This resource has been created to support inclusive, multisensory engagement, inviting sensory learners to explore the Festival of Diwali through the eight senses: the five primary senses -sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell, and three body-based/internal senses – vestibular, proprioception, and interoception. It weaves together tactile props, sounds, scents, tastes, and movement with poetic language and gentle facilitator guidance.
Includes Learning Objectives to help you plan, differentiate and assess.
From exploring spices, tracing rangoli, hennaed hands, to watching swirling golden dupattas against a background of gentling clinking bangles and more… this Diwali sensory story is rich with hands-on invitations.
Rooted in a commitment to accessibility, engagement, meaningful communication, and sensory inclusion, each couplet offers a sensory prompt guiding the story participant through a journey where every sense is welcome.
This teaching pack includes:
– Diwali sensory story poem
– Prop/resources checklist with facilitation guidance
– Sensory-rich activities focusing on engaging the eight senses:
Sight-Based Sensory Invitations for Diwali and how they support visual engagement, contrast, and symbolic recognition
Sound-Based Sensory Invitations for Diwali and how they support auditory engagement, rhythm, and emotional resonance
Tactile Sensory-Rich Activities linked to Diwali and how each supports tactile exploration and fine motor engagement
Smell-Based Sensory Invitations for Diwali and how each activity supports olfactory engagement and cultural resonance
Taste-Based Sensory Invitations for Diwali and how each supports taste exploration and cultural resonance
Proprioceptive Sensory Invitations for Diwali and how each activity supports body awareness, pressure, and grounded engagement
Vestibular Sensory Invitations for Diwali and how each activity supports movement, balance, and spatial awareness
Interoception Sensory Invitations for Diwali and how each activity supports internal awareness, emotional regulation, and gentle grounding
A Note on Learning Objectives
This sensory story supports a wide range of learning objectives, loosely informed by The Engagement Model, a statutory framework designed for pupils working below the level of the national curriculum. Replacing P scales 1–4, the model offers a personalised way to track progress through five areas of engagement, focusing on how learners interact with and respond to meaningful experiences.
The five areas are:
• Exploration – engaging with materials, people, or environments
• Realisation – recognising the impact of actions or interactions
• Anticipation – showing awareness of what might happen next
• Persistence – sustaining attention or effort, even when challenged
• Initiation – beginning actions or interactions independently
These areas provide a lens through which broader developmental skills—such as fine motor coordination, sensory regulation, and expressive communication—can be observed, nurtured, and celebrated. They also reflect key principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, including:
• Communication and language
• Physical development
• Personal, social, and emotional development
• Early literacy and mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design
While originally designed for younger learners, these domains remain relevant for older pupils with PMLD, where sensory engagement is often the primary mode of interaction.
Facilitators are encouraged to tailor objectives to reflect each explorer’s unique sensory responses, communication style, and developmental needs.
My sensory stories and activities introduce symbolic narratives and multisensory experiences that extend into literacy, numeracy, expressive arts, and understanding the world. They offer emotionally resonant entry points for exploring sequencing, cause and effect, pattern recognition, and vocabulary through embodied, sensory-rich engagement.
For learners with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), curriculum content may not be accessed conventionally — but sensory experiences offer a meaningful bridge to learning, communication, and emotional connection.
Learning objectives here are not rigid targets, but gentle invitations—encouraging responses to sensory cues, fostering emotional connection, and building confidence. Each goal contains adaptable steps toward meaningful progress, allowing every explorer to participate in their own way.
Exploration Over Expectation
These activities foster connection, choice-making, and sensory engagement. Explorers should be empowered to engage, modify, repeat, or opt out of elements at their own pace and comfort.
Thank you for looking. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch:)
