst, and emotions.
Encouraging mindfulness practices, such as deep breathing and body scans, helps children develop interoceptive awareness (Dunn, 2016). Providing opportunities for reflection by asking, "How does that make you feel?” not only gives emotional expression, but supports the development of a healthy internal awareness. This sense can be particularly powerful in ages 18-24 months as children begin to recognise differences in their temperament and can be quick to signal when they are not content.
🪁 The vestibular sense, responsible for balance and spatial orientation, is stimulated through movement. Activities like swinging, spinning, bouncing, and rocking provide essential vestibular input, promoting motor coordination and a sense of balance (Smith, 2018).
Much of outdoor play includes vestibular sense stimulation, including swinging on a tire swing, rope, or riding a bike. Playtime with a parent can also give vestibular practice with such things like swinging a child around, pretending to ride a horse’ with a child on one leg while holding their arms, or rocking your child back and forth in a rocking chair.
We can provide our children a large amount of sensory stimulation by engaging with them and showing them the world around them. We can also tailor and design activities to help meet a child’s sensory needs when they need more intense opportunities. Sensory challenges can help unlock more opportunities for understanding, compassion, and creative solutions for us all.
References:
Biel, L., & Peske, N. (2009). Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Processing Issues. Penguin.
Dunn, W. (2016). Understanding the nature of sensory integration with diverse populations. F.A. Davis Company.
Smith, A. (2018). Sensory Processing 101. Future Horizons.
https://childmind.org/article/sensory-processing-issues-explained/
✨ Here is our 8 Senses Freebie with open access through the end of the week: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U6q59uuUV7h5zYy7ZlFNeugPQP9bzrt9/view?usp=sharing
