How to Create a Sensory-Friendly Classroom: An In-Depth Guide for Educators

What’s inside this article: An in-depth guide designed to help teachers understand, recognize, and support sensory processing differences through the development of a sensory-friendly classroom using environmental modifications, sensory tools and equipment, and social-emotional education. This guide will help teachers make a sensory-friendly classroom where all students feel safe, comfortable, and ready to learn.

Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links.

Would you be surprised to know that 1 in 6 children have a developmental disability? It’s a staggering number, but according to the CDC, it’s true: 17% (or 1 in 6) of children aged 3-17 in the United States have a diagnosed developmental disability.

This includes diagnoses like Autism, ADHD, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and more. One thing that goes hand-in-hand with developmental disabilities that many people don’t know about is sensory processing challenges.

What Are Sensory Processing Challenges?

Sensory processing is a normal process in which the brain and nervous system receive information from all the senses and interpret it to create appropriate motor and behavioral responses.

Typical sensory processing lets us respond automatically and appropriately to the input we receive. For most of us, this happens seamlessly, and we don’t even think about it.

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Sensory processing challenges (or Sensory Processing Disorder) occur when the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information from our senses. Sensory signals are not organized and processed into appropriate behavioral responses.

These challenges can present in many different ways, depending on how the individual is impacted. Some people may be overly sensitive to sounds, lights, or textures in their environment.

Others may be under-responsive to input. They might not notice when they bump into things, be unaware if they have a messy face, or seem hyperactive.

When sensory processing is well developed, it positively influences cognitive development, communication, self-regulation, motor skills, and interactions with the environment.

Types of Sensory Challenges:

There are several types of sensory challenges, and children can experience various challenges simultaneously. So, they may avoid textures and sounds but seek movement and deep pressure.

The main types of sensory processing challenges are:

• Sensory Modulation—The brain either over-responds or under-responds to information. This is the case in kids who are hyper-sensitive and hypo-sensitive to stimuli.
• Discrimination and Perception—The brain struggles to interpret sensory information or give meaning to it. This is the challenge associated with sensory discrimination disorder.
• Vestibular Bilateral Functional Problems— Challenges are specifically related to thevestibular system and coordinating the two sides of the body (bilateral coordination). This is associated with sensory-based motor disorder.
• Praxis Problems— Praxis means how the body plans and executes motor movements. This challenge is also present in sensory-based motor disorders.

Behaviors Related to Sensory Processing Challenges:

A wide range of behaviors may be related to sensory challenges because these challenges affect people in so many different ways.

Some of these behaviors are challenging to deal with, and you may believe they are intentional defiance or aggression, but they’re actually a form of sensory seeking or a result of overstimulation (sensory overload).

If you change the lens you use to view challenging behavior and try a new approach to addressing it; you can see a significant reduction in disruptive behavior.

In fact, this case study found that sensory interventions can reduce classroom disruptions by 30%, creating a better learning environment for all students.

So, what type of behaviors may be related to sensory processing challenges?

Behaviors associated with sensory challenges include:

Over-Responsiveness (Hypersensitivity) Behaviors:

Hypersensitivity can lead to strong reactions, emotional dysregulation, sensory overload, and avoidance of stimuli.

• Responds with emotional intensity to light touch, such as acting as if a gentle pat on the back is painful.
• Completely avoids certain sensations – like putting feet in the sand or touching finger paint.
• Upset by the feelings of tags or seams in clothing. They may refuse to wear certain clothing items or types of fabric or want to wear the same thing every day.
• Fearful or a strong dislike of large crowds.
• Dislikes hair brushing, washing, drying, and cutting.
• Picky eater – some children will only have a handful of safe foods they’ll eat
• Frequently covers ears, eyes, or hides face.
• Intense reactions to hunger, thirst, or needing to use the bathroom. They may even describe hunger as being painful.
• Struggles with focus and attention (because they’re preoccupied with stimuli)
• Anxiety about situations, places, or activities
• Frequently feels nauseous
• Afraid of slides, swings, merry-go-rounds, etc.
• Dislikes or avoids elevators and escalators
• Sedentary – they avoid activities that involve a lot of movement.
• May worry about falling even when there is no risk of it.
• Worries or is afraid of using the stairs or walking on uneven surfaces.
• Dislikes jumping or any activity where the feet leave the ground.
• Startles if someone unexpectedly moves them (like pushing their chair in closer to the table)
• Bothered or distracted by small sounds like a clock ticking or water dripping from a tap
• Afraid of public washrooms -due to the loud flushing toilets, hand dryers, etc.

If efforts to avoid distressing stimuli are unsuccessful, their behavior could escalate to a meltdown (screaming, hitting, destructive and unsafe behavior) or a shutdown (withdrawal, zoning out, unresponsive).

Under-Responsiveness (Hyposensitivity) Behaviors:

Hyposensitivity leads to sensory-seeking behavior in an attempt to meet sensory needs, which can become disruptive or dangerous. Children aren’t consciously aware of why they behave this way; it isn’t a conscious choice. It is a maladaptive way of meeting needs because alternatives have yet to be provided.

Hyposensitivity can also make children seem unaware of themselves, like they aren’t listening, unfocused, distracted, lazy, etc., as they don’t show an expected response to stimuli.

• Constantly touching everything, as if they can’t resist. They may rub things against their cheek/face, touch with their hands, even lick objects, and gravitate towards messy play.
• Enjoys certain intense flavors – spicy, salty, sweet, sour, etc.
• High pain tolerance, doesn’t notice when they get hurt.
• Doesn’t notice when touched lightly by others
• Not aware when their face is dirty or nose is running
• They may engage in self-injurious behavior such as biting, pinching, hitting, picking at their skin, or headbanging.
• May not notice or seem affected by the temperature.
• Always speaks loudly and prefers the TV or music turned up loud.
• They make their own noises whenever they are in a quiet environment. For example, they may tab an object on the table, hum, talk to themselves, give verbal signals, etc.
• Craves constant everyday background noises, for example, may always want the fan running.
• Doesn’t respond to important sounds such as the bell ringing at school or a parent calling their name.
• Non-compliance or refusal when asked to stop engaging in certain behaviors or expected to sit still, be quiet, etc.
• Constantly moving, unable to sit still, fidgeting, and high energy all the time.
• Rough – for example, bumping into other people, walls, or objects or accidentally hurting their peers when playing as if they “don’t know their own strength.”
• Aggressive behavior. For example, hits, kicks, bites, pushes tables, etc.
• They walk loudly or stomp everywhere they go.
• Enjoys deep pressure massage
• Enjoys lots of movements, For example, jumping, swinging, running, hanging upside down, etc.
• Chews on clothing and objects
• Late toilet training has a hard time noticing when they need to use the washroom until it becomes urgent.
• Doesn’t feel when they need the washroom – leads to accidents and/or constipation
• Doesn’t feel hungry or can’t tell when they are full after eating.
• Loves spinning and seems never to get dizzy
• Craves intense movement experiences. For example, loves rides at an amusement park or spinning in an office chair.
• Loves swinging, slides, hanging upside down, etc.

If sensory-seeking efforts are unsuccessful, or they’re forced to stay still, stop stimming, etc., their behavior could also escalate to a meltdown (screaming, hitting, destructive and unsafe behavior) or a shutdown (withdrawal, zoning out, unresponsive).

Benefits of Sensory-Friendly Classrooms

Sensory challenges impact so many children, and the behaviors that go hand-in-hand with sensory challenges impact the entire classroom. Even neurotypical children can become over- or under-stimulated.

Looking over this long list of behaviors, you can see why building a sensory-friendly classroom with tools and equipment available to support all sensory needs is so essential.

Research and case study findings show that sensory-friendly learning environments can:

• Reduce classroom disruptions: Classrooms and schools equipped with sensory tools and equipment report fewer behavioral incidents. Sensory equipment helps mitigate under- and over-stimulation, common causes of disruptive behavior. Research indicates that sensory interventions can reduce classroom disruptions by up to 30%, creating a more conducive learning environment for all students.
• Improve focus and academic performance: Sensory equipment helps students self-regulate their sensory needs, allowing for better focus and participation in academic activities. A study indicated that students who used sensory integration strategies showed a 25% improvement in task completion and a 15% increase in test scores.
• Emotional Development: Sensory equipment and tools help children develop the ability to manage emotions and behaviors in response to external demands by teaching them to calm down and cope with sensory overload or under-stimulation in healthy ways.
• Social Development: Sensorily balanced children feel less anxious, which makes them more likely to engage in positive social interactions. Sensory equipment and tools can also encourage cooperative play and help kids build peer relationships.
• Cognitive Development: Sensory integration activities are linked to improvements in cognitive processing, aiding in the development of complex executive functioning skills like working memory, task initiation, problem-solving, and organization.
• Sensory Development: Regular access to sensory tools and equipment helps students with sensory integration disorders better process the sensory information they perceive, which is crucial for academic performance and cognitive development.

Physical Benefits:

A sensory-friendly classroom also provides a wide range of physical health benefits to children:

• Fine motor skill development: Developing these skills is crucial for tasks such as writing, drawing, and cutting with scissors.
• Gross motor skill development: Students with strong gross motor skills are more likely to participate in physical education and recess activities, promoting a healthy lifestyle and enhancing social interactions.
• Improved core strength: A strong core helps students maintain proper posture while sitting and standing, which is crucial for extended periods spent in classrooms.
• Improved coordination and balance: Students who excel in these areas are often more confident and active participants in physical education classes.

Finally, building a sensory-friendly classroom (and school) increases inclusivity and accessibility.

You can better address current and future education challenges and raise a generation of students who are better supported and more accepting, empathetic, compassionate, and understanding of others.

How to Build a Sensory-Friendly Classroom:

Creating a sensory-friendly classroom can help all students feel more comfortable and able to focus on learning.

Here are some strategies and adjustments to make a classroom sensory-friendly:

1. Adjust the Physical Environment:

Lighting:

Use Natural Light: Maximize natural light by opening blinds or curtains. If artificial lighting is needed, choose soft, warm lights instead of harsh fluorescent lights​​​​. Lamps and string lights can provide soft lighting that doesn’t overstimulate.

Fluorescent Light Covers: If fluorescent lights are the only option, use covers to soften and diffuse the lights. This can help reduce eyestrain and discomfort; however, some students may notice noise and flickering still coming from the lights, even when covered.

Dimmer Switches: Install dimmer switches so you can adjust lighting levels based on students’ needs​​ and activities.

Sound Control:

Sound-Absorbing Materials: Carpets, rugs, curtains, and soft furnishings absorb sound and reduce echo. Consider acoustic panels on the walls and ceiling​​​​.

White Noise Machines: Use a white noise machine or soft background music to mask distracting noises. Noise-canceling headphones or earplugs can also help students with sound sensitivities.

Acoustic Dividers: Freestanding acoustic desk dividers can provide students with noise reduction and provide additional privacy. Larger portable panels can partition off areas in the classroom.

Visual Supports:

Visual supports help provide the structure and predictability children need, reducing anxiety and promoting independence.

They also help keep the classroom clean and organized. Visual clutter can be overstimulating, especially for hypersensitive children.

When choosing visual supports, use calming colors and simple, non-distracting visuals to create a more soothing atmosphere that reduces visual overstimulation. Avoid bright, overly stimulating colors​​.

Clear Signage: Use clear, simple signs and labels (with pictures) for different areas and materials in the classroom. Visual schedules can help students anticipate transitions and activities​​​​.

Visual Schedules: Visual schedules help provide stability and predictability, promote independence, and help children build healthy constructive habits. You can find various examples of visual schedules here.

2. Create Sensory Zones

Sensory zones are designated areas created to support different types of sensory needs. By creating zones, children can have a space to go if they are overstimulated or understimulated.

Calming Corner:

Create a dedicated space where students can retreat when they feel overwhelmed or overstimulated. This is a calming area for self-regulation.

Comfortable seating, soft lighting, and calming tools, such as prompts for deep breathing exercises, weighted items, or sensory tools, should be included.

Active Zone:

This is a designated space for children who are sensory-seeking.

Include sensory-motor equipment that allows children to safely meet their sensory-seeking needs in ways that are not disruptive to the rest of the classroom—for example, access to a small trampoline, a sensory swing, or a crash pad.

The experts at SensoryRX can provide personalized advice on the right equipment for your needs, space, and budget.

There may also be grants or funding available to cover equipment costs.

Flexible Seating:

Provide different seating options to accommodate various sensory preferences, such as:

3. Incorporate Sensory Breaks

Scheduled Breaks

• Regular Intervals: Integrate sensory breaks throughout the day, during which students can engage in activities like stretching, deep breathing, exercises, or using sensory tools​​​​. Occupational therapists often recommend short (5-10 minutes) but frequent (everyone 1-2 hours) breaks for sensory activities, sometimes called sensory snacks. This is more effective than taking longer sensory breaks in less frequent intervals.
• Movement Opportunities: Allow for movement breaks that involve activities like walking, jumping, or simple exercises to help regulate energy levels​—for example, this 7-minute HIIT workout for kids.
• Sensory Tools: Provide various sensory tools, like fidgets and stress balls, that students can use to help them stay focused and manage sensory input​ while focusing on academic expectations, too.

4. Predictable Routines:

Maintain a consistent daily routine to provide students with both the security and predictability they need. Unlike adults, children’s brains are still developing, especially the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for executive functions. This is where the ability to plan ahead and make predictions happens.

Children can’t do this accurately simply because their brains haven’t yet developed that skill. So, they depend on structure and routine.

Uncertainty is a major cause of anxiety, especially in children with developmental differences. A highly predictable routine helps children feel secure, know what to expect, and practice making simple predictions. This reduces incidents of disruptive behavior.

Minimizing anxiety and other potential triggers or stressors for children means they’re more likely to tolerate stimuli and more likely to be able to self-regulate in the classroom.

5. Create a Positive Atmosphere:

• Encouragement and Praise: Use positive reinforcement to encourage appropriate sensory-seeking behaviors or self-regulation strategies, as well as participation in classroom activities​​.
• Personalize Learning Spaces: Set up individual workstations with minimal distractions for students who need a quiet space to focus​​. Find more tips here: Differentiation in the Classroom.
• Personalized Sensory Kits: Create personal sensory kits for students containing items that help them self-regulate, such as noise-canceling headphones, weighted lap pads, or chewable jewelry​​.

6. Engage in Professional Development

• Sensory Processing Education: Schools should provide educators and support staff training on sensory processing and strategies for both recognizing and supporting students with sensory needs​​.
• Collaboration with Specialists: Collaborate with occupational therapists and other specialists to design and implement sensory-friendly strategies in the classroom​​.
• Self-Education: Learn more about sensory processing and positive, inclusive classroom strategies by doing research online, reading books, and watching videos from experts in the field so you can stay up-to-date on knowledge and best practices.

7. Encourage Self-Regulation Skills

Self-regulation skills and meeting sensory needs go hand-in-hand. Children must learn to communicate, identify, and understand their emotions and how to sit with and experience uncomfortable emotions.

People use sensory-based coping skills to help manage their emotions. For example, a child might rock back and forth (a form of sensory regulation) to soothe themselves when feeling anxious (emotional regulation).

This skill begins developing in early childhood and continues developing throughout life into more complex social-emotional skills. These skills often require explicit teaching for neurodivergent students. Social-emotional learning programs, like The Zones of Regulation, can help develop these crucial skills.

Skills necessary include:

• Identifying emotions: Teach children how to identify emotions and what those emotions feel like in their bodies. Try this: How Do I Feel? Activity Book
• Identifying triggers: Help children learn and understand what triggers them and why.
• Coping skills: Kids need a wide range of healthy coping skills for different environments, situations, and triggers. Different coping skills work for different people, so it takes time to find the right ones. Introduce children to various mindfulness activities and relaxation techniques and help them choose their preferred strategies.
• Communicating emotions: Teach and model healthy strategies for communicating emotions with others. Kids are kids—they are going to need adult help managing their emotions. They need to know how to express what they’re feeling and why. Emotion coaching is a great technique for this.

It’s so important to work on developing skills in both areas because when individuals experience sensory overload or under-stimulation, it leads to emotional dysregulation, anxiety, frustration, or meltdowns.

Both sensory and emotional regulation involve the autonomic nervous system. Overstimulation of the sensory system can activate the body’s stress response, sometimes known as fight-or-flight, making it harder to regulate emotions.

Understanding how emotional and sensory regulation are connected can help you create environments and strategies that support both aspects, leading to better overall well-being and functioning for kids with sensory processing challenges.

The Understanding and Coping with Feelings Mega Bundle offers a wide range of educational tools to help you help children develop these crucial skills.

Creating a sensory-friendly classroom not only improves academic performance and reduces disruptions. It also improves social-emotional development, makes learning environments more inclusive and accepting, and helps all students feel more comfortable and ready to learn.

Teachers can create a sensory-friendly classroom by making just a few changes: adjusting the physical environment, creating sensory zones, providing predictability, creating a positive atmosphere, and teaching emotional regulation skills.