At CEIP Lloma Llarga (Spain), we have been working with multisensory classrooms since the 2016-17 school year. Initially, our classroom was completely ‘low cost’: we created our immersive environments with materials made by ourselves and had very few devices to assist us in the task, just a few light tables, a sound system, and aroma diffusers. But let’s start from the beginning…

Integrating all our senses into the teaching-learning process

In our center, we have a philosophy: there is nothing in the mind that has not previously passed through the senses. The phrase is very good, but it’s not ours. It’s something Aristotle said over two thousand years ago. And he’s not wrong! If we analyze it, we realize that traditional teaching primarily uses two senses: sight and hearing. However, we have other senses that we are not taking advantage of: taste, touch, smell, proprioception, vestibular… Why not integrate them into the teaching-learning process as well?

These reflections led us to investigate more on the subject, to train ourselves in sensory pedagogies and active pedagogies. And so we discovered that, for example, the sense of smell is the most powerful in evoking memories from the past. If we integrate it into learning, we can make it easier to remember content if we have linked it to a specific aroma. And this works with the rest of the senses too. And the more senses we relate to the learning in question, the more meaningful the experience will be and the easier it will be to internalize and remember. In this way, we improve cognitive accessibility to the content for all students, favoring each one to rely on their sensory preferences.

With these premises, we began to work in the multisensory classroom. And we extended it to all students in the center because, seeing that it worked with students with educational needs, we knew it would also work with typically developing students. And the truth is that it does work.

We create immersive environments for all students

At first, it wasn’t easy. It was about creating immersive environments where students could live and experience the content we were working on. In early childhood education, we were working on the seasons of the year, which meant changing the classroom for each season (adapting materials, colors, smells…). This involved a huge effort, not only in terms of organization but also in creating all the necessary materials to carry it out. And then we found the solution in Qinera.

With the incorporation and installation of their technology in our new multisensory classroom, the possibilities multiplied. The ability to change environments with just one click helps us to work on many more things within our classroom. In the multisensory classroom, we can work from stories in early childhood education to curriculum content in primary education. We have conducted science sessions, spelling reviews, English sessions… The possibilities are endless.

The first step is to think about what we want to work on based on the needs we may have in the center. From there, and always following the Multisensory Storytelling methodology, the session is shaped.” – Yolanda, teacher at the center

In our classroom, journalists are graduating!

This year, we are working on an “Escape Room” where we review curricular content that is important for the students. The theme of the project is based on the center’s innovation project, which revolves around the media.

The objective of the Escape Room is to obtain a journalist diploma that will allow them to participate in other activities within the innovation project. The Escape Room consists of six challenges (adapted to each educational level), which are divided into three parts: print media, radio, and television.

Working on grammar and metaphonological skills

The written press tests serve us to work on grammar, metaphonological skills, and spelling.

1. As an introductory element to the activity, we use a teleprinter (we explain what it is and that it serves to receive messages).
2. Information arrives at our teleprinter altered, and the students have to fix it. This information may arrive with spelling mistakes, with words joined together… And the correct answer is found on the screen.
3. Thanks to the SHX system, we see the six options on the screen. Using the 6-button remote or Button 6, they choose the option they believe is correct, and that’s when the magic begins. Only the correct option activates a device in the room (for example, the bubble tube). The others don’t, although they do activate a music that lets us know we haven’t guessed correctly.

The next test is the newspaper layout. Our newspaper is inclusive and also works with pictograms. We carry this out on the light table, and we activate its color when we finish laying out the newspaper. Depending on the level of the students we are working with, the difficulty of the layout varies.

Auditory sequential memory and concentration

In the radio block, we work on tactile stimulation and concentration, as well as auditory sequential memory. We host a radio contest where they have to guess which song is playing. This activates the vibrating pouf… but it doesn’t end there.

• Once they’ve identified the song, the real “contest” begins. They have to count how many times certain words in the song are repeated (depending on the level, there may be more or fewer proposals), so that by the end of the song, they have the number of times each word is repeated.
• When we combine these numbers, a code is formed that they have to find on the screen and select with Button 6 the correct option. Again, if they find the key, a device will be activated in another color.

The next radio activity is description. We relate this activity to the radio by explaining that good radio announcers have to be able to describe things very well, since radio is a medium where we can only listen, we can’t see what they’re telling us. They become announcers and must describe an object inside a box (stereognosis box). This way, they work on oral expression and description. Additionally, they must perform this activity in a foreign language in higher grades (they review vocabulary in English). Each object they correctly identify is an option to uncover which box hides the color code.

Creativity and Mathematics

Once we finish the activities in the radio block, we move on to the television block. The first activity is related to mathematics.

• Under the pretext that we don’t have all the audience data for this week, we present mathematical problems that lead us to find this audience data. Depending on the level, calculations range from simple subtraction to combinations of much more complicated operations in the case of 5th and 6th graders.
• Again, we have six options on the screen, and they must find the cell where the correct result is to get the next color of the code.

The last activity of the Escape room closes the television block. Here we take the opportunity to work on oral expression, executive functions, planning, creativity, etc. and on a sensory level, we work on taste and smell. We have a chocolate fondue (which gives the classroom an olfactory ambiance) and we show them various pieces of fruit and wooden skewers. We explain that they are scriptwriters for a cooking program, and with these elements, they must think about what recipe they will develop for the program that week.

The most common thing is that they make a fruit skewer dipped in chocolate, but we reward originality, presentation, and even the name they give to the recipe. With the elaboration of the recipe, they obtain the last color code of the escape room.

If you remember, each activity has been triggering a device that lit up in a different color each time. They have to remember the code of the six colors to reproduce them on the Button 6. If they enter it correctly, a video is activated congratulating them for reaching the end and for overcoming the challenge. At the end of the session, they are awarded a diploma certifying that they are now professional journalists (remember that this was the objective of the Escape room).

An extremely positive experience for both students and teachers

This is just one example of everything we can do in a multisensory classroom. Our experience has been very positive, as all the curriculum content we work on in the classroom is experienced with great intensity and emotion, which makes them work without realizing they are working. This motivation helps them overcome their difficulties without being aware of their effort, as they see it as a game. And for a child, playing is the most natural thing to do. What better way to learn than through play?

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If you want to learn more about the benefits of Multisensory Environments or see how you could adapt it to your space, therapeutic goals, and users, you can send an email to hello@qinera.com.

L'entrada Is it a good idea to have a multisensory classroom in a regular school? ha aparegut primer a The Multisensory Blog.

Although at CEIP Federico García Lorca in Arganda del Rey (Madrid) we have been running the project for two years, it would be fair to say that we are in the early stages of setting up the room; it is being equipped and completed little by little, adding new materials as we go along.

Our objective is to carry out different types of activities based on the needs of the student while taking care of their sensory profile. Therefore, the materials and their functionality change depending on the students we are working with.

“There is nothing in the intellect that has not previously passed through the senses” (Guirao, 1980, p. 15).

All the contents we work with in the classroom constitute the first element upon which any type of learning is built, and at the same time, a valid strategy for working with students with special educational needs. In this way, we achieve greater attention and greater participation, as they learn through games and interactive activities involving movements that are tailored to them.

The multisensory project

In our classroom, there are two distinct areas as we are currently focusing on two main aspects: motor skills and executive functions. In terms of bodily and  psychomotor development, we are working on sensory-motor pleasure, vestibular stimulation, movement, body schema, and more. Regarding cognitive-executive skills and aspects, we are focusing on exploration capacity, orientation response, attention, perception, spatial orientation, memory, and psycho-affective states.

Working with a student with different linguistic abilities will lead us to achieve prerequisites for cognitive growth, as cognitive and linguistic growth are interdependent. This means that the development of cognitive skills will influence the acquisition of linguistic skills, and vice versa.

Anticipation and Time Management

In addition to these activities, which you can see in the photos, we carry out a series of routines that help us with anticipation, facilitating time management and spatial distribution with our students. In each and every session in the multisensory classroom, we follow the same order:

1. Anticipation: entry and exit routine: When we reach the classroom door, we place the pictogram on its corresponding panel, where the rules and steps that we need to follow are also displayed: take off our shoes, place them on the shoe rack, sit down, wait, and listen for the teacher’s instructions.
2. Development of the session:Before starting each activity, we explain (with visual support if necessary) what we are going to do. Every time we transition to a new activity, we return to the bench to listen to the new instructions.
3. Return to calm and close the session:We always end the session with a calming activity (relaxing video or music, yoga, etc.). Finally, we put on our shoes, remove the pictogram from the panel, and the session is concluded.

Without an objective, there is no therapeutic intervention.

As some of our students have similar needs to each other, we aim to achieve some overall objectives through our work in the `Chameleon´ Classroom.

COGNITIVE SKILLS

• Increase attention and concentration time. For these objectives, we use activities with UV light focus or bubble tubes. These elements are controlled by the SHX system, which allows changing colors and regulating the intensity of lighting based on the activity and ambient sound.
• Improve executive functions in students through sensory stimulation.
• Enhance visual tracking skills, promoting eye fixation, visual tracking, and visual contrasts. The bubble tube has become a great ally for these types of activities, as it allows creating infinite environments and situations using colors, vibration, reflections, and floating objects.
• Plan, act, and evaluate their actions when faced with a problem.
• Promote experimentation and exploration, which can be achieved with elements like the fiber optic. The contact with the fiber optic helps us perceive different parts of our body.
• Develop abstract thinking, expanding their world and internal limits.

LANGUAGE

• Increase the communication ability of the students. This is made possible through the use of switches or tablets, which allow the professionals to prepare and control the session, while students feel more autonomous by controlling the room and engage in cause-effect activities, make choices, communicate, learn, or pursue leisure activities.
• Elicit a response (smiles, laughter, vocalizations, relaxation of muscle tone) after exposure to different stimuli.
• Promote communicative interaction by presenting sound stimuli that change in intensity and volume.

MOTOR SKILLS

• Develop eye-hand and eye-foot coordination. For these activities, in addition to the tablet, we use textured balls of various sizes.
• Promote proper postural control in each child to achieve their physical well-being, using resources such as weighted blankets.

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL

• Increase self-security and self-confidence.
• Learn to relax and have self-control.
• Participate in leisure and have moments of well-being.
• Explore, feel, and perceive the sensations and perceptions obtained from one’s own body and the surroundings. For this, we use weighted blankets or swings.
• Establish socio-emotional channels with the people in that environment.

In general, our intervention is not focused solely on stimulating the senses, but rather on using sensory stimulation as a means and not an end. It serves as a bridge that allows us to approach the child and communicate with them, restoring, to the best of our abilities, the socio-emotional foundations that enable communication.

Transversally, the entire program aims to provide satisfying and enjoyable experiences that reinforce exploratory behavior, autonomy, and creative capacity. In this way, we foster a solid foundation for healthy self-esteem.

WHO ARE WE?

We are CEIP Federico García Lorca in Arganda del Rey (Madrid) and we have been sharing experiences with our students since 1979. An important date for us was 2009, when we became part of the network of preferred centers for students with special educational needs derived from Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Every year, we welcome students with special educational needs at our school, not only related to autism but also with other diagnoses.

Due to the neurodiversity of our students, we realized that it was necessary to expand the resources of the school to meet these needs. We also strive to innovate and improve our contribution and foster inclusion and participation in what we do.

This article has been written by members of the teaching team at CEIP Federico García Lorca in Arganda del Rey and reviewed by the marketing team at Qinera.

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If you want to learn more about the benefits of Multisensory Environments or see how you could adapt it to your space, therapeutic goals, and users, you can send an email to hello@qinera.com.

L'entrada Building together: The power of a multi-sensory classroom in a public school. ha aparegut primer a The Multisensory Blog.

The ‘calming room’ is a specific space that helps regulate the level of activation or aggression and helps mouve us towards a state of “calm” by combining chromotherapy, music therapy and aromatherapy with the aim of returning to a state that allows one to function in a more autonomous and regulated manner.

Why do we need a calming room?

Accompanying behavioral problems

It is especially important to pay attention to individuals’ needs who struggle with behavioral challenges or intellectual disabilities, when it involves deficits in self-awareness, self-control, self-regulation, emotional enrichment, empathy and social skills.

To address the serious behavioral problems that arise in people with high levels of excitability, it is essential to consider a preventive, proactive model, with communicative intervention, functional analysis of behavior, and also an adaptation of environments to their reality, seeking emotional stability.

Therapeutic applications in the room

• CHROMOTHERAPY: a method of harmonization through colors since they exert a physical, psychological and emotional influence, depending on the color range chosen. The associated response is usually related to well-being, tranquility and harmony. In this room the predominant colors used are:
  • The color blue: Refreshing and relaxing for our nervous system, moderates our energies, and facilitates the appearance of states of tranquility and calm.
  • The color green: Produces sedative, restorative and refreshing effects. We use it as a relaxant for those occasions when we are fatigued.
  • The color violet: Used to combat states of anguish and fear and helps to diminish and/or eliminate the impulses of rage and violence.

The blue color is refreshing and relaxing

The green color produces sedative effects

The violet color combats states of anguish

• AROMATHERAPY: Application for therapeutic purposes of natural aromas and essential oils, given the direct influence of smell within the limbic system and hypothalamus, regulators of our emotions and physiological functions. In this room lavender aroma is applied for its sedative and relaxing effect.

• MUSIC THERAPY: Use of music and its elements to satisfy physical, emotional, mental, social and cognitive needs. In this case we will play relaxing music with slow cadences.

How do we do it?

Create a safe and comfortable space

A calming room made with Qinera’s SHX technology

The first premise in designing this room is that it should be a safe space, for the user and for the people around him/her. For this purpose, the walls, doors and corners are padded in white, favoring the absorption of color related to the lighting.

The modular furniture system allows you to combine them to suit your needs or the activity you want to perform. A custom-made tatami is installed on the floor, which is stable enough to walk on and at the same time cushion possible falls or blows.

💡TIP: It is important that the calming room has a pouf that can be transformed into a mattress.

This is an open space in which there is a pouf that can be transformed into a mattress, so that the user (or therapist) can position themselves as he/she prefers. All the lighting, projection and loudspeakers are elevated and an air extractor introduces the lavender aroma. The user is constantly supervised by a monitoring system.

Can be controlled from outside

In an adjoining room or closet, a central computer is installed with the SHX System that allows us to control the projection, music and lighting.

In addition, through our SHX program we can design the blue, green and violet sensochromatic packages in one-minute cadences, with music and a relaxing projection, so that the stimuli are applied in the room automatically during 30-minute sessions. Thanks to the monitoring system, we can observe what is happening, and we can regulate the lavender aroma, turning on or off the air extractor.

💡TIP: It is recommended that the temperature and the blinds (if any) are also controlled from this space.

Your own room

Multisensory rooms are environments for controlling sensory stimulation aiming at helping its users in a therapeutic way by providing a variety of benefits. They are ideal for therapy, learning, stimulation, relaxation and fun. A calming room allows you to have a protected and safe environment to guide you towards a calm state.

Free Project Design

If you want to learn more about the benefits of Multisensory Environments or see how you could adapt it to your space, therapeutic goals, and users, you can send an email to hello@qinera.com.

L'entrada How to create a calming room? ha aparegut primer a The Multisensory Blog.