Tactile toys used in a sensory room are great for self-regulating. They can calm, alert, promote focus and concentration, and increase finger strength, dexterity, and feeling in the fingers and hands. Choosing the right tactile toys is all about the individual child. Here are some great choices to start with. If your child is old enough, let them look through pictures of the toys and see what draws their attention. From there, you can start to see what they are more drawn to and what to purchase in the future.
The Learning Resources Gears! Gears! Gears! tactile toy is absolutely amazing! So easy to build with, so easy for kids to operate on their own, colorful, exciting, calming yet stimulating…I love this toy. This is a phenomenal early STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) toy promoting problem solving, critical thinking, and works the fine motor skills.
Every gear is the same size and all gears are completely interchangeable. There are flat bases that the gears fit onto and handles that connect to any gear causing the gears to move in sync with each other.
Here is a short video of a rainbow my kiddos created. They loved watching it spin.
For little ones ages 6 months and up, the Infantino Sensory Press and Stay Sensory Blocks are terrific. This is another toy they can independently build with and not get frustrated. Each side of the block connects to others, and offers finger stimulating nubs that help with sensory issues. These nubs can also be good for kiddos who need to increase their activity level because the nubs are very alerting on their skin. You can build them up and down or even sideways…they connect together however kiddos hearts desire!
This old classic is still such a fun, stimulating, mesmerizing toy. The Pin Art Board can keep kids calm for such a long time. I highly recommend getting this Pin Art Board which is 8×6 inches. They do make others that are smaller, but the size of this board can fit their entire hand, face, favorite stuffed animal … anything.
Pin Art Boards also come in other colors, like this one, or this one which is an updated feature that is nice. The pins on the colors ones are plastic, which may or may not impact its performance.
The Learning Resources Teaching Tac-Tiles is a game that kids can play independently or together. Without them knowing, it teaches them how to discriminate between different textures using their fingers. The tiles are kept in the bag and kiddos draw a card. They have to try to find the tile that matches the card USING ONLY THEIR FINGERS! They pull out a tile that they think matches and can easily see by the card if it’s the one they were trying to find. Another similar game is the Guidecraft 3D Feel & Find Icons that uses shapes and icons. This skill is a life long skill that kids with sensory issues need to build on. Imagine how many times you’ve dug in your pocket or purse looking for something without using your eyes? That’s the purpose of this game!
Another oldy but goody is the K’NEX Construction Educational Toy. Building and creating can be very calming or stimulating for kids. Using their creative mind, using trial and error, and problem solving with toys that do not frustrate is a good way to help kiddos get into “the goldilocks zone” of being just right.
K’NEX does a great job with offering varieties of building models and for a variety of ages. This K’NEX is ages 7 and up, but they also offer Kid K’NEX for preschoolers, K’NEX Education for ages 8 and up that have motors, and many other styles.
We still have the K’NEX from the 80’s and Wes the builder loves playing with it. He could spend all day building, re-building, and adding on to his elaborate creations.
Watching marbles run down tracks can be so calming. Building the track can also be calming which is why I love any kind of marble run tracks for kids. This Translucent Marble Maze is cool because kids can see exactly where the marble goes at all times.
We have this Marble Run Building Blocks track that uses the large Legos, to making tracks higher and longer. It’s also nice because you can easily make smaller tracks and incorporate tracks with your existing large Legos.
This Magnetic Blocks with Marble Run Game is really cool because not only can you use it with your existing magnetic blocks, but you can also build marble runs on your refrigerator or any metal surface like a galvanized piece of sheet metal!
Magnet Building Tiles are such an easy way for kids to independently build tall buildings, towers, towns, cars, or whatever they can imagine. These tiles have strong magnets on all sides that easily click together and provide a sturdy way to build up without falling.
They come in a variety of styles and shapes like different sizes of triangles, window and door shapes, circles, wheels, and even just pinks and purples.
Brain Flakes are another fun way for kids to create any kind of design they want. Each flake clicks together and there are many bright colors to choose from. The only downside of these flakes is they can really hurt your fingers after a while of building. I usually end up having to help my kiddos finish their projects because either their fingers aren’t strong enough, or they are just sore! So depending on the age of your child, this may or may not be an independent toy to play with.
