The Sensory Trust is a leading authority on inclusive and sensory design. We use nature and the outdoors to improve the health and wellbeing of people living with disability and health issues, their families and carers. We work throughout the UK, and share our approaches internationally with a wide network of organisations and individuals.
The Sensory Trust is a leading authority on inclusive and sensory design. We use nature and the outdoors to improve the health and wellbeing of people living with disability and health issues, their families and carers. We work throughout the UK, and share our approaches internationally with a wide network of organisations and individuals.
The Sensory Trust are based at the Eden Project and we thought turning the map into a worksheet for co-ordinates and compass directions could be good fun!
This resource contains:
a cover sheet explaining the activity and the answers
co-ordinates worksheet (two different ability levels)
compass directions worksheet (two different ability levels)
This activity was made by the Sensory Trust - we have lots of other free resources on our website.
The idea behind this resource is for a young person to develop their resilience. In order to do this, it is important for them to be able to identify what they are good at - especially if they have low self confidence.
There are a number of different categories, with simple skills or qualities listed within them. The idea is that the student reads the statements and decides if it is something they can do. We also included a ‘working on’ box, so they can perhaps help to come up with their own targets for IEPs or EHCPs.
There is a slightly more complex table where a student can decide if it’s something they try to do, can do or like to do. We have differentiated the statements into two levels; simple statements with visuals; and more complex statements, which do not have visuals.
This activity was made by the Sensory Trust - we have lots of other free resources on our website.
This worksheet pack takes the student through how to make a Spring vegetable salad - thinking about seasonality. There are various different recipes with varying levels of support - all using visuals. There is also a worksheet on understanding seasonality and recipe recorder sheets, where students can write down the skills they used and rate their food. Finally there is a visual communication board with key vocabulary.
The first activity is getting the students to write a shopping list for their recipe, using photos and visuals to support them. This is differentiated into three levels. The second task is the recipe itself, again there are three types; very simple with visuals, a checklist version and a salad dressing recipe for those who can access it. The next activity is a simple ordering task - taking the key parts of the recipe and seeing if the students can recall the process. The next task is a sorting activity on seasonal fruit and vegetables. Finally there are some recipe recorder sheets, where students can recall the skills they used and whether they liked the meal, etc.
We have differentiated the worksheets into three levels; the most difficult has three spirals in the top left hand corner and the easiest has just one spiral in the top left hand corner.
This activity was made by the Sensory Trust - we have lots of other free resources on our website.
This is a TEACCH activity designed primarily for autistic students, but can be a great activity for all students. It can also be used as a stage 4 activity in Attention Autism sessions.
The idea of the activity is to develop independence skills by providing clear visual instructions that a student can follow. There is a clear order and the stages set out simply.
We tried to incorporate an aspect of nature into the activity so it could go alongside other nature activities or prompt other learning in nature.
The idea is that there is only one step visible at a time, so please cut the pages in half and then they can be laminated if the activity is to be repeated multiple times, or perhaps attached by a staple to create a flip-book - whatever works best for your students.
This activity was made by the Sensory Trust - we have lots of other free resources on our website.
This worksheet pack takes the student through how to make a Summer fruit salad - thinking about seasonality. There are various different recipes with varying levels of support - all using visuals. There is also a worksheet on understanding seasonality and recipe recorder sheets, where students can write down the skills they used and rate their food. Finally there is a visual communication board with key vocabulary.
The first activity is getting the students to write a shopping list for their recipe, using photos and visuals to support them. This is differentiated into three levels. The second task is the recipe itself, there are two types; very simple with visuals and a checklist version. The next activity is a simple ordering task - taking the key parts of the recipe and seeing if the students can recall the process. The next task is a sorting activity on seasonal fruit and vegetables. Finally there are some recipe recorder sheets, where students can recall the skills they used and whether they liked the meal, etc.
We have differentiated the worksheets into three levels; the most difficult has three spirals in the top left hand corner and the easiest has just one spiral in the top left hand corner.
This activity was made by the Sensory Trust - we have lots of other free resources on our website.
This worksheet pack takes the student through how to build a bug hotel, with visual instructions. There are two levels of difficulty - a simple hotel and a luxury one.
There are also worksheets that help the students to spot and identify different insects and creatures - either in their own bug hotel or out exploring. Again there are two differentiations, one which just encourages identification and another which allows the student to tally how many they see.
Finally there is a bar chart template, for those students who can access it, to record their findings.
We have differentiated the worksheets into three levels; the most difficult has three spirals in the top left hand corner and the easiest has just one spiral in the top left hand corner.
This activity was made by the Sensory Trust - we have lots of other free resources on our website.
This activity explores the life cycle of a butterfly in the form of a sensory trail. There are 8 activities, you can do at home or in school, and finally there’s a link to how to make a butterfly feeder.
This worksheet pack contains:
a cover sheet explaining how the activities work
8 different sensory ‘stops’ with a different sensory activity exploring each stage of the butterfly life cycle
a worksheet consolidating the learning (3 different ability levels)
a link to a YouTube video: how to make a butterfly feeder
This activity was made by the Sensory Trust - we have lots of other free resources on our website.
We have created a complete guide to everything you will need to know to create your own wildflower space. Whether you have a section of the school field, a bit of dead space down the side of a classroom or a planter on your windowsill, this pack will give you all the instructions and ideas to make your own wildflower area and hopefully bring some more biodiversity and some great ways to learn and develop new skills.
The guide includes activities that takes you through every stage, including choosing the seeds, preparing the ground, sowing, maintaining your space and what to do once the flowering has finished. There is also some extra activities included to help you make the most of your space and a beautiful illustrated A2 poster that you can print and display to remind you of your journey.
We have worked with Widgit to make this a visual-supported guide which should help a variety of different students access the information.
This resource was made by the Sensory Trust and we have lots more free resources over on our website.
This is a pack based around an activity called journey mapping. If you can get outside, in any space you have available to you, and collect some items that fit into different categories. Next up, you can use the worksheets included in this pack.
The YouTube video below shows you how to set up the activity and there is further information on a How-to PDF, also included.
Within this resource is:
a cover sheet explaining how the activities work, including a link to a YouTube video
a simple worksheet ordering the items you collected
a middle level worksheet with some questions
a creative worksheet encouraging story writing
a fantasy and adventure vocabulary sheet
This activity was made by the Sensory Trust - we have lots of other free resources on our website.
This is a selection of worksheets that go along side an activity called ‘the egg drop challenge’. Our worksheet pack includes sheets that support the ‘dropping of the eggs’ - ways the students can record the information and make predictions. There are also worksheets that prompt the students to think about how eggs are designed and how they appear in nature.
If you’ve not heard of it, the egg drop challenge is a great activity that can get students outside and in nature. You give each student or group an egg to protect from a fall; the fall can be as big or small as you decide. You can then give the students some resources if you wish, perhaps to start them off or as a method of differentiation, or you can use the opportunity to explore the outside and find natural items to protect their egg in a fall.
We have differentiated the worksheets into three levels; the most difficult has three spirals in the top left hand corner and the easiest has just one spiral in the top left hand corner.
This activity was made by the Sensory Trust - we have lots of other free resources on our website.
This is a TEACCH activity designed primarily for autistic students, but can be a great activity for all students. It can also be used as a stage 4 activity in Attention Autism sessions.
The idea of the activity is to develop independence skills by providing clear visual instructions that a student can follow. There is a clear order and the stages set out simply.
We tried to incorporate an aspect of nature into the activity so it could go alongside other nature activities or prompt other learning in nature.
The idea is that there is only one step visible at a time, so please cut the pages in half and then they can be laminated if the activity is to be repeated multiple times, or perhaps attached by a staple to create a flip-book - whatever works best for your students.
This activity was made by the Sensory Trust - we have lots of other free resources on our website.
This is a pack based around a bird building it’s nest; what they use, how to build one and some further work on habitats.
Within this resource is:
a cover sheet explaining how the activities work, including a link to a YouTube video explaining how to build a bird’s nest
bird’s shopping list for building a nest (3 different ability levels)
a visual guide for how to build a bird’s nest with photos
4 worksheets on habitats (river, beach, woodland, farm) including some support sheets at the end for those students that will need prompts
This activity was made by the Sensory Trust - we have lots of other free resources on our website.
This popular activity is designed to engage groups in creative writing and poetry based on their experiences at an outdoor venue. It aims to make poetry accessible and fun, helping participants express their thoughts and feelings. We originally developed the kit to use on a visit to a farm, but it can be easily adapted to any kind of setting. Groups work together to create their very own poetry in this fun engaging activity.
The instructions for how to deliver the activity are here on our website, just such for nature poetry or head to our resources page.
This activity is designed to be carried out with all ages, but we have created a Widgit supported worksheet to be used in schools with those who need that support.
This activity was made by the Sensory Trust - we have lots of other free resources on our website.
This is a TEACCH activity designed primarily for autistic students, but can be a great activity for all students. It can also be used as a stage 4 activity in Attention Autism sessions.
The idea of the activity is to develop independence skills by providing clear visual instructions that a student can follow. There is a clear order and the stages set out simply.
We tried to incorporate an aspect of nature into the activity so it could go alongside other nature activities or prompt other learning in nature.
The idea is that there is only one step visible at a time, so please cut the pages in half and then they can be laminated if the activity is to be repeated multiple times, or perhaps attached by a staple to create a flip-book - whatever works best for your students.
This activity was made by the Sensory Trust - we have lots of other free resources on our website.