Sensory Gift Guide for All Ages
15 November 2023
Gift-giving can be a lovely thing to do but sometimes we’re in need of some inspiration! That’s why Sensory Help Now's team of Christmas Elves have been busy compiling this year’s Sensory Gift Guide for All Ages - an annual rundown of sensory gift ideas. A few things to know before you scroll down...
- You can shop by age by using the links below and clicking on the age group you are shopping for to see what our Christmas Elves have suggested
- To make it easy for you to locate a particular product, simply click on the title of the product you want to find out more about
- You can also find many more sensory-friendly products – from clothing to toys and other sensory-related products - in our Everything Sensory Directory
Please note that all prices are correct at time of issue and that we may receive a commission when you click on our links and make a purchase. This, however, has no bearing on what we've picked.
Baby 0 to 24 months
Infantino Sensory Balls Blocks & Buddies*
Made with BPA-free materials, this 20-piece set comprising 8 coloured, textured and shaped balls, 8 coloured and numbered soft yet sturdy blocks and 4 soft play animals helps babies explore textures and develop fine and gross motor skills. It can also be used as a learning tool for toddlers for counting, sorting, stacking and descriptive language.
Priced at £24.99
Fidget Sensory Activity Cube*
This multi-sensory toy is ideal for teething or inquisitive toddlers aged 1- 3 years. Its unique design can help them develop their motor skills and sensory perception by pressing and turning buttons.
Priced at £15.99
Follow Me Ball
Suitable for babies aged 6 months upwards, this colour-changing motorised ball will help encourage a baby to crawl. The ball rolls along slowly and then stops and changes directions so it doesn’t move too far away. Babies will be captivated by the random movement and changing colours of the light-up ball.
Priced at £12.89
Sit and See Safari Floor Mirror*
This little baby-safe mirror is perfect for self-recognition, silly faces and fun games! With crinkly leaves and colourful fabric, babies won’t be able to take their eyes off what they see. This is great for engaging the baby's developing vision.
Priced at £10.99
Baby Sensory CD 'Music for New Babies'
This ‘Music for New Babies’ CD helps to promote peaceful sleep with calming nature sounds, beautiful music and soothing lullabies for your baby from birth. Heartbeat and womb sounds remind your baby of the comfort and security of the womb, bringing peace and happiness.
Priced at £5.99
2 to 5 Years
Learning Resources Feelings Family Hand Puppets Set*
These 5 colourful puppets help young children explore feelings and emotions through guided or free-play activities. Each of the puppets has a different facial expression (happy, sad, angry, surprise or scared) and is in a unique colour to represent that emotion. Made from soft, durable materials, they are designed with tactile elements to help children engage with their feelings.
Priced at discounted price of £22.99 at time of issue
Playfoam*
Ideal for children aged 3 years upwards, Playfoam can help to develop fine motor skills by providing opportunities for pinching, scooping, squeezing, pressing, and rolling. Available in 8 fun colours, it has a bead-like texture which is great for tactile sensory play.
Priced at £10.99
Scentos Sugar Rush Mega Colouring Collection
For children aged 3 years upwards, the Scentos Sugar Rush Mega Colouring Collection is an all-in-one scented art set comprising scented coloured pencils, scented markers, erasers, stickers and a rainbow pen. As children colour, draw and doodle, fruity and candy scents are released. This type of sensory play can help to restore emotional balance to soothe, relax or support concentration.
Priced at £12.99
Orto Nature Happy Path Sensory Puzzle Playmats
Ideal for indoor or outdoor use, this set of 8 different coloured playmats use elements of the natural world to create tactile sensory play experiences. As well as being great fun, they help to boost circulation, correct flat-footedness, improve posture and develop the vestibular system.
Priced at £59.95
Weighted Plush Soft Toy*
This sensory-weighted plush will provide emotional support and a sense of security for your child and can be used while playing, studying, during travel and nap time. As the pressure of the weighted stuffed animal soothes the nervous system, it will help your child focus and concentrate better in difficult situations.
Priced at £36.99
5 to 12 Years
Difficult Situations Fun Deck
Suitable for ages 5+ years, the 'Difficult Situations' Fun Deck helps children discuss how they would react to a variety of stressful situations. The cards talk about safety, emotions, and different ways of acting in response to events that might occur and are a great way for children to improve their reasoning, inferencing, sequencing and memory skills.
Priced at £15.25
Light Up Sensory Jar
This handy storage jar contains a selection of 8 light-up toys - great for use in a dark room or sensory den. Toys may include a flashing wibble ball (a tactile ball that bounces at funny angles and lights up); a colour-changing wand that changes from red to green to blue; and a large soft squishy glittery ball that lights up and flashes.
Priced at £27.00
Mini Foot Swing
The Mini Foot Swing is specially designed for 3–7-year-olds and is an ingenious resource that helps children comfortably position themselves while sitting and constructively fidget as they swing their feet around on the under-the-table swing. The foot swing provides calming proprioceptive stimulation and is perfect for helping children sit still at the dinner table, boosting concentration in classrooms or as a stimulating treat for relaxing moments.
Priced at £58.20
Sink N’ Sand Board Game with Kinetic Sand for Sensory Fun and Learning
Suitable for 4 years +, Sink N’ Sand provides mess-free sensory fun! The Kinetic Sand flows through fingers like real beach sand and leaves them completely dry. Children can pull, shape and mould the sand to create incredible sand art. Kinetic Sand never dries out and is non-toxic, allowing children to safely enjoy hours of independent play.
Priced at 14.99
Wonderfully Wired Brains: An Introduction to the World of Neurodiversity*
This inspirational book written by neurodiverse author Louise Gooding challenges misconceptions and shows how neurodivergent brains work a little differently. The book is a great resource to help children learn more about neurodiversity and inclusion by taking a positive, friendly look at neurodiverse brains. The informative, inclusive text is accompanied by colourful modern illustrations.
Priced at £11.95
12 to 18 Years
Neurodivergent Teen & Young Adult Workbook
This Neurodivergent Teen & Young Adult Workbook by Jaclyn Abbate has been put together to help empower teens to learn new skills and feel more confident in themselves and their abilities. Topics covered include: learning coping skills; self-care goal setting and planning; understanding social cues; and improving emotion vocabulary.
Priced at £13.24
Chewelry Necklace
'Chewanators with Style' are BPA-free and made from food-grade safe silicone. Most people cannot tell they aren't just everyday jewellery and the stylish designs are popular with both teens and adults. Ideal for helping with nervousness, anxiety, nail-biting and ADHD.
Priced at £8.70 (25% off normal price of £11.60 until 19 November)
Vibrating Massage Pillow
This vibrating pillow can be used for sensory and tactile input. Vibration itself has many therapeutic benefits for people of all ages and is a comfortable and convenient way to provide soothing, regulating and healing effects to any part of the body. In particular, individuals with sensory processing difficulties often enjoy and need the input these pillows provide.
Priced at £29.00
Mindfulness Stickers
These may look like any other stickers but are actually textured stickers which act as a useful sensory tool to help remember coping strategies in different situations. They can be placed anywhere – on a phone case, pencil case, laptop keyboard, water bottle – and are a great tool for people with autism, ADHD, ADD, anxiety, stress or who just need to take some deep breaths and fidget.
Priced at £9.99
Light Up Sensory White Mirror*
This infinity mirror has 42 multi-coloured LEDs which creates an optical illusion of an infinite depth of lights. Either free-standing or hung on a wall, it helps to create a calm, relaxing atmosphere and is great for bedrooms or sensory rooms.
Priced at £15.99
Adults
Magicteam White Noise Machine*
This white noise machine is suitable for all ages and comes with 32 volume levels. Its 40 non-looping sleep sounds ranging from white noise, brook, rain, bonfire, train, waves and white noise will help to mask disruptive environmental noises.
Priced at £24.99
Fidget Tornado Toy
Fidget toys are beneficial as they allow the mind to be still and focused. Made with high-quality materials, this Fidget Tornado toy has a smooth spinning action that is both satisfying and therapeutic, making it a must-have for anyone looking to add extra calm to their daily routine. Its compact size makes it easy to take with you wherever you go, so you can always have a stress reliever on hand
Priced from £8.78 (20% off sale at time of issue)
Clouds CD
Inspired by the beauty and peace of the sky, this CD creates the musical interpretation of a cloud formation that will slowly relax you as if you were lying in a sun-drenched meadow watching the clouds drift overhead. It will help bring those struggling to control their emotions back down to a controlled and calm level and can be used amongst other sensory products in a sensory room to create a full multi-sensory experience.
Priced at £17.94
Shashibo Magnet Cube Sensory Toy*
The Shashibo Sensory Magnet Cube features 36 rare earth magnets for an innovative design that transforms into over 70 shapes. Fitting comfortably in the hand, it makes a great sensory stimulation puzzle gift and its calming therapeutic effect helps to soothe away stress and nerves.
Priced at £25.00
Sivio Weighted Eye Mask*
Weighted eye masks are designed to block out light and help you feel restful and relaxed when winding down or drifting off to sleep. The Sivio weighted eye mask features super-soft plush for a warming touch and bamboo fibre for a cooling sensation. It also comes with a detachable non-toxic bead bag that massages muscles around the eyes to relieve fatigue and stimulate deep sleep through deep-touch pressure.
Priced at £14.99
Older Adults (65+ years)
Fidget Blanket for Dementia*
Individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia can become anxious or nervous when they don’t have something to do with their hands. This fidget blanket provides a variety of fun activities and will keep restless hands occupied. It has been carefully designed to include various difficulty levels, which makes it ideal for adults in all different stages of dementia. The different activities will help to relieve anxiety and keep hands busy in a safe and calming way.
Priced at £31.99
Talking Button Clock
This Talking Button Clock is a simple but incredibly useful living aid for anyone with sight impairment, memory loss, dementia or Alzheimer's. The clock has a large white circular button, framed by a black base that provides excellent colour contrast for ease of identification. It has a high quality loud and clear English male voice that tells the time and date at the press of the button as well as an alarm feature.
Priced at £23.46
Simple Music Player
Music has a restorative effect which improves quality of life and mental well-being. Individuals with dementia who want to listen to music may find conventional music players too complicated to operate. This simple music player helps to provide people with dementia with music they remember in a way they can independently access themselves. It is operated by lifting the lid, which automatically switches the unit on and plays a tune. If a new tune is desired, a single large button allows the individual to skip to the next track.
Priced at £109.74
Tactile Turn
With 4 different textures and a variety of colours that stimulate the feeling and visual senses, this folding fabric soft ring is designed to help hands keep busy and relaxed. The repetitive motion of turning the folds round and round brings focus to distracted and restless hands whilst providing comfort and soothing agitation.
Priced at £24.98
Bedside Lighting Tablet
This ergonomic table-top light offers a cost-effective aid for the self-management of sleep problems among older people. It is especially useful for bedrooms as a nightlight thanks to its low-level glow which allows uninterrupted, quality sleep. Controlled by a touch panel - switch on anywhere along the main edge – it provides a focus in the room, allowing items such as spectacles, water, phone and other essential personal items to be easily identified without having to switch the main light on.
Priced at £83.94
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