Welcome to the Sensory Gift Categories page! Here, you’ll find a wide range of sensory toys and tools designed to cater to individuals with sensory issues. Whether you’re an adult seeking a calming or focusing aid, a parent looking for sensory toys for your toddler, or someone in need of tools to address specific sensory needs, we’ve got you covered.
- Adult Sensory Toys
- Auditory Sensory
- Calming
- Focus
- Olfactory Sensory
- Oral Sensory
- Sensory Toys for Toddlers
- Tactile Sensory
- Vestibular Sensory
- Visual Sensory
Adult Sensory Toys
Adult sensory processing differences & seeking describes variations in how an adult’s brain processes sensory information (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, movement, body awareness). While some experience over-responsivity (easily overwhelmed), others, known as sensory seekers, have a nervous system that requires more intense or frequent sensory input to feel regulated, focused, grounded, or “just right.”
What Adult Sensory Seekers Might Do or Feel:
- Feelings:
- A constant, often subconscious, restlessness, agitation, or discomfort if needs aren’t met.
- A sense of being under-stimulated, “bored,” or unable to focus.
- A strong urge or craving for specific sensations.
- Relief, calm, focus, or increased energy after getting the desired input.
- Frustration or anxiety if they can’t fulfill their sensory needs.
- Often feel misunderstood by others who don’t share their needs.
- Actions/Behaviors (often subconscious attempts to self-regulate):
- Movement: Fidgeting (bouncing leg, tapping), pacing, rocking, seeking out intense exercise, enjoying thrill-seeking activities (roller coasters, skydiving), needing to stretch frequently.
- Proprioception (Body Awareness) & Vestibular (Movement/Balance): Craving deep pressure (tight hugs, weighted blankets/clothing), cracking knuckles, chewing gum/ice/pens, clenching jaw, enjoying heavy lifting or “crash and bash” activities.
- Tactile (Touch): Preferring strong textures, rough play, or specific fabrics; needing to touch objects; enjoying vibrating sensations; seeking out warm baths/showers.
- Oral: Biting nails, chewing on non-food items, preferring strong flavors (spicy, sour, crunchy foods), carbonated drinks.
- Auditory (Sound): Preferring loud music, seeking out bustling environments, using white noise or specific sounds for focus or comfort.
- Visual (Sight): Enjoying bright lights, fast-paced videos, busy patterns, or stimulating visual environments; needing to scan rooms.
- Olfactory (Smell): Seeking out strong scents (perfumes, essential oils, specific foods) or avoiding certain smells intensely.
Adult sensory toys are designed to provide relaxation, focus, and comfort for adults with sensory issues. From fidget toys to weighted blankets, we have a variety of options to help you find the perfect sensory aid.
Auditory Sensory
Your auditory system is how your body catches sound vibrations and turns them into something your brain understands, so you can hear and make sense of the noisy world around you.
How Can I Tell if Someone is an Auditory Sensory Seeker?
Auditory seekers are people whose brains crave more sound input than average. They might find quiet uncomfortable, boring, or even disorienting. They’re often trying to get their brain the “just right” amount of sound stimulation to feel regulated, focused, or simply alive.
Here’s what they might do:
- Make Their Own Noise:
- Humming, singing, or talking to themselves frequently.
- Clicking pens, tapping fingers, or drumming on surfaces.
- Making sounds with their mouth (e.g., clicking their tongue, making popping noises).
- Talking loudly or enjoying being the center of a loud conversation.
- Seek Out External Sounds:
- Listen to music (often loudly), even when doing other tasks.
- Have the TV or radio on constantly as background noise.
- Enjoy noisy environments like busy restaurants, concerts, or crowded places.
- Be drawn to alarms, sirens, or other loud, distinct sounds.
- Engage with Sound for Feedback/Regulation:
- Stomp their feet when walking, or enjoy the sounds their steps make.
- Slam doors or drop objects to get the auditory “bang.”
- Enjoy echoes or making noises in places where sound reverberates.
- Use white noise, fan sounds, or specific music to help them focus or calm down.
It’s important to remember that for an auditory seeker, these behaviors aren’t necessarily meant to annoy others; they’re often an unconscious way their brain tries to get the sensory input it needs to function optimally.
For those with avoiding auditory sensory needs, we recommend a selection of noise-cancelling headphones, white noise machines, and sound-blocking earplugs to help create a peaceful and calming environment.
Calming
Calming sensory toys are designed to provide a soothing and relaxing experience. From weighted blankets and stuffed animals to calming scents and visual aids, we have everything you need to create a peaceful environment.
Focus
If you struggle with focus, sensory toys can help. We recommend a variety of fidget toys, desk toys, and visual aids to help you stay on task and maintain concentration.
Olfactory Sensory
Olfactory sensory seekers are individuals who actively and often intensely seek out olfactory (smell) input. This behavior is typically driven by a need for sensory regulation, heightened awareness, or simple enjoyment from strong or unique scents. It is often observed in individuals with sensory processing differences, including those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or ADHD.
What Olfactory Sensory Seekers Might Do:
- Proactive Smelling: Regularly sniffing objects, people, or environments, even those not typically sniffed by others (e.g., books, clothes, new items, toys).
- Seeking Strong Scents:Gravitating towards strong-smelling foods, spices, perfumes, essential oils, scented candles, potpourri, or cleaning products.
- Engaging Aromatic Activities:Participating in activities rich in distinct smells, such as cooking, baking, gardening, visiting spice shops, or attending perfume/candle making classes.
- Using Scented Products:Preferring strongly scented personal care items (soaps, lotions, shampoos) or household products.
- Environmental Preferences: Being drawn to environments with prominent or unique smells (e.g., coffee shops, bakeries, forests, specific stores).
- Using Smell for Regulation:Utilizing specific scents to calm down, focus, increase alertness, or manage anxiety. They might carry small scented items (e.g., a scented stress ball, a vial of essential oil) for self-regulation throughout the day.
Oral Sensory
The oral sensory system refers to the sensory receptors in the mouth, specifically the tongue, which are responsible for detecting tastes and textures.
Oral Sensory Seekers
Oral sensory seekers are individuals who have a higher need for oral stimulation, often seeking out activities that provide this sensation. Oral sensory seekers often use these behaviors as a way to self-soothe or regulate their emotions.
- Chewing on non-food items suck as toys or their clothes.
- Biting their nails or lips.
- Constantly mouthing objects.
- They may enjoy crunchy or chewy foods.
- Activities like blowing bubbles or whistling.
Oral sensory toys are designed to provide comfort and relief for individuals with oral sensory needs. From chewable jewelry and necklaces to chewable pencil toppers, we recommend a variety of options to choose from.
Sensory Toys for Toddlers
Sensory toys for toddlers are designed to help your little one explore their senses in a fun and engaging way. From sensory balls and textured toys to light-up and musical toys, we recommend everything you need to keep your toddler entertained and engaged.
View Sensory Toys for Toddlers >
Tactile Sensory
The tactile sensory system, also known as the sense of touch, allows us to perceive and interpret various sensations on our skin, such as pressure, temperature, and pain. This system helps us interact with our environment and provides crucial information about our surroundings.
Tactile Sensory Seekers
Tactile sensory seekers are individuals who have a heightened sensitivity to tactile input and may actively seek out additional sensory stimulation to meet their sensory needs. They may engage in behaviors such as:
- Touching various textures: They might enjoy exploring different materials, such as fabrics, textures, and surfaces, by touching and rubbing them.
- Seeking deep pressure: Tactile seekers may enjoy activities that provide deep pressure, such as hugging, cuddling, or using weighted blankets, which can help them feel more grounded and secure.
- Engaging in rough-and-tumble play: They may enjoy physical activities like wrestling, roughhousing, or jumping, which provide intense tactile input.
- Wearing tight or weighted clothing: Some tactile seekers may prefer wearing tight-fitting clothes or adding weighted items to their clothing, as these can provide additional tactile input.
- Seeking out sensory-rich environments: They may be drawn to environments with various tactile experiences, such as sandboxes, mud, or water play areas.
- Constantly moving or fidgeting: Tactile seekers may engage in repetitive movements, such as tapping, drumming, or bouncing, to provide continuous tactile stimulation.
Recognizing and understanding the unique sensory needs of tactile seekers can help in creating a supportive environment that meets their sensory preferences and promotes their overall well-being.
Heavy Pressure
Our heavy pressure sensory toy recommendations are designed to provide deep pressure input, which can be calming and soothing for individuals with sensory needs. From weighted blankets and vests to compression clothing, we recommend a variety of options to choose from.
View Heavy Pressure Sensory Toys >
Touch and Textures
Touch and texture sensory toys are designed to provide a variety of tactile experiences. From textured balls and sensory mats to fidget toys and textured clothing, we recommend everything you need to explore and engage your sense of touch.
View Touch and Texture Sensory Toys >
Vestibular Sensory
The vestibular sensory system is often called our “sixth sense” (or part of it). It’s located in the inner ear and processes information about movement, balance, spatial orientation, and head position relative to gravity. It tells our brain whether we’re still, moving, spinning, going up/down, or tilting. This is crucial for coordination, posture, gaze stability, and feeling secure in our bodies and environment.
What Vestibular Sensory Seekers Might Do
Vestibular sensory seekers are individuals with an under-responsive vestibular system, meaning their brain needs moreinput to register and process movement effectively. They are constantly seeking out intense movement experiences to feel regulated, alert, and organized.
They might:
- Love intense movement: Spin vigorously (often without getting dizzy), swing very high and for long periods, jump frequently, run very fast.
- Seek out dynamic play: Climb high, hang upside down, tumble, roll down hills, or slide headfirst.
- Be constantly moving: Fidget by rocking, wiggling, bouncing, or needing to stand or pace rather than sit still.
- Enjoy thrill-seeking activities:Be drawn to rollercoasters, fast rides, skateboarding, or biking at high speeds.
- Prefer being in motion: May prefer to be carried, rocked, or enjoy car rides even when not going anywhere specific.
These behaviors are their brain’s way of seeking the sensory information it needs to feel grounded and function optimally.
For those with vestibular sensory needs, we recommend a range of toys and tools designed to provide balance and coordination input. From balance boards and swings to rocking chairs and therapy balls, we recommend everything you need to improve your vestibular function.
View Vestibular Sensory Toys >
Visual Sensory
The visual sensory system is the part of our nervous system responsible for processing light information from our environment. It involves the eyes capturing light and converting it into electrical signals, which are then sent to the brain for interpretation, allowing us to perceive images, colors, shapes, and movement. It’s how we see and understand the world around us.
What Visual Sensory Seekers Might Do:
Visual sensory seekers are individuals who actively seek out visual input to feel regulated, stimulated, or calm. They often have a strong desire for more intense, specific, or dynamic visual experiences. They might:
- Stare at or be fascinated by lights: This includes bright lights, flashing lights, natural light sources, or even just the glow of a screen.
- Enjoy and track movement: They might watch spinning objects (fans, washing machines, fidget spinners), be mesmerized by the movement of vehicles, or enjoy fast-paced videos or animation.
- Be drawn to vibrant colors or high contrast: They might prefer brightly colored clothing, toys, or environments, or be captivated by strong color differences.
- Engage with or create visual stimuli: This could involve playing with kaleidoscopes, lava lamps, light-up toys, glitter, bubbles, or reflective surfaces (mirrors, shiny objects).
- Seek out intricate patterns or detailed visuals: They might enjoy looking at complex designs, tiny details in art, or visually busy environments.
- Spend significant time with screens: TV, tablets, and phones provide a constant stream of dynamic visual information that can be very engaging for them.
- Attend events with strong visual elements: Fireworks displays, laser shows, light art installations, or theatrical performances with elaborate lighting.
- Arrange or organize objects by color or pattern: This creates predictable and pleasing visual order for them.
Visual sensory toys are designed to provide a variety of visual experiences, including bright lights, colors, and patterns. From light-up toys and projectors to visual aids and puzzles, we recommend everything you need to explore and engage your sense of sight.
At Sensory Gift, we’re committed to helping individuals with sensory issues find the perfect toys and tools to meet their needs. Browse our categories today to find the perfect sensory aid for you or your loved one.