🚜🌾 Why we love a mixed-texture tuff tray 🌾🚜

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At first glance, this looks like simple play. In reality, a setup like this supports multiple layers of sensory, emotional, and cognitive development — particularly for neurodivergent children.

Different textures offer varied sensory input: some grounding, some alerting, some organising.

This allows children to self-select what their nervous system needs in that moment. For a child who is overwhelmed, slow repetitive movements like scooping or pouring can be regulating. For a child seeking input, firmer or noisier materials can help meet that need safely.

Because the play is open-ended, it removes performance pressure. There’s no expectation to create something specific or follow instructions.

This is especially important for ND children who may already spend large parts of their day managing demands. Here, they are in control — choosing, repeating, abandoning, returning.

Imaginative play often emerges after regulation. Vehicles become characters, textures become landscapes, stories develop organically. Language, sequencing, and problem-solving are layered in naturally, rather than being demanded upfront.

What looks like “just play” is actually:

• nervous system regulation

• sensory integration

• fine motor development

• imaginative and symbolic thinking

• autonomy and agency

And perhaps most importantly — it communicates safety. The message is: you don’t need to perform to belong here.

That’s where real engagement begins.

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