Free Guide | 14 Tactile Activities For Kids

Introduction 

Your tactile system controls your sense of touch. It allows you to process and interpret information throughout the day from things that touch your skin.

For most children, engaging in simple play activities is enough to develop a healthy and functional tactile system. However, this system can often be affected in children with Motor Delay, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Sensory Processing Disorders (SPF) and Auditory Processing Disorders (APD).

In this article, you’ll learn all about the tactile system and why it’s important for your child. We’ll cover the signs you may notice in your child if their tactile system isn’t working as it should, and provide a list of the best tactile activities for kids.

We’ll also discuss our groundbreaking auditory program, Soundsory®, which includes a range of tactile sensory activities. These exercises can be used in conjunction with Soundsory® or even on their own. Keep reading to learn more about this fabulous combination.

Key Take-Away Messages

Which tactile activities can help kids with Autism, ADHD and APD?

The tactile system (how we process touch stimuli) is so important, and sometimes children with Autism, ADHD or APD need some help to bring it up to speed. Here are a few tactile activities that you can try with your child: Body massages Body taps Body shakes Body squeezes Snow angels Body shakes Big hugs Snake slithers Floor sweeps

Try Soundsory®, a unique blend of music and movement therapy, to enhance your child’s neurodevelopment.

What is a tactile activity?

A tactile activity is anything that activates your tactile system. We have sensory receptors in our skin that communicate with our central nervous system, allowing us to process and interpret information from things we touch. 

Texture, temperature, pressure, pain and traction are all types of information that our tactile system processes. It helps us to know what something feels like, and if it is safe to touch. Tactile activities, such as the ones listed in this guide and the ones found in the Soundsory® program, are a great way to boost the development of your child’s tactile system. 

What are the two types of tactile sensations?

Tactile sensations can be split into ‘protective’ or ‘discriminatory’. Protective sensations are very important for survival – they help us know when something is boiling hot, freezing cold, sharp or painful to touch. 

Discriminatory sensations help you to tell the difference between objects or surfaces depending on how they feel. This is how you can find a light switch in the dark, or locate your wallet in your bag without looking at it. Your past tactile experiences teach you what objects feel like, so you can tell what something is just by touching it. 

What is poor tactile perception?

Children can be over-responsive or under-responsive to tactile stimuli. Over-responsive children will avoid certain touch sensations and may be less physically intimate. 

Under-responsive children are at risk of getting hurt by touching things that aren’t safe to touch, because they don’t always register certain tactile sensations. Children can also be touch seekers, meaning they crave excessive amounts of tactile input.

Children who are over-responsive to tactile input may: 

• Avoid physical contact like hugging or kissing
• Dislike washing, swimming or having their hair cut
• Overreact to harmless touch sensations
• Be sensitive to some types of clothing and seams, shoes, and clothes tags 
• Avoid messy activities like cooking, painting or using chalk
• Avoid certain foods due to their texture like rice, vegetables or chunky peanut butter

Children who are under-responsive to tactile input may:

• Not be aware when they’ve dropped something
• Have a reduced pain response and get hurt without realizing it
• Accidentally hurt people or animals when touching them 
• Seem unaware of light touch
• Seem unaware if they have food on their face or clothes on backwards

Touch seeking children may:

• Chew objects like pencils, cuffs and fingernails
• Constantly touch objects and people, appear to lack spatial awareness
• Bite or rub their own skin
• Prefer to be barefoot
• Twirl their hair between their fingers
• Seek messy experiences for extended periods

Is the tactile system affected in children with Autism, ADHD, APD and SPD?

Studies show that altered responses to tactile stimuli appear in early childhood for children with Autism, and children with ADHD display altered tactile processing skills [1,2]. Tactile processing difficulties are also associated with sensory processing disorders and auditory processing difficulties [3]. For these reasons, tactile activities are particularly important for children with Autism, ADHD and APD.

Children with these conditions often also struggle with other types of sensory input. This is why it’s important to include other types of exercises in their therapy program, such as oral motor exercises and fine motor exercises.

What are some tactile sensory activities for children with Autism, ADHD and APD that do not require extra equipment? 

In this guide, we’ll present what we consider to be beneficial tactile activities for children. For these exercises, we’ve included three different versions of the exercises. These include: 

1. A standard version which is ideally how the exercises should be completed. 
2. A modified version for children who find motor skills a bit more challenging. 
3. A simplified version for children who struggle with more complex motor skills and directions. 

The standard and modified versions go through instructions for you to guide your child through the exercise, and the simplified version has instructions for you to follow so you can support your child.

These exercises stimulate the tactile system in different areas of the body. Many of them help your child develop midline-crossing skills, and the exercises where they bend down and stand up activate the vestibular system too.

1. Body rubs

Original: Stand up, take your right arm over to your left arm and rub it everywhere on your left arm for a count of 10. Then repeat on the opposite arm, taking the left arm and rubbing everywhere on your right arm for a count of 10. They then bend over, take both hands and rub to a count of 10 on your left leg. Stand up, count to 10, then bend and rub your right leg to a count of 10 and stand up. 

Modified: Stand up, take your right arm over to your left arm and rub it everywhere on your left arm for a count of 10. Then repeat on the opposite arm, taking the left arm and rubbing everywhere on your right arm for a count of 10. 

Simplified: Have the child sit in a chair or on the ground. Gently take the child’s hand and help guide them to rub or tap their opposite arm. If this is a challenge, the adult can perform the exercise for the child. The adult gently takes one arm and rubs up and down on the arm for a count of ten, and then the next arm for a count of 10. Repeat this on both legs each to a count of 10 

2. Body taps

Original: Stand up, take your right arm and tap on top of the left arm, starting from your hand and moving to your shoulder. Rotate the left arm to tap the bottom of the left arm starting from the shoulder to hand. Repeat on the other side. Then bend in half, and tap with both hands on the left leg, starting from the ankle moving up to the thigh and then back down. Stand up for a count of 10, then repeat on the right leg from the ankle up to the thigh, then back down to the ankle. 

Modified: Stand up and take your right arm and tap on top of the left arm, starting from hand moving to the shoulder. Rotate the left arm to tap the bottom of the left arm starting from shoulder to hand. Then repeat with their left arm tapping the top of the right arm from hand to shoulder. T

Simplified: Have your child sit in a chair or on the ground. Help guide their right arm to tap on top of the left arm, starting from their hand and moving to their shoulder. Rotate the left arm to tap the bottom of the left arm starting from the shoulder to hand. Repeat on the other side. Then help guide the child to tap with both hands on the left leg, starting from the ankle moving up to the thigh and then back down. Repeat on the opposite leg. If this is too difficult, you can complete the exercise for the child. 

3. Body shakes

Original: Stand up tall, take your left arm and shake it out to a count of 10. Repeat on the right arm, shaking it out to a count of 10. Then lift your left leg and shake it out to a count of 10. Repeat on the right leg to a count of 10.

Modified: Stand up, take your left arm and shake it out to a count of 10. Repeat on the right arm to a count of 10. 

Simplified: Your child can sit or stand, hold your child’s left hand and help them gently shake out their arm. Then repeat the same thing on the right arm. Then, take your child’s left leg and gently shake it and repeat on the right leg.

4. Body squeezes

Original: Take your right hand and squeeze the left arm from your hand up to your shoulder and back down. Repeat on the other side. Then bend down, take both hands and squeeze your left leg from your ankle up to your thigh and stand up. Repeat on the other side. 

Modified: Standing up, take your right hand and squeeze your left arm from the hand up to the shoulder and back down to a count of 10. Repeat on the other side to a count of 10. 

Simplified: Your child can sit or stand, help your child to squeeze their left hand on the right arm from the wrist to the shoulder and back down. If this is too difficult, do it for your child, gently squeezing from their wrist to their shoulder and back down. Repeat on the right arm and both legs.

5. Body massages 

Original: Take your left hand to your right arm, and gently massage all over your right arm from your wrist to your shoulder to a count of 10. Repeat on the opposite side to a count of 10. Then take both hands, bend over, and massage the left leg from ankle to thigh and back down to a count of 10. Repeat on the opposite side to a count of 10.

Modified: Standing up, take your left hand to your right arm, and gently massage all over your right arm from your wrist to your shoulder to a count of 10 Repeat on the opposite side to a count of 10. 

Simplified: Your child can stand or sit. Help your child to massage their left hand on the right arm from their wrist to their shoulder and back down. If this is too difficult, do this for your child, gently massaging from their wrist to shoulder and back down. Repeat on the other side and both legs. 

6. Snow angels

Original: Lie down on your back on the floor, with your arms at your side and legs together. Slowly open your arms out and up overhead while simultaneously opening your legs out slightly wider than your hips. Then bring both your arms and legs back in towards your body, and repeat this pattern 10 times, rhythmically and slowly.

Modified: Lie down on your back on the floor with your arms at your side and legs together. Slowly open your arms out and up overhead and repeat this rhythmic pattern 10 times. Then leave your arms at your sides and slowly and rhythmically open your legs slightly wider than your hips, then close 10 times.

Simplified: As your child lies on the floor, help them open their arms up and overhead and then move them down to their body in a rhythmic pattern. Repeat this with the legs, gently open to slightly wider than the hips and then close. 

7. Front angels/swimming

Original: Lie on your belly and slowly raise your arms overhead. At the same time, open your legs slightly wider than hip-width. Slowly move all limbs back to your body, then repeat this pattern slowly and rhythmically 10 times.

Modified: Lie on your belly and slowly raise your arms overhead and back to your body 10 times. Then, open your legs slightly wider than hip width then back to your body 10 times. This should all be done slowly and rhythmically. 

Simplified: While your child lies on their belly, guide your child’s arms up and overhead then back down to their body, 10 times slowly and rhythmically. They then leave arms at their sides, you can move down to ankles and repeat the same thing. Slowly move their legs open just slightly wider than hip-width and then close. Repeat slowly and rhythmically 10 times. 

8. Halfsies on back

Original: Lie on your back, move your right arm and right leg out and back in. Then move your left arm and leg out and then back in. Repeat this pattern, left side then right 10 times. 

Modified: Lie on your back, move your right arm and right leg out and back in. Repeat 10 times. Then move your left arm and left leg out and then back in 10 times.

Simplified: Your child lies on their back on the ground, you sit on their right side by their hips. Guide your child’s right arm out and in 10 times. Move to the left side and guide their left arm and left leg out and in 10 times. 

9. Opposite halfsies

Original: Lie on your back and move your right arm and left leg out, then bring them back to the starting position. Bring your left arm and right leg out. Repeat this pattern alternating sides, 10 times.

Modified: Lie on your back and move your right arm, and left leg out and then back in 10 times. Then move your left arm and right leg out and then back in 10 times. 

Simplified: Your child lies on their back and you guide their right arm and left leg out and in 10 times. Then repeat on the opposite side. 

10. Halfsies on front

Original: Lie on your front and move your right arm and right leg out and back in. Then move your left arm and leg out and then back in. Repeat this pattern, left side then right side 10 times.

Modified: Lie on your front and move your right arm and right leg out and back in. Repeat 10 times. Then move your left arm and left leg out and then back in 10 times.

Simplified: Your child lies on their front on the ground, you sit on your child’s right side by their hips. Guide their right arm out and in 10 times, then repeat on the other side. 

11. Opposite halfsies on front

Original: Lie on your front and move your right arm and left leg out, then bring back to the starting position. Bring your left arm and right leg out. Repeat this pattern alternating sides, 10 times.

Modified: Lie on your front and move your right arm out and your left leg out and then back in 10 times. Switch and move your left arm out and your right leg out and then back in 10 times.

Simplified: Your child lies on their front and you guide their right arm and left leg out and in 10 times. Repeat on the other side, left arm and right leg. 

12. Big hug

Original: Sitting down with your legs crossed, you will cross your arms over yourself and try to give yourself a big hug. Then open your arms and repeat. Remember to keep your right arm on top and then left. Repeat this alternating pattern. 

Modified: Sitting down with your legs crossed, you will cross your arms over each other and give yourself a big hug and hold. Open arms and relax and then repeat. 

Simplified: Sitting down behind your child, help them cross their arms over each other to give themselves a big hug. Hold this position with your right arm over your left and then switch with your left arm over your right. 

13. Army crawls

Original: Lie on your belly and commando crawl for a count of 10. Lift your left arm up and out as your right hip is turned out and your leg is bent. Pull your body as you lift your right arm up with your left hip turned out and leg bent. Repeat this alternating pattern to a count of 10.

Modified: Lie on your belly and lift your left arm up and out as your right hip is turned out and your leg bent. Pull your body and pause. Then lift your right arm up and out and your left hip is turned out and leg bent, pull your body and pause. Repeat this slow rhythm 10 times. 

Simplified: Lying on your belly, lift your left arm up and out as your right hip is turned out and leg bent. Return to the start and then repeat on the opposite side. Right arm lifted up and out and left hip turned out as leg is bent. Repeat this pattern without moving across the room. 

14. Floor sweeps 

Original: Lie on your back, bend your legs and lift your belly up, keeping your shoulders on the floor to propel your body across the floor. Push with your legs to help slide your body across the floor like you’re sweeping the floor. Do this to a count of 10. 

Modified: Lie on your back, bend your legs and lift your belly up keeping your shoulders on the floor. Push through your legs to push your body back until your legs are extended. Pause and restart. Bend your legs, lift your body and push. 

Simplified: Lie on your back, bend your legs, lift your belly up to the sky and hold for a count of 10. 

You can also use things around the house to incorporate tactile activities into your child’s day. They can play games that involve squishing balls or pillows, or trying to hide under the couch cushions. 

Conclusion

Tactile activities are an important addition to the therapy program for any child who has tactile processing difficulties. This includes many children with Autism, APD, ADHD and SPD. 

For a holistic approach to improving your child’s development, try Soundsory®; the 40-day program that pairs whole-body movement exercises with enhanced rhythmic music. This program contains tactile sensory activities as well as exercises to boost other areas of neurodevelopment.

FAQs

References 

1. Espenhahn, S., Godfrey, K. J., Kaur, S., McMorris, C., Murias, K., Tommerdahl, M., Bray, S., & Harris, A. D. (2022). Atypical Tactile Perception in Early Childhood Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05570-7
2. Puts, N. A. J., Harris, A. D., Mikkelsen, M., Tommerdahl, M., Edden, R. A. E., & Mostofsky, S. H. (2017). Altered tactile sensitivity in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Neurophysiology, 118(5), 2568–2578. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00087.2017 
3. Chang, Y.-S., Gratiot, M., Owen, J. P., Brandes-Aitken, A., Desai, S. S., Hill, S. S., Arnett, A. B., Harris, J., Marco, E. J., & Mukherjee, P. (2016). White Matter Microstructure is Associated with Auditory and Tactile Processing in Children with and without Sensory Processing Disorder. Frontiers in Neuroanatomy, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnana.2015.00169