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Tactile Discrimination Activities
These engaging tactile discrimination activities can help children improve their tactile perception and haptic perception skills.
Being able to use sensory feedback from the hands is important in the development of good fine motor skills, including doing buttons, tying shoelaces and pencil control during handwriting. Read more about the importance of tactile/haptic/touch perception here (the terms are often used interchangably).
This page contains my favorite tactile perception activities, as well as ideas from my friend, Joan, a Montessori preschool teacher. You can use these activities at home, in preschool and kindergarten classes, or as part of your homeschool routine!
Getting Started: Make a Feely Bag / Mystery Bag
In order to help kids focus on the sense of touch, we need to hide the items from sight. Many children dislike using blindfolds or eye covers, so I prefer to use a "Feely Bag" (also known as a "Mystery Bag" in Montessori settings).
A Feely Bag is basically a bag that is large enough for your child to put both hands inside to feel the objects.
Cloth bags are best, to avoid distracting noises, and old handbags can also work.
You can create two openings for the hands to go through by sewing the middle closed (or use a large safety pin).
Then you are ready for some fun activities!
Make your own feely bagTactile Discrimination Activities: From Easy to Challenging
These activities are roughly graded from easiest to most challenging. Adjust the difficulty based on your child's individual needs and abilities. Remember to keep it fun and engaging!
Household Object Tactile Game
Setup: Place various familiar household objects in the feely bag.
Activity: Your child feels an object and identifies it without looking. They can then pull it out to see if they were right.
Tips: Make sure your child knows the names of all the objects. If language skills are an issue, then have a matching set of items outside the bag that your child can point to.
Use objects related to a theme, such as kitchen objects, bathroom objects, toys etc.
Simple household objectsIncrease the Challenge: Ask your child to find a specific object.
Grocery Tactile Activity
Setup: Use packaged grocery items such as dried beans, rice, popcorn,
macaroni, pasta shells, jelly sweets, raisins.
Let your child explore the different textures of the packets before placing them in the bag.
Activity: Ask your child to identify the items by feel.
Increase the challenge: Ask your child to find a specific grocery item. The more items are in the bag, the harder this activity will be.
Some grocery itemsShape Matching Tactile Game
Setup: Use two sets of shapes - one set in the bag, one visible on the table.
Explore the shapes with your child before starting, paying attention to their sides, corners etc.
Activity: Your child feels and identifies the shape, then matches it to the corresponding shape on the table.
Tip: Encourage your child to use both hands to manipulate the shape in the bag.
Use 2 sets of shapesIncrease the challenge: Ask your child to find a specific shape, or increase the number of shapes in the bag.
Use Pattern Block#Ad templates to combine shape recognition with building a picture.
Feeling for the correct shapeAnimal Tactile Discrimination Matching
Setup: You need two identical sets of small animals (eg dinosaurs, zoo animals, sea creatures - you can get these cheaply on Amazon#Ad)
Discuss the different features of the animals (legs, tails horns etc) before putting one set of the animals in the bag and the other on the table.
Identical sets of dinosaurs
Two sets of sea creaturesActivity: Your child feels an animal and matches it to the corresponding animal on the table.
Even if your child does not know the name of the animal, they can point to the correct one.
Feeling for the matching animalMake it easier: Use fewer animals, or use animals that are not very similar (eg lion, elephant, giraffe)
Increase the challenge: Ask your child to find a specific animal, or use animals that are very similar, so your child has to pay attention to small details such as the length of the tails and snouts, the position of the ears, etc.
Montessori-Inspired Tactile Activities (Thanks, Joan!)
"Mystery Bag" Matching
- Identical Objects: Place 5-6 pairs of identical objects in the bag. The child pulls one out and then feels for its match inside the bag.
- Similar Objects: Use sets of similar objects (eg. square/round lid, wooden/plastic button). The child pairs them outside the bag first, then places them all in the bag and finds the matching pairs.
feeling for the matching item- Related Objects: Use sets of related objects (eg. pencil/eraser, knife/fork, lock/key). The child pairs them outside the bag, then finds the matching pairs inside the bag.
Stereognostic Sorting
This tactile discrimination activity involves sorting objects by touch, instead of identifying objects by touch.
Setup: present a variety of an item, such as a variety of pasta shapes, seeds, wooden blocks, or leaves. Natural items work well!
Activity: the child sorts the objects into different containers or different piles, first by looking, then without looking. They can be blindfolded, or their hands can be covered while working.
The pasta shapes alongside have been sorted by shape.
Pasta sorted by shapeIncrease the challenge: start with just two types of the objects (eg two different pasta shapes) and increase to 4 or 5 different types.
Objects can be sorted by size, attributes (rough/smooth) or by shape.
Tips and Adaptations
- Blindfolds: If a child dislikes having their eyes covered, then use a feely bag or cover their hands with a cloth while they carry out the activity.
- Language Skills: If a child struggles with expressive language, having matching objects or pictures outside the bag for them to point to.
- Use Themes: Keep your child engaged with themed activities based on their interests - like dinosaurs, wild animals etc!
Resources
The resources below are similar to the ones I use above, located on Amazon for your convenience. These are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through my links.
- Pattern Blocks for matching shapes#Ad
- Textured beanbags (match the texture)#Ad
- A lovely toddler touch and feel toy#Ad
- Small plastic toy animals#Ad - buy 2 sets to have your child have one out of the bag to look at, and one inside the bag to find
I hope these tactile discrimination activities inspire you as you support the children in your life.
These simple, hands-on activities can make a big difference in developing essential fine motor skills!
For more fine motor activities that are easy to do at home, check out my fine motor printable e-book!
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