Sensory Disorders & Messy Playtime

Providing a variety of sensory input, sensory sensations, & sensory experiences, promotes the development and maturation of a child’s sensory systems.

Children learn through their exploration of their world. Play is how they explore and learn and grow. Through play a child uses all of their senses into order to explore and learn – they use touch, taste, smell, proprioceptive/movement, vision, body awareness, and so on while they play and interact.

There are many children who do not hesitate to jump into mud puddles, smear finger-paint all over themselves, dig deep into the dirt, and just generally end up getting dirty all over. Children, however, are each unique and different, with many who do not like to touch anything remotely sticky, or dirty, or messy looking.

If your child is sensitive to touching certain items, or in getting their hands, face, or body “dirty,” you know that they avoid many activities or even get upset over getting “messy.” For some, even just looking at something can may them cry, retch, vomit, or run.

Since children learn through play, exploring their world includes contact with the world around them. Exploratory play includes touching, looking at, putting items in their mouth, and in using all of their senses.

Exploratory play does include “messy play.” Having a variety of sensory input, sensory experience, and sensory sensation, helps to promote the development and maturation of a child’s sensory systems.

When there is a sensory integration processing deficit, normal development of play and exploratory skills are significantly impacted. The use of organized and planned, sensory integration activities can provide specific stimulation and input under more focused conditions.

This book, “Sensory Disorders & Messy Playtime,” written by an Occupational Therapist, includes:

• Introduction to Sensory Disorders and Messy Play

• Sensory Systems

• Messy Play Activity Intro

• Messy Play: Water Play

• Sensory Water Play Activities

• Messy Play: Sand Play

• Sand Alternatives

• Sensory Sand Play Activities

• Ideas for Sand Play Add-in’s

• Sand Play Safety Tips

• Sensory Baking & Food Related Messy Play

• Sensory Messy-Mess Play

• Sensory Sand Dough Recipe

• Sensory Sand Foam Play

• Messy Play: Sensory Slime

• Sensory Slime Recipes: 5 Different Mixtures that are Kid Safe

• Messy Clean Sensory Seek & Find Rice Box

• Filler Ideas for a Sensory Rice Box

• Messy Play: Papier Mache

• Notes

• Legal

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Author, Judy Benz Duncan has been an Occupational Therapist for over thirty years. She has worked with children from infants to teenagers in numerous settings that included early intervention, pre-school programs, grade school, home health, developmental training centers, and sensory integration clinics.

Judy developed the foundation for designing therapeutic activities and tasks using interactive play and creative imagination to engage the children at a level they could easily relate to while working toward the achievement of their Occupational Therapy program’s functional goals and treatment plan

Judy attended the University of Florida, University of Kansas, and the University of Tennessee. She received New York State approval as a Supplemental Evaluator for OT with early intervention and pre-school students, and has helped develop and start an OT program for families and children in New York. Judy continues to stay up-to-date in the clinical field through mentoring other OT students and new graduates.

She continues to contribute to children, families and professionals everywhere through her professional writing endeavors which include writing books and manuals, managing the therapeutic website, TheraPlay4Kids.com, writing OT blogs and topic-specific articles, working on "interactive story play" book series, writing bi-weekly professional blogs for a pediatric orthopedic surgeon group, a psychiatrist, and an attorney at law. She continues to be an active mentor of new OT graduates, as well as OT students.