A sensory room is a place where children gain confidence by doing things that interest them at their own pace. After being in a sensory room, those whose lives are anything but easy are often calmer and more at peace with themselves and the world.
Kim Harding is one practitioner who can attest to these far-reaching benefits. She currently manages the South Bristol inclusion project, based at the Hartcliffe Early Years Centre, where she is encouraging the use of a new multi-sensory room funded by Sure Start and Early Excellence.
The room is designed to help children to use all their senses and is particularly valuable for children with sight or hearing difficulties. The benefits vary from child to child, though all gain from the experience.
Many quieten on entering the rooms, although some get excited. Most react favourably to the equipment. Staff, parents and children at the centre have access to the room, which is also made widely available to the local community and to other settings. Booking is essential, and the people who use it are expected to abide by written guidelines and to treat it with respect.
The room is small and has no window. It is in a quiet part of the centre and is protected from extraneous noise. The floor has a soft surface, and cushions and drapes create a relaxing environment. Mobiles hang from a wooden grid suspended from the ceiling, catching the light as they turn.
There are tall translucent lit pillars filled with water, with air bubbling through as the colours slowly change. Fibre-optic lights and kaleidoscopic effects can be turned on to attract children's attention and gentle sound can be added to influence the atmosphere.
Sometimes parents as well as children enjoy relaxing aromatherapy with scented oils in the security of this calming space, and it is occasionally used for counselling sessions.
In addition to the installation and running costs, the sensory room needs someone with the time to manage access to it and the expertise to make sure it is used for its prime purpose, which is to stimulate children with sensory difficulties and help in the assessment of their needs.
Children with special needs are referred by the health visitor based at the health clinic opposite Hartcliffe. Ms Harding arranges for them to be offered appropriate support so they can be included in mainstream activities at the centre as well as spending time in the sensory room. Two children with hearing impairment benefit particularly from working in that protected environment.
The space is often used for one-to-one sessions, when children's reactions to different lights and sounds can be tested systematically, but up to four children may be there at any one time, supervised by an adult who has been trained to use the equipment.
Ms Harding has developed a half-hour induction programme that gives staff, parents and local workers the chance to explore the possibilities of the room. There is a temptation to switch on everything but, as Kim points out, this results in sensory overload. It is essential to think through how the different stimuli can best be used to meet children's needs.
Sometimes, the room is used as a base where children can hear a special story, with light effects or torches that they can control for themselves.
At Christmas it becomes a wonderful sparkling place. Some centres have added light pens and other technology to give children an opportunity for creative expression. The internet is also a useful source of information.
Lynne James, the head at Hartcliffe, acknowledges that the sensory room is an expensive resource that could not be afforded without extra funding. It can, however, inspire ideas that can be shared more widely. The underlying purpose is to create a comfortable place, with interesting stimuli for sight, smell and sound.
Both classrooms in the centre have their own improvised sensory corners, set up in protected areas with shimmery fabric, lights and pictures that evoke the same kind of atmosphere as the sensory room. A mosquito net hung from a ceiling hook is used to define a particular area, and old CDs make attractive reflective decorations. Children can retreat to these spaces for quiet conversation and reading, or for imaginative dramatic play.
As Ms James says, every nursery could create a haven in this way. At Hartcliffe, these indoor areas are complemented by a sensory garden, with fragrant herbs and plants set among natural materials with varied textures.
Visitors to the centre and members of the local community are welcome to see and share the special sensory areas. As part of her role, Ms Harding explains the philosophy and practice behind their use. A multi-sensory room is intended to offer a secure and relaxing environment designed to stimulate the primary senses. It encourages children to express their feelings in a therapeutic and relaxing atmosphere.
The sensory room enables children to find out about themselves while having fun and, most importantly, allows them to move freely and communicate with others in a way they may never have been able to do before.
Ms Harding also undertakes outreach work, speaking to groups around Bristol and encouraging them to think about the ways in which they can provide sensory stimulation and support for children with special needs.
In response to local demand, she has written a booklet containing ideas for play. Children love to be rocked gently, so one suggestion is to make a swinging hammock out of a bath sheet. Velcro along one side enables different materials to be attached, and easily removed for cleaning. Adults can look out for indications that the child wants to be rocked more by getting to know the expressions or sounds they use, even if they have few communication skills.
Another idea is to use a black umbrella to create an interchangeable environment to attract a young baby's interest. A variety of bright materials, such as reflective balls, baubles, torches and glittering fabrics can be attached with Velcro to the inside of the umbrella, which can then be opened out over a baby lying on a cushion on the floor.
The exploration of different textures and temperatures is also encouraged.
Ms Harding points out that ice frozen around materials such as stones or a bead necklace looks attractive and offers a range of sensory experiences as it melts. It also helps children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world, especially when it is linked to direct experience of cold weather.
She also suggests that a big basket can become a tactile treasure trove when covered and filled with household items such as wooden and metal spoons, plastic bowls and cups, ribbons and string, newspaper and card, rough graters, smooth tins and lids. Collage lends itself well to the exploration of texture, and weaving can involve children with a variety of different materials. This can be done through railings out of doors or on radiator bars when they are not in use in the summer, and helps to promote children's physical co-ordination and refines their awareness of texture.
Smelling and tasting activities, using spices, fruit and vegetables, help children to discriminate between different flavours. Ms Harding suggests that having samples of each of the types of food eaten by Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar can be fun if children are allowed to touch and taste them, and to match them to pictures in the book.
Wind chimes and other instruments help children to pay attention to sound.
They can be supplemented by audio tapes and CDs, and also by singing. Ms Harding suggests that the use of props, such as a torch with 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' or water spray when 'I Hear Thunder' reaches 'pitter patter raindrops', helps children to relate the words to experience.
Inventing songs to celebrate real events and encouraging children to represent their feelings through expressive movement helps them to develop sensory awareness without the need for sophisticated equipment. What's more, Hartcliffe has shown that it is possible to take the essential elements of a multi-sensory experience and improvise something similar in a classroom or garden.
Reference
* Ayer, S (1998) Use of Multi-Sensory Rooms for Children with Profound & Multiple Learning Disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities for Nursing, Health and Social Care 2, 2, 89-97.
Further information
Anyone who would like to know more about the installation and use of sensory rooms or is interested in offering similar experiences within an everyday environment is welcome to contact Lynne James, head of centre, or Kim Harding, South Bristol inclusion project manager, at Hartcliffe Early Years Centre, Hareclive Road, Hartcliffe, Bristol BS13 0JW
* Telephone 0117 903 8633 (Lynne) or 0117 903 8636 (Kim).