Bobby’s Little Explorer Kit – Sensory Bags
We are proud to work in collaboration with the Sensational Thinking Project to deliver a really exciting project to support children who need extra help with their sensory development! We fund and put together the wonderful Bobby’s Little Explorer Kits which are given to children throughout the Great North Children’s Hospital who need the extra provision.
Research has shown that children who spend extended periods of time in hospital don’t develop their sensory skills at the same rate as those out of hospital… although this makes complete sense we wanted to help address the gap for children! Together with the work of the Occupational Therapists and the Sensational Thinking Project we have created Bobby’s Little Explorer Kits, which will be used during Bobby’s Little Explorer Groups which take place on the wards in the hospital (as part of the project). The groups will show parents how they can use each item in the bag to help stimulate their child and help them with the development of all their senses; Proprioception, Vestibular, Smell, Hearing, Touch, Vision and Taste! (If you would like to know more about these you can download our booklet here)
Inside each bag there is:
Bubbles – Great for children to be distracted, develop their visual tracking skills whilst watching them float around, and for hand-eye co-ordination/upper limb control/finger isolation as the child begins to catch/pop the bubbles!
Floaty Scarf – The soft material feels lovely against the skin, the bright colours stimulate visual tracking and encourage grasping!
Maracas – Perfect to grasp and shake, this promotes auditory, tactile and proprioception! Children can also learn about rhythm and shake it to music!
Sensory Foil – Children can sit or play on the foil, or scrunch it up! There is lots of auditory, tactile and visual stimulation happening as they play!
Lift the flap book – Perfect for story time and calming auditory, tactile and proprioception input.
Finger Puppet – A little character to match the story. The puppet can accompany the story or dance along to some music with the maracas. Great for sensory development and imaginative play.
A Feather – Perfect for touch both calming and stimulating – this helps with bonding, reducing stress and promoting emotional regulation.
Ring with streamers – Great for grasping, gross motor skills, chewing, shaking and exploring new movements!
If you would like to donate to pay for a bag for a child, you can by following this link to our store. They cost £20 each to make a huge difference to someone in their time of need.
