What is sensory integration and why does it matter for your toddler?

Sensory development is perhaps something we don’t think about as often as other aspects of our children’s learning. This development is important for so many things your toddler does now and will do in the future. Our senses help us read and write, move, and respond to our emotions (among other things) and developing these skills is not just about hearing better, seeing better, or noticing the sensations from our body, but also about how we bring the information from all our senses together to respond to what is happening around us. 

What is sensory integration? 

Occupational therapist, educational psychologist and neuroscientist, Anna Jean Ayres defined sensory integration in 1972. She described it as “the neurological process that organizes sensation from one’s own body effectively within the environment.”^[1]  

This means your toddler’s sensory development involves the building and strengthening of connections in their brain, that help them to respond to information from their senses.  

Your toddler will, over time, bring together information from their senses and change what they do to adapt to what is happening around them.  

Why is sensory integration important?  

Everyone has slightly different sensory profiles – this means we react slightly differently to sensations.  

For all of us, our senses are an important part of responding to what happens around us, sensations from our body help our brains to predict what action might be needed.  

For your toddler, lots of experiences are new, and they are still learning what the sensations they experience mean. This might sometimes lead to responses that are difficult for you to understand. You might not realise that the shopping centre you’re visiting is really echoey but your toddler, who is still developing the skills needed to filter out sounds they don’t have to pay attention to in order to allow them to listen to you, might find it a bit overwhelming.  

Bringing together information from their senses will help your toddler to respond in a range of situations, and support them to regulate their emotions.   

Supporting sensory integration 

The best way to support your toddler’s sensory integration is to give them a wide range of experiences that stimulate their senses – check the activities tab for some ideas that will be perfect for your toddler right now.