Key Components of a Sensory Toolkit
Sensory tools are focused on the senses and aim to help calm or stimulate the nervous system. In order to create your own customised sensory toolkit, you will first need to experiment to see which items and techniques work for you. As you begin to identify your sensory triggers, think like a detective as you try to understand what helps you calm down.
Choose items that specifically help you feel safer and more comfortable; there is no incorrect way to use them. Work out which tools work best in the moment when you feel overwhelmed, and which work best as routine ‘maintenance’ tools.
Example Sensory Items
- For Calm: Weighted blanket, noise-reducing headphones, soft tactile items.
- For Focus: Pop tubes, fidget spinners, chewing gum.
- For Grounding: Essential oils (lavender), stress balls, bubble wrap.
- Tactile (Touch): Fidget toys, squishy balls, therapy putty, weighted lap pads, textured fabrics (e.g. velvet/fleece), bubble wrap.
- Visual (Sight): Glitter jars, kaleidoscopes, snow globes, lava bottles, colour-coded schedules.
- Auditory (Sound): Noise-cancelling headphones, earplugs, calming music, small instruments.
- Olfactory/Gustatory (Smell/Taste): Scented lotion, essential oils, aromatherapy patches, chewing gum.
- Proprioceptive/Vestibular (Movement): Resistance bands, yoga mats, stress balls.
My Sensory Toolkit
Our senses are our most direct connection to comfort and calm in the present moment. This worksheet helps you build a personalised inventory of the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, textures, and activities that genuinely soothe and restore you.
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Beyond the Classic Five
We have more than five senses — balance, body awareness, and internal state awareness can all be deliberately engaged to reduce distress.
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A Self-Soothing Tool
Deliberately engaging the senses is one of the most effective distress tolerance strategies, especially when feelings become intense.
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Deeply Personal
What soothes one person may not soothe another. Your sensory toolkit is unique — built entirely from things that genuinely work for you.
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Build Now, Use Later
Create your toolkit when you're calm, so that when distress rises and thinking becomes harder, you have a ready-made list to turn to.
How It Works
A step-by-step guide
Work through each sense category and list as many items as you can — aim for 10–20 per category. The more specific you are, the more useful your toolkit will be.
1
Understand what you're looking for
For each sense category, you're looking for things that bring you genuine pleasure, enjoyment, or comfort. These could be everyday things (a cup of tea, birdsong) or more deliberate experiences (a massage, a favourite piece of music). There are no right or wrong answers — only what actually works for you.
2
Think beyond the classic five senses
We actually have more than five senses. Proprioception (body awareness) and vestibular (balance and movement) respond well to stretching, rocking, dancing, or weighted blankets. Interoception — awareness of internal body states — can be engaged through warmth, slow breathing, and staying hydrated. Include these kinds of activities in your Activity & Movement category.
3
Be as specific as possible
Instead of "music", write the specific genre, artist, or track. Instead of "nature", write "watching waves from a cliff". The more specific your entries, the more likely you are to actually use them when distress is high and decision-making feels hard.
4
Aim for variety across distress levels
Some items work when distress is low (reading a novel, listening to music). Others work when distress is very high (cold water on your face, intense exercise, a weighted blanket). Try to include items that work across a range of distress levels so your toolkit is useful at any point on the SUDS scale.
5
Use your toolkit when distress rises
Sensory self-soothing is especially effective at SUDS 5–6 (moderate to strong distress). When you feel distress building, open your toolkit, choose something from a relevant category, and engage with it fully and mindfully — not as a distraction, but as a deliberate act of self-care.
Our Sensory Systems — An Overview
Sense
Located in
What it does
👁️ Visual (sight)
retina
Provides information about objects and people.
👂 Auditory (hearing)
inner ear
Provides information about sounds in the environment.
👃 Olfactory (smell)
nose
Provides information about different types of smell.
👅 Gustatory (taste)
tongue
Provides information about different types of taste.
🤚 Tactile (touch)
skin
Tells us about pain, pressure, heat, and object qualities. Has protective and discriminative functions.
🤸 Vestibular (balance)
inner ear
Provides information about where our body is in space and whether we or our surroundings are moving.
💪 Proprioception (body awareness)
joints, muscles, ligaments
Provides information about body position and gauges the force needed to do activities.
🫀 Interoception (internal state)
internal organs
Provides information about the state of our internal organs — hunger, thirst, temperature, heartbeat.
Example entries — for inspiration
👁️ Sight
The sea on a sunny day · Beautiful flowers · Lit candles · Interesting patterns · Breathtaking views of nature · Birds and animals
👂 Sound
Birdsong · Waves lapping on a beach · Rain on the roof · Gentle music · Laughter · A purring cat · Silence
👃 Smell
Freshly baked bread · Lavender · Sea air · Freshly cut grass · Favourite perfume · Scented candles · Bonfire
👅 Taste
Chocolate · Hot porridge · Freshly squeezed orange juice · Roast dinner · Mango chutney · Favourite comfort food
🤚 Touch
Stroking a pet · Warm sand underfoot · Soft fleece · Sunshine on skin · Cuddling a loved one · A warm bath
🏃 Activity
Dancing · Reading a good novel · Singing · Floating in water · Lunch with a friend · Playing music · Colouring in
💡 Tip: Keep your completed toolkit somewhere accessible — save the emailed PDF to your phone, print it out, or share it with your therapist. The goal is to be able to open it quickly when you need it most, without having to think about what to try.
Your Worksheet
My Sensory Toolkit
List as many items as you can in each category — aim for 10–20. Enter one item per line, or separate items with a comma. When you're done, click the button below to receive your completed toolkit as a PDF.
📝 Before you begin
For each category, list things that bring you genuine pleasure, enjoyment, or comfort — not things you think you should enjoy, but things that actually work for you. Be as specific as you can. The more detailed your entries, the more useful your toolkit will be when you need it.
👁️ Sight
Things that are beautiful, calming, or uplifting to look at
👂 Sound
Things that are soothing, energising, or comforting to hear
👃 Smell
Scents that calm, comfort, or lift your mood
👅 Taste
Foods and drinks that are genuinely comforting or pleasurable
🤚 Touch
Textures, temperatures, and physical sensations that soothe
🏃 Activity & Movement
Things to do that engage your body, mind, or sense of balance
🌿 Remember
Your sensory toolkit is a living document — add to it whenever you discover something new that works for you. Share it with your therapist if you're working with one; they can help you identify which items to reach for at different distress levels.
Get your toolkit
Enter your email address and we'll send your completed Sensory Toolkit as a PDF.