Page 54 - SEN106 SEN Magazine May-June 2020
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settings, most of our classrooms will have at least one child with a disability. So it is essential for educators and play space providers to recognise some of the key issues around accessibility and inclusion facing children SEN and disabilities. The six senses of inclusive play How can we design play environments that include all children? For any local authority, school or individual looking to answer this question, it can be a daunting prospect to seek to understand the full range of needs of children with different SEN and disabilities. However, if we can understand every child’s play needs at a basic level, it becomes much easier for us to deliver a more complete and inclusive play environment. The six senses we are concerned with (excluding the seventh sense of taste, which can be challenging to cater for in a play space) are all core senses that every child should seek to engage (as far as they are able) on a regular basis for a healthy mind and body, and to be able to negotiate and interact with the world around them. Proprioception develops an awareness of self, allowing children to know where there limbs are without looking at them. Load bearing activities on joints, such as trampolining or using monkey bars, can be great for this. The vestibular sense responds to movements of the head or body, helping maintain physical balance, and is linked to healthy brain development. Roundabouts and swings offer excellent vestibular play opportunities. Touch enables us to feel differences in pressure, texture, traction, pain and temperature. Activities and equipment that allow children to purposefully explore texture can be very useful here, such as play panels, water play and loose materials. Sight orientated play can improve hand-eye coordination skills and general perception. It can include activities that allow children to play with light, reflection or perspective, such as mirrored objects. Sound is a key part of our cognitive development, as it involves taking in and processing a lot of information. It can be useful to provide children with opportunities to make their own sounds, for example, with things like chimes, rattles and talk tubes. Smell also contributes greatly to our information gathering and processing activities. Our sense of smell is really brought to the fore in outdoor spaces, and can really help in creating a connection to a particular environment. The power of nature can be represented, for example, by hardy herbs and plants like lavender and rosemary. Individual development If we are serious about designing play spaces for inclusion, all children – regardless of their developmental level, age or ability – should have a choice of activities available to them that they can enjoy with their peers. By offering children a wide range of activities, and opportunities to engage with their own preferred play tasks, we can also help them to free themselves from some of the pressures of a busy play space or playground. There is a great deal of value in supporting children to connect with their environment, and the people in it, on their own terms. Providing a play space that nurtures a broadly based sensory diet will encourage children to explore their own sensations, while helping them to develop their skills, make their own choices and, of course, have fun. All children should have a choice of activities available to them that they can enjoy with their peers About the author Kristina Causer is Head of Sales and Marketing at Jupiter Play and Leisure Ltd. She was the original founder and co-author of the PiPA toolkit, which is widely used in the play industry. jupiterplay.co.uk linkedin.com/company/jupiter-play-&-leisure-ltd linkedin.com/in/kristina-causer ■ Roundabouts offer excellent vestibular play opportunities. SEN 106 senmagazine.co.uk 54 Play