Top 10 Sensory Gifts for Christmas

With Christmas just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about all the wonderful sensory gifts you’re going to be buying for friends and family this festive season. For many, it’s the most exciting and satisfying part of the holiday season.

However, if you have a family member or a child with more complex additional needs, getting the right gifts isn’t always an easy task. That’s why we’re here to help ease the potential anxiety around buying for someone with special needs so that everyone can give enjoy a calm and relaxing Christmas. Check out our gift guide for best sensory gifts this shopping season:

Sensory Gifts for Christmas

 

1. Sensory Pop Up Cube

It’s important that everyone enjoys Christmas and that also includes those families with special needs children. This LARGE Sensory Pop Up Cube is the gift that keeps on giving, even after Christmas is over! It’s an incredibly easy-to-use enclosure that pops open under its own sprung tension and requires no poles, pegs or ties. In addition, the modular element of the pod allows multiple pods to be easily joined together so an even bigger safe space.

This cube offers an alternative to a permanent sensory room, as it’s portable & light-weight. Offering a safe environment that is ideal for use with projectors, illuminated toys or the Light Up Toy Jar (of which the latter comes FREE with the cube) to enjoy inside your den! It creates a place of refuge for your child to escape the overwhelming sights, sounds and smells that Christmas brings. One of the perfect sensory gifts!

2. Large - Fidget Toy Pack

Here's another great selection for the Christmas morning stocking, this Large Fidget Toy Pack. They’re a great way to keep children with special needs focused on the Christmas dinner table or when watching other family members open presents.

Our fidget packs contain items 10 items including toys such as stress balls, tactile wooden animals, furry fun bugs & much more. (*Please note: all toys are CE approved but are not recommended for those who bite and chew). Buying gifts in value, multi-packs helps to save money, but they also give the recipient much more enjoyment and interaction than perhaps only one toy can achieve.

3. Lacing Beads

If you're looking to give sensory gifts this Christmas that helps to aid and assist in developing fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, then our Lacing Beads make a wonderful gift. Not only do they help improve cognitive and visual perception skills, they're also an extremely fun festive gift!

The variety of the dramatic bead shapes, their bold colours and two extra-long laces make them an interesting and versatile present for any early years child. The set includes a generous 30 wooden beads in 6 colours, 5 distinct shapes and 2 extra long laces!

4. Therapeutic Putty - Large Tub

This cool, creative and colourful Therapeutic Putty makes a fantastic gift for any adult or child this Christmas, as it has multiple appeals among all ages. Our putty Large work as a little tub of therapy, which is great for helping to improve strength in hands.

Whether you're buying putty for a strong or slightly weaker child, we have four different colour coded consistencies available, for soft, strengthening & firm grasps. Below are the colours explained:

• Soft - Yellow
• Med/Soft - Red
• Medium - Green
• Firm - Blue

All our coloured putty can be blended together to create a full spectrum of resistance - even blend red and green putty to create a Christmas themed putty ball! These large tubs contain 450g of putty. (*Please note: avoid contact with hair, clothes fabrics and materials).

5. All About Me Feelings Activity Set

Spot the face and spot the emotion! With 6 fun faces and 6 unique shapes, the all about me activities in this set help young children learn how facial expressions and body language show what people are feeling. This All About Me Feelings Activity Set includes a social-emotional learning (SEL) activity guide with ideas on how to get talking and learning about themselves and others through play.

Help children as young as age 3 learn more about themselves and others through fun, playful activities.

6. Llamacorn Night Light

Help your child settle down over the Christmas period and beyond with our wonderful range of Night Lights. These sensory gifts can transform any room into a starry night sky to help comfort and calm children to sleep. We have llamacorns, dinosaurs, unicorns and angry birds to choose from!

Our cool little turtle lights come in a range of three different colours: Classic, dark green turtle colour and cool blue. Our turtles also come with 3 x AAA batteries, included, as standard. Not only do they make a wonderful, relaxing spectacle, they're also an interactive and educational toy. The Turtle includes eight actual constellations (such as The Big Dipper) that are embedded in the star pattern for your child to learn about.

7. Infinity Mirror

This makes a wonderful festive time gift for any child who is on the autism spectrum. The Infinity Mirror With Clock creates the sense of infinity illusion with a tunnel of lights and a clock to help any child improve their time telling skills! The LED lights can be switched off to give a mirror surface and the clock operates continually. This mirror is ideal for those with on the autistic spectrum, the visually impaired and for night use over the Christmas period and beyond. 

8. Wedge Cushion

This dynamic inflatable wedge-shaped seating cushion is great for helping children actively promote proper seating posture and back alignment.  It can also improve core stability in young children.

It makes a great practical gift this festive period for improving posture whilst allowing a certain amount of 'wiggling' around without having to get off the chair - perfect for the festive dining table. The “bumpy” tactile side of the wedge gives your child a stimulatory surface to touch, feel and explore!

9. Sensory Ball

Our Sensory Ball offers a variety of visual and tactile sensations and makes the perfect sensory stocking filler! Our soft and chunky plastic ball comes with six smaller balls nestled all around it for extra festive fun!

There are a variety of visual and tactile sensations that come with purchasing this ball, helping children to explore new sensations, textures and colours. 

10. Chewbuddy Sensory Chew

Our Stickman Sensory Chews are just one in a large range of Chewbuddy Sensory toys we stock. The Chewbuddy is our own oral motor chew and with different textures & ridges for sensory input, made with a medical grade material is chewy but resilient, the perfect gift for Christmas. They're a safe alternative to chewing on fingers, cuffs, pencils and toys.

Plus, they come in a wide range of cool colours, shapes and functionalities. They can even be used as a great tactile fidget toy, give the gift that keeps on giving this Christmas. (*Please note: Sensory Chews are not a toy and whilst they are durable they are not indestructible. Wear and tear can be expected).

We sincerely hope you found our sensory gifts guide more than helpful and we managed to guide you towards the right items. Some of the products featured in this guide have their safety instructions, warnings and directions for use. Make sure you check these out for each individual product to confirm their suitability. For all our Christmas gifts, head over to our Christmas shop.

Or, if you want to get in touch with Sensory Direct - then please don't hesitate to contact us.