Straw Sensory Play Activity

This box of cut up straws is a fun way to make a non messy sensory play activity!  I bought 6 packages of 150 count drinking straws at the dollar store, and cut them up into thirds (but you could make them smaller or larger).  I used a copier paper box (the kind with a removable lid on the top), and cut a large rectangular hole in the lid.

I then added some random toys/objects in the straws, so that my students can reach in and find them-  you could:

-Take off the lid and just have the kids play in the straw however they want.  

-Have them find objects that you have hidden in the straws (this helps work on tactile discrimination and stereognosis!), eyes open or eyes closed.

What is tactile discrimination?  Wikipedia defines it as "the ability to differentiate information received through the sense of touch."

What is stereognosis?  According to Wikipedia, it is the ability to perceive and recognize the form of an object in the absence of visual and auditory information, by using tactile information to provide cues from texture, size, spatial properties, and temperature, etc.

-Vary the size of the objects that you have in the straws.  Smaller items require more tactile discrimination.

-Kids love the non messy aspect of this tactile input/stimulation~

I used this tactile box for a group activity in a classroom of 9 kids; all have various disabilities.  Some of the kids require visual cues to follow directions and to sequence the steps of an activity, so I also made visuals (using Boardmaker) for those that needed those types of cues:

Be creative with ways that you can present this to your kids/students, modify how to access it, vary the items that you add to it...