Way back in October, we had the good fortune to review a crate of sensory goodies from My Sensory Crate. My Sensory Crate is a monthly subscription box containing items hand-picked for those with sensory needs such as those associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), etc. Every month a personalised box of goodies arrives and this month we were lucky enough to be sent out one of November’s crate to take a look at.

Last month you may remember we shared a video of our littlest dude opening the My Sensory Crate. This month he did not wish to be on video opening the crate and we respect that so will share some pictures of the crate and contents.

This month’s crate contained.

Drumstick Squashies

We don’t usually expect confectionery in our sensory crates but this was appreciated (and squashy stuff totally counts!).

Crackle Baff

This stuff was great but definitely a weird experience. At it’s core this stuff is popping candy for the bath. You simply run a warm bath and pop the kids in it. When they’re in, empty a sachet of Crackle Baff into the tub and it makes a LUDICROUSLY LOUD popping sound! The only comparison I can make is that it literally sounds like your kids are in a deep fat fryer. We made a (audio-only) video to show what this sounded like.

This was definitely a sensory adventure for both Morgan and Claudia. They now ask for this every bathtime since!

Mohdoh

Mohdoh is a very strongly scented modelling dough. The one we received was heavily scented with lavender which while well-known for its calming properties just happens to be what my wife is quite heavily allergic to so she had to make a quick exit while Morgan was having a go with it. It has since found its way to his sensory box at school where poor Tammy won’t have to smell it! As a sensory item it’s a bit of a double-edged sword.

It’s a great squashy dough but the smell is POWERFUL. If your child has issues with olfactory over-stimulation, strong smells, etc then this isn’t a good option for them. If they love a good pong, however, or if they respond well to the calming properties of lavender then this is a good item. It’s worth noting that when we sent this to school with Morgan, all his teachers were having a good whiff of it.

Rattan Shaker

This item easily took up half the box and is a good, solid instrument. All the children, particularly Claudia (4) have been enjoying this aned making a good old noise around the house with it. The most surprising thing for me was realising how expensive these usually are! Bought online the shaker alone costs at least £20 so the inclusion of this item in the monthly box really helps justify the overall price per box (£24.99)

This shaker is really sturdy and would be a great inclusion with kids’ musical and noise-making activities if combined with other shakers, tambourines, wood blocks, etc.

Slimy Monster

This was an interesting one. The monster is a squashy rubber toy with a ‘sucky hole’ in its face. The monster is squeezed into the accompanying goop which is sucked into the monster and can then be blurted out again like gooey snot. It was good from a sensory perspective but we found actually getting the goop into the monster to be far too tricky to hold Morgan’s attention. It needs a way to release the pressure inside the monster as often the goop would get jammed half-way into it whilst it was still squashed up.

It was still good but I think it may actually function better as a bath toy once the slimy goop has inevitably met its fluffy demise on the carpet.

LED Spinning Top

This was a neat little gizmo. Spinning the top triggers multi-coloured colour-changing LEDs in the top of the… top. Although it’s quite small, it garnered a lot of attention, especially once all the lights had been turned off. Morgan loves stuff that flashes and glows so this was a welcome addition to his collection of flashy disco lights and last month’s fibre-optic wand.

Wooden Twist ‘N’ Lock Fidget Toy

Fidget toys are a staple of any SEN kid’s sensory or ‘calming down’ box and this is no different. The wooden tangle-style toy is a simple but greatly-distracting diversion and is ideal for those times when Morgan needs to focus by keeping his hands busy. Much like the fidget cube or tangle, this is a great diversion. I also like the fact that it’s wooden as wooden stuff always has a bonus sensory softness that plastic doesn’t have.

Conclusion

If I’m being honest, our initial reaction was that the box had less in it then the previous month, so we were slightly concerned. But, having opened and seen how much time Morgan (and the others) got out of the box I’m no longer particularly worried. The box contains over £45 worth of items and although this isn’t always apparent, each item got a serious amount of play or was a nice sensory surprise we wouldn’t otherwise have tried out.

I still think the concept is great and am keen to see what else they come up with. The issue of price vs content is always going to be a hot topic with all subscription crates on the market and My Sensory Crate is no different. In fact, the pressures on My Sensory Crate are somewhat unique considering they’ve created a monthly crate intended to appeal to a particularly niche market which may always serve to limit their subscriber base. Subscription box services rely on subscriber numbers to be able to access bulk discounts on particular items so it can be a vicious circle.

As a SEN parent, I still think this is a great product and I wish them the best in producing more interesting and varied crates in the future. If you’re interested in getting a subscription yourself, go check them out at www.mysensorycrate.com*. A standard subscription currently costs £24.99.

 

*Sadly, My Sensory Crate are no longer operating