On a recent morning at Frazer, children spread out across the atrium for Sensory Day—exploring the different stations and settling into whatever held their attention.
Some moved quickly from one activity to the next, hands dipping into water beads, feet pressing into textured tiles, bells ringing as a mallet tapped across them. Others stayed longer in one place, focused on a single feeling or motion. A few paused to try on noise-reducing headphones or bounced on the mini trampoline before moving on.
It looked like play. It was play.
It was also how learning was happening.
Slowing Down to One Sense at a Time
For young children, the senses are how they begin to understand the world. They take things in through touch, sound, and movement—learning what something feels like, how their bodies move, and how to respond.
Sensory play gives children a chance to focus on one or two of those senses at a time.
As Frazer’s Inclusion Specialist, Hannah Etchison, describes it: when children pay attention to a specific sense, they begin to understand what they’re feeling and how to describe it. They start to connect words to experiences—rough, soft, loud, quiet, fast, slow.
That connection builds over time. Language grows. Coordination develops. Confidence follows.
At Frazer, sensory experiences are part of everyday learning. Materials and activities shift based on age and interest: texture pads for younger children, more complex materials like slime for older ones. Some activities are structured. Others are open-ended, giving children space to explore in their own way.
There isn’t one right way to engage.
Finding What Helps a Child Settle
Hannah has seen how focusing on a single sense can also help a child regulate.
She remembers working with a child who often became overwhelmed. Moments of frustration could build quickly, and it was hard for her to find a way back to calm.
One day, Hannah introduced a simple activity—a Buddha Board. With a brush and water, the child could paint across the surface. The marks would appear briefly, then fade and disappear.
There was no pressure to make something permanent. No buildup of mistakes. Just the motion of the brush and the feel of water on the surface.
“She locked into it,” Hannah said. “You could see her body start to settle.”
Over time, that activity became something the child returned to. It gave her a way to focus, block out distractions, and find a sense of control again.
Moments like that are part of what sensory play can offer. By narrowing attention to one sense, it can quiet the noise around a child and create space for them to reset.
Making Space to Explore
Sensory Day brings that idea into one shared space.
It’s a chance to gather a wide range of materials and let children move between them—trying, noticing, returning, or moving on. Some activities invite guided interaction. Others leave room for curiosity to lead.
All of it reflects something that’s already true in the classroom: play is how children learn.
Every time a child presses their hands into a new texture, listens closely to a sound, or moves their body in a different way, they are building understanding—of their environment, and of themselves.
Thank you to our parent volunteers, PTAC for providing materials, and the therapists from Wisteria Psychological and Behavioral Services who spent the morning with us. Your support made the day possible.