One thing that has been on the rise, are sensory nights at children’s entertainment facilities. Last night we attended a local sensory night at the Hands On Discovery Center. We have visited this facility before and our children have always had a good time, however at sensory night we didn’t have any frustrations or meltdowns as we’ve had on occasion with our youngest child.
Sensory night at the Discovery Center was by reservation only so the event limited the number of attendees. This reduced the number of people in the Center and thus made it much quieter. The reduced number of people trying to play with the same exhibit at the same time, reduces both noise stimuli and frustration. We’ve found out from previous attempts that they normally run out of tickets before registration closes, so make sure you register early if you visit them.
As part of their sensory night, the Discovery Center featured lower lights and did not run noisy exhibits. The lower lights was very soothing for my child and made the light exhibits easier to see, which my youngest loved.
Some parents I know have expressed concern about how well special needs children would play together. To be honest, all the interactions I saw were great. They were sharing, playing side by side and together. There was a sand table where a girl had built a large pyramid, after she left two other children knocked it down to build their own masterpieces. When she came back she commented that her pyramid was gone, but instead of a meltdown she just built a new one. One little boy was playing with an exhibit and when our son came up, he immediately handed him a ball so he could play too.
While sensory night at the Discovery Center are free, not all sensory nights are free or require registration. Most of the time if they aren’t free, they are at a reduced rate. Be sure to check and make sure that if you need to pre-purchase tickets or register for the event that you sign up quickly as these events sometimes sell out really fast.
As a parent with special needs kids, we’re happy to see other places like Wonderworks and Chuck-E-Cheese also have sensory days/nights, to allow our kids the same type experiences that other kids get. Be sure to like and follow their Facebook pages if you are interested in these events as they usually post them there. You can also do sensory night searches on Facebook or in Google and find local events near you.
