10 things to do with any book - Sensory book activities for pupils with additional support and complex needs

Sep 1, 2026

Upload by Eden

A practical set of ten sensory, multi-sensory reading activities designed for pupils with additional support and complex needs. The resource encourages engagement and story understanding through playful exploration, surprise page turns, tactile story versions, and guided interactive retelling. Activities include creating sensory scenes, building tactile books from cards and textures, using continuous story tracing with rhythm, and developing simple puppets to identify heroes and villains, with adaptable options that work with any popular picture book.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPosters

FormatDOCX

Pages10

Reading Time4 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

Create a sensory story

Multi-sensory page turn surprise

Create a tactile version of the book

Story trace

Heroes and villains

Happy or sad

Story dress-up

Sound effect story

Make a game out of the book

Story pass the parcel

Book lists

Resource created by Ailie Finlay 10 things to do with any book (ASN) Key Areas: 2.2.2, 2.3.2, 2.3.4 Level: Core Sensory book based activities for pupils with additional support and complex needs scottishbooktrust.com /scottishbktrust @scottishbktrust Contents Create a sensory story 2 Multi-sensory page turn surprise 2 Create a tactile version of the book 2 Story trace 3 Heroes and villains 3 Happy or sad 4 Story dress-up 4 Sound effect story 5 Make a game out of the book 6 Story pass the parcel 7 Book lists 8 Picture books with uncluttered illustrations Picture books for older readers About this resource The activities in this resource are intended to help children with additional support needs have fun with books. By adding interesting playful activities and sensory elements to our book reading we can help children engage with and understand stories. We have given specific examples from books that we know are popular in schools, but the activities are adaptable and can be used with any book. The activities are not listed in any particular order and are diverse; different activities will appeal to different children. This resource was created by Ailie Finlay of HYPERLINK "http://www.flotsamandjetsam.co.uk/" Flotsam and Jetsam, a multi-sensory storytelling and puppet company based in Scotland. Create a sensory scene Choose one scene from the book and create a multi-sensory scene. This could be large or small. You could use a corner of your classroom or have everything in a basket ready for a pupil to pull out and explore. For example, if the book you are exploring is Sharing a Shell you might have a ‘rock pool in a basket’ containing a large piece of silky blue fabric, shells and pebbles and some toy fish. Some dried out seaweed would have a very distinctive smell (smells are always great to include!). An ocean drum for the swish of the waves and a rain stick or thunder-maker for the storm would also be great additions. A similar idea is to create HYPERLINK "https://www.hirstwood.com/blogs/sensory-umbrellas-and-parasols" sensory umbrellas that link to a particular book. Multi-sensory page turn surprise Turning a page is a visual surprise. Choose a page-turn from your book and make it a multi-sensory surprise. Choose a page that you would like to make a big impact on the child. For example, in The Koala Who Could you might choose the page where woodpecker starts tapping at the tree. Use a rattle to make the woodpecker noise as you turn the page (a ‘football’ clacker rattle makes a good woodpecker!). Or in Dear Zoo when you get to the page with the puppy bring out a dog puppet to bark, snuggle and run all over the children. Make sure there is an element of surprise in what you do so that you are re-creating the ‘surprise’ of a new page in a book. Create a tactile version of the book Make some books out of stapled together card. The pupils can stick a piece of fabric or textured paper on to each page of the book to create a simplified tactile version of the story. For example, a tactile version of Stick Man might have pages like this: A ‘stick’ on the cover cut out of corrugated cardboard A square of fur fabric for the dog A square of smooth silky fabric for the river Feather for the swans A square of sandpaper for the beach Cotton wool for the snow Autumn leaves for stick man’s house Once the book is made you can help the pupils to re-tell a simple version of the story as they explore the pages. Story trace This is a one-to-one activity that is particularly suitable for pupils who spend some of their day lying down. Prepare the activity by simplifying the story to a few sentences and becoming familiar with these so you can tell them without the help of the book. When you are ready tell the story at the same time as tracing it on the child’s hand and arm or back. The aim here is not to be literal, but to recite the story gently wi

FAQs

What is the purpose of these activities for reading books?

They help children with additional support needs enjoy books and better engage with and understand stories by adding playful sensory elements.

How can a tactile version of a book be created?

Create stapled card books and add fabric or textured materials to each page, allowing pupils to retell a simplified story as they explore.

What is story trace, and how should it be done?

Simplify the story to a few sentences and recite it gently while continuously tracing on the child’s hand, arm, or back, repeating often so the child learns the flow of words and actions.

Sep 1, 2026

Upload by Eden