Written by Megan Smith, PT
Unlike traditional teaching methods, multisensory learning optimizes a student’s unique strengths and learning style to meet academic goals. This approach engages multiple senses and has proven effective for children with learning difficulties and sensory processing disorder (SPD). With expert advice and customer feedback, we will help you determine the best multisensory learning tool for your child.
To determine the best multisensory learning tool for your child, you first need to identify their learning style. While factors like durability, ease of cleaning and maintenance, portability, and user-friendliness are important, understanding your child's specific learning style or combination of styles will help you select the right tool for their needs.
Visual learners comprehend and remember information best through sight, relying on text, colors, shapes, and pictures. Children with deafness or hearing loss often prefer visual sensory stimulation. Opt for multisensory learning tools that offer engaging visuals, such as bright colors, flashing lights, and various shapes.
Auditory learners absorb and retain information through sound. They benefit from hearing instructions and often need to verbalize what they have learned. The best multisensory learning tools for auditory learners include devices that produce sounds, amplify voices, and create music.
Kinesthetic learners respond to movement and physical activity, learning more effectively through actions that mimic the concepts taught. They may be fidgety and need to move to retain lessons. Choose energetic multisensory learning tools that encourage movement and engage gross motor skills.
Tactile learners often demonstrate their understanding through the sense of touch, using their hands to manipulate objects and explore new textures. They are drawn to hands-on activities and are fascinated by different textures. For these learners, choosing multisensory learning tools with various textures can enhance fine and gross motor skills, satisfying their need for tactile stimulation.
Multisensory learning involves multiple physiological senses and is also commonly referred to as sensory integration, multisensorial, and multimodal. Although terms like tactile stimulation, vibroacoustic therapy, sound-based learning, and auditory sense are frequently associated with multisensory approaches, they do not fully encompass the entire concept of multisensory integration and learning.
Building on the theory that students learn best when information is presented in different modalities, a multisensory approach to learning integrates sensory activities. Incorporating the learning styles for auditory, tactile, visual, and kinesthetic learners, the multisensory approach uses a wide range of tools and devices that stimulate the senses, helping all students to learn more effectively.
Considering that not all students learn the same way, there are four basic types of multisensory learning: visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Tactile. Also referred to as VAKT, these different learning styles require an innovative educational response. Visual students learn by seeing, auditory students learn by hearing, kinesthetic students learn by moving, and tactile students learn by touch.
A multisensory classroom engages students in more effective learning by using tools, devices, and methods that stimulate the sensory system of each student. Engaging more than one sense at a time, multisensory instruction uses sight, hearing, movement, and touch to give students multiple ways to connect with what they’re learning.
Multisensory integration is crucial for adaptive behavior. It enables us to experience the world accurately by categorizing and organizing sensory information in conjunction with the nervous system. This integration can be enhanced using specially designed multisensory tools, rooms, and equipment to achieve specific and measurable therapy and educational goals. These approaches can relax and stimulate users by employing visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile strategies, thereby boosting learning skills and ensuring healthy sensory integration.
Sensory toys are essential for children on the autism spectrum (ASD) because they are designed to stimulate the senses and improve sensory processing disorders, a common challenge for those with autism. These toys often appeal more to kids with ASD as they provide the sensory experiences the child seeks, helping them stay calm. Like all children, the best sensory toys for those with autism are ones that align with their interests, are relatable, and offer accessible ways to interact and play.
Multisensory learning, particularly through the Orton-Gillingham Approach, is considered the gold standard in structured teaching for students of all ages struggling with dyslexia. This approach tailors to the unique learning styles of dyslexic readers by employing strategies such as writing in a sand tray, forming letters and words in the air, manipulating magnetic letters, and finger-tapping out the sounds in words. While the primary focus of the Orton-Gillingham method is to decode language and practice it until it becomes automatic, dyslexic students also work on comprehension, grammar, and vocabulary through direct visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile multisensory delivery.
 | Multi Sensory Stimulation Bowl for Convert-Able Table View Product |
The Multi-Sensory Stimulation Bowl by R.E.A.L. Design, our number 5 choice, offers a versatile and engaging addition to any play or therapy environment. Made from durable clear acrylic, this bowl is designed for various imaginative play activities, such as playing with sand, water, soap bubbles, or even watching goldfish toys swim. It easily snaps on and off the Convert-Able Table frame, making it a convenient tool for structured therapy sessions and spontaneous play. This sensory bowl enhances sensory experiences in educational and therapeutic settings.
 | TFH Light Changing Sensory Table with Rechargeable Feature View Product |
Number 4 on our top 5 list, the Light Changing Sensory Table by TFH is a dynamic addition to any room, designed to engage children and adults through vibrant, remote-controlled lights. This table transforms spaces with 16 color options, creating an engaging environment for independent and group activities. The table's rechargeable battery lasts up to 10 hours on a single charge, providing a full day of sensory fun. Its design is visually stimulating and practical, featuring smooth edges and a transportable structure, making it suitable for various settings, including schools, clinics, and homes.
Coming in at number 3 on our list, the Handheld Fiber Optic Bundle by Rover Education provides exceptional multifunctionality at an affordable price point. Perfect for a multisensory classroom, this luminous tool is ideal for fidgety kids who need something to do with their hands. It delivers visual and tactile sensory feedback, helping children better organize and assimilate these sensory skills. Integrating this tool into the learning plan enhances lesson retention, calms overstimulated behaviors, and boosts creativity and a sense of wonder with its tactile, color-changing light experience.
Often used in children’s therapy centers and hospitals, this fun and functional fiber optic bundle can also be used at home. It is completely safe to handle, with fiber strands that do not get hot to the touch and can even come into contact with water. Its reflective LED light and fiber optic technology ensure even color distribution throughout every strand, providing calming visual and tactile engagement. An easy-to-use remote enables control of multiple color sequence patterns for customizable play and therapy.
 | Ring Around Bells Switch Toy View Product |
As one of the best-selling multisensory toys for years, the Ring Around Bells Switch Toy by Enabling Devices takes the 2nd position in our review with its multifunctionality as a sensory therapy device and music therapy tool. Offering visual and auditory sensory stimulation, this multisensory toy is operated by its integrated switch, but it’s also switch-adaptable, allowing you to use a different capability switch that’s more suitable for meeting specific user needs. It helps children develop listening, grasping, and eye-hand coordination skills, giving them various ways to use this toy at home, therapy, or school.
When this bell toy is activated with a switch, it spins around while a hanging ball strikes each bell, playing the musical scale as multicolored LED lights inside each bell twinkle. The bells can be removed and placed back in a different order to create different music or played alone separately. Whatever way they play, these precision-tuned bells deliver crystal-clear sound that encourages auditory sensory processing. Combined with the dazzling visual effects, this well-loved therapy device is perfect for use in a multisensory classroom, a pediatric therapy center, during music class, and at home.
 | Textured Sensory Walls View Product |
With its various options for multiple diagnoses, we chose the Textured Sensory Walls by TFH as our top selection for multisensory learning tools. Providing hours of tactile play and visual sensory exploration, this multisensory wall is available in small, large, or large UV-painted formats to optimize visual sensory input. Endlessly fascinating for pediatric and adult users, these walls feature different shapes, colors, and textures to help participants better organize tactile and visual sensory information. They also aid in developing and improving fine and gross motor skills by manipulating various objects.
Often used for children and adults on the autism spectrum (ASD), sensory walls like this have been shown to increase attention span, focus, and readiness to learn. They are also beneficial for people living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Down syndrome, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Anyone with sensory processing disorder (SPD) can benefit from play therapy with these sensory walls as well. Beyond home use, they are often found in schools, multisensory classrooms, daycares, rehab centers, therapy facilities, hospitals, and nursing homes. Easy to use as either a portable or mountable sensory device, its durable Baltic birch wood construction ensures long-lasting functionality, while the porous tactile materials allow for easy cleaning and sanitation.
Multisensory learning tools stimulate the senses and cater to various learning styles, providing students with a more effective whole-brain teaching method. These devices play to the strengths of visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile learners, helping them overcome aversions to touch, sound, sight, taste, smell, and movement. By providing specific feedback, multisensory tools support students in achieving multisensory integration.
While all the tools we selected for this article are excellent for children with special needs, we chose the Textured Sensory Walls by TFH as our top multisensory pick. These walls are suitable for a wide range of diagnoses and inspire hours of tactile and visual play and exploration while improving fine and gross motor skills. They are particularly ideal for therapy centers and doctor’s offices.
Be sure to check out our article on The Best Sensory Calming Toys and Tools for Kids With Special Needs. You can also find more beneficial tips for special needs parenting on our blog, Caregiver University!
Megan has been a part of Rehabmart since its inception nearly 20 years ago. For the past several years she has been enjoying her role as HR Director while maintaining her Physical Therapy license. When she isn't working on her next in-service or working to find a new team member, she enjoys her five children, helping those who have PT type ailments, baking, practicing yoga, and working out.
