The taste system (sense of taste) can be a difficult sensory system to navigate, especially if you have a picky eater. Get the best Gustatory Sensory Activities to do for the taste system in this post! Plus, The sensory ideas would also be helpful in ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).
Gustatory Sensory Activities
There are ways to deal with those difficulties with the gustatory system. Below are a few of my favorite activities.
1. Chewing Gum
Chewing gum is particularly beneficial for children who need extra gustatory input. It can also have a positive effect on focusing or calming when a kid needs to focus on a task like schoolwork.
The act of chewing provides a proprioceptive intake through the mouth and joints in the mouth that may be calming and concentrating for many children.
2. Chewable Toy
Chewing toys are useful for kids who need extra intake and struggle with constantly biting or chewing things that are not safe.
There are many different types of chew toys out there, it is best to find the ones your child loves and that are well made and durable.
3. Vibrating Toothbrush
The vibrating sensation of the toothbrush can be desensitizing for children and also provides an additional proprioceptive intake to the mouth and jaw which can have a calming effect.
4. Drinking with Straw
Sucking can improve the focusing ability of your kid, especially thicker liquid such as smoothies and milkshake.
5. Blowing Bubbles
This one is also a great Gustatory Sensory Activity for your kid. Who doesn’t want to make bubbles and chase them? It creates a tense sensation in the mouth that creates a happy emotion when blowing bubbles.
6. Whistling a song
I was never able to blow a whistle. But my daughter learned to whistle when she sucked air through her mouth instead of blowing. I guess that’s what happens when you lose five teeth in the summer, lol.
7. Blowup balloons
Blowing up balloons is one of the amazing sensory ideas, you can play a game like hitting the balloons back with your hand or racket. By blowing the ballons it helps keeps children focused.
What is the Gustatory System?
Gustatory is another great science word for the sense of flavor. The senses of taste come from your mouth, and go to the sensory cortex of the brain, which is in the frontal lobe.
The gustatory system senses the 5 flavors: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami. Children who struggle with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) may also struggle with Gustatory Sensory.
Children with a hypersensitive taste may also have difficulty with food temperature (foods too hot or too cold) textures, limiting the types of foods they eat based on those sensitivities, not liking brushing their teeth, and struggling to get to the dentist.
However, children may also be hypersensitive to the taste sense, which may seem to need intense flavor in their food (requires high amounts of seasoning or condiments) or eating things that are unsafe or inappropriate (chewing and biting clothing, unsafe objects, etc.).
Wrapping Up Gustatory Sensory Activities
We hope you’ve enjoyed our blog post about gustatory sensory activities. We always love to share our tips and tricks when it comes to using food to explore the senses. If you are interested in learning more about gustatory sensory activities, please visit here.
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