Seeker Sensory Profile

The child that everyone knows. 
The child that everyone says is "busy". 
The child who doesn't seem to have an "off" switch. 

The "sensory seeking" child may have a reputation that proceeds them.  We are looking at how our central nervous system manages sensory information in the world we live in. When our "sensory seeking" child craves sensory input, what does this mean? How can we support them? 

Before we look more closely at the "sensory seeking" child, you may want to head back to read about Winnie Dunn's Sensory Profile framework as well as understanding some of the SP language used (thresholds and continuums).   

Sensory seekers enjoy and look for more sensory experiences. Seekers are active self-regulators and generate their own ideas. Sensory experiences may distract them from daily life tasks. They have high thresholds and find it difficult to meet their sensory needs. Seekers may observe and comment on interesting sensory events and pursue activities with great enthusiasm. They may also be highly creative and express themselves through movement (eg. dance) and physical pursuits (eg. sport). 


Let's think of the child's central nervous system with the analogy of a bucket, sensory input being the water in the bucket and the beach being their environment or task cues. These children have a large bucket which can be filled but it can also feel like the water splashes out or there is a hole in the bucket. The child continues to try filling the bucket which may seem excessive. This may be disruptive to others or distract the child from other tasks or environmental cues. They need more intense sensory experiences and help with structure, routine and goal-orientation.

Seeker Characteristics
​In the classroom, a child who may have a seeker sensory pattern more than others may demonstrate some of these characteristics. They may try to find ways to generate sensory experiences and interact with their environment. They may find it difficult to satisfy their need for sensory input and it may interfere with other tasks.

Visual System

This child may be constantly looking around their environment, noticing everything which may distract them from someone speaking with them. They may be aware of people, objects, changes in positioning of things, movement, furniture, classroom decoration, etc. This child may be constantly getting out their chair to look at things or people more closely. They may seem like they are visually scanning new environments or people to take in the visual information.

This child may also create their own visual stimuli (eg. Flapping, flickering, blinking, spinning fidgets, spinning their pen). They may look at things in motion (eg. fans, washing machines).

Auditory System

This child may create their own sounds (eg. clucking, humming, groaning, lip smacking).They may also talk to themselves or repeat information given to them.

They may seek sounds from their environment (eg. Tapping pencil, clicking a pen, kicking furniture, flicking light switches). They may enjoy toys or video games that make sounds.

They may listen to music or tv shows constantly and at a high volume.

They may enjoy noisy classrooms and find it more difficult in quiet spaces to remain quiet (eg. library or bathroom).

Tactile System

This child may love messy play, fidget toys, and exploring different textures with their hands.
They may play with their hair or explore their own body with touch (sometimes inappropriately in public).

This child may touch people and objects with difficulty controlling impulses (eg. touching items on the teacher’s desk or in a shopping aisle). They may have difficulty with the amount of pressure or force they use (eg. breaking pencils, pushing too hard onto the page, throwing items instead of placing).

They may seek cuddles or rough play (eg. push, pull, bump, crash, head butt). This child may sit too close to other children, stroke their hair (or their own), or bump into others frequently. They may accidently hurt other children.

Proprioceptive and Vestibular Systems

This child may seek movement constantly (eg. climbing, running, pushing, pulling, jumping, swinging, kicking, stomping, etc.). This may build in intensity and the child can seem more dysregulated, silly, hyperactive and clumsy. They may seem easily distractable and constantly on the move. This child may have difficulty sitting on the floor during story time. They may not line up with other children when requested.

They may appear to have difficulty controlling movement so that they are crashing, falling over, leaning or bumping into others or furniture. They can appear reckless without concern for other people think or what they are doing, seeking intensity of input. This child may also seem to have poor body awareness.

They may request strong hugs or rough play. They enjoy lifting, pulling or pushing objects. This child may climb furniture, playground equipment or trees with disregard for safety.

Oral Motor/Taste/Smell Systems

This child may chew, lick, suck or bite edible and non-edible items. This might include items in the classroom (eg. pencils and erasers), their own body (eg. hair, fingers, fingernails) or their clothing (eg. collar, sleeves).

They may clench or grind their jaw and teeth. They may lick or purse their lips regularly. They may attempt to bite other people.

They may enjoy food that has strong flavours (ie. sour, spicy, intense). They may also enjoy crunchy or chewy food.

At home...

This child may have difficulty completing daily tasks as they are focused on creating sensory experiences. They may appear impulsive and unaware of danger. This may cause them to have more accidents. These behaviours can be a source of frustration for parents as the child may not respond to verbal requests.

This child may also find slowing down their arousal for sleep time to be difficult. They may have difficulty sitting with the family for meal times or to watch television.

Sensory Supports for Seekers
In general, a child who exhibits a ​seeker sensory pattern more than others needs sensory input with more frequency, intensity and duration to meet their sensory needs. Although these children try to satisfy their own sensory needs by seeking certain input, they need assistance to organise themselves and monitor their sensory experiences. Observing the way they seek input can help to guide intervention.

This child benefits from incorporating or embedding sensory experiences into their daily routines to support participation. This means that the child does not need to stop the task to seek sensory input elsewhere, thereby becoming distracted. Nor should this child be required to wait to receive sensory input as this can cause distress.

Intervention planning should increase awareness, purpose and meaning to sensory input. This can build predictable sensory expereinces.

• Incorproprate structure
• Increase intensity
• Add organizing activity
• Make environmental changes
• Introduce novelty into daily tasks
• Provide opportunities for multisensory or “hands on” learning.
• Provide sensory opportunities throughout the day and incorporated into activities

Some examples of sensory supports may include:

Visual System

• Allow time for the child to explore their visual environment before attending to the task at hand.
• Use visual mind mapping, checklists, graphic organizers to plan thoughts and ideas.
• Use bright lighting.
• Place items in different positions for the child to find prior to commencing a task.
• Use scavenger hunts to provide opportunities for visual scanning.
• Use a ruler to guide reading or writing.
• Allow the child to use different coloured pencils, pens or highlighters to emphasize information (eg. write titles in red, write mathematical symbols in green, underline certain words, highlight phrases, etc).

Auditory System

• Use headphone/ear buds to provide opportunities to listen to music or books.
• Provide environment where sound making is part of a daily routine (eg. clapping warm ups, singing a greeting to the teacher).
• Use a metronome for predictable rhythmn and organization.
• Learn a muscial instrument.
• Provide structured times for varying volumes of noise making.
• Practice varying volumes with voice, muscial and non-musical items (eg. tap hand with one finger, two fingers, three fingers, four fingers, five fingers).
• Practice silent activities and motion (eg. mirror a friend’s actions without speaking, draw a doodle with a timer starting with a few seconds).
• Play music during activities (eg. packing away toys, colouring in).
• Name and discuss noises with child in various environments.

Tactile System

• Provide opportunties to explore and play with different textures (eg. sand, dirt, shaving foam, water, playdough, putty etc).
• Use messy play with academic learning (eg. form letters, count, spell words).
• Provide fidget tools and stress balls during listening times (eg. story time).
• Use cold items to increase alertness and arousal (eg. cold shower, cold ice brick, wash face).
• Incorporate deep pressure with touch input (eg. when rubbing lotion onto body also add squeezing).
• Incorporate visual feedback such as looking in a mirror.
• Provide opportunities to go barefoot.
• Faciliate activities that require partner work which involve touch (eg. dressing, karate, gymnastics).
• Use items with varying textures (eg. blankets, towels, carpets).
• Name and discuss tactile experiences, as well as the body sensations felt.
• Carry items to aid transition from one place or activity to another.

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Proprioceptive and Vestibular Systems

• Use movement with academic activities (eg say the alphabet while jumping on the trampoline, Touch body parts for counting like tapping head).
• Incorporate rhythmn and use a metronome (eg. stomp out syllables in a word).
• Provide flexible seating such as cushions, stools, beanbags, gymball etc.
• Incorporate movement breaks.
• Incorporate heavy work activities (eg. moving heavy books, lifting chairs, pushing a trolley).
• Practice stop/start/freeze activities.
• Incorporate resistance activities such as therabands, clothing pegs, elastic bands when seated.
• Incorporate weighted products such as lap blanket, weighted toys or vests.
• Incorporate linear movements (forward/backward, side to side, up/down) together with goal directed activities (eg. move one spot to the left seat and we write our name, move one spot to the right and we will count to 10, stand up and form a triangle with your fingers etc).
• Place items strategically to provide opportunities for movement within the classroom.

Oral Motor/Taste/Smell Systems

• Increase intensity with crunchy foods or flavour.
• Use silicon chewy pendants.
• Provide oral motor activities with a straw (sucking, blowing).
• Use a sports top drink bottle.
• Incorporate massage or use of an electric toothbrush.
• Provide opportunities to practice deep breathing (eg. five finger breathing, blow on the back of you hand, blow a pom pom in your cupped hand).
• Allow a child to chew gum as needed.
• Use scented markers or soaps.
• Name and discuss tastes and smells.
• Introduce candles or infusers in the child’s bedroom.

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For more information:

• Overview of Dunn's sensory profiles
• Sensory Profile Language
• Bystander Sensory Profile
• Sensor Sensory Profile
• Avoider Sensory Profile (coming soon)
• Sensory Profiling Guidebook! ​

Sensory Profiling Guidebook ($AUS)

SP Guidebook TPT Store ($US)

You asked and now it's here!

The Sensory Profiling Guidebook is a practical, neurodiversity-affirming resource designed to help therapists, educators, and caregivers make sense of sensory profiles and translate assessment insights into meaningful, everyday support. Grounded in Dunn’s Sensory Processing Framework and aligned with Sensory Profile 2™ interpretation language, this guidebook moves beyond labels to explain why sensory patterns show up the way they do — and what actually helps.

Inside, you’ll find clear explanations of each sensory profile, information about mixed profiles, real-world examples across home and school contexts, and regulation-focused strategies that support participation, learning, and wellbeing. Whether you’re an occupational therapist looking for intervention clarity, a teacher supporting diverse learners, or a parent wanting to understand your child’s responses, this guidebook bridges theory and practice with compassion and clarity.

This is not about “fixing” sensory differences — it’s about understanding nervous systems, supporting regulation, and creating environments where children can thrive.

Use the Sensory Profile Guidebook to analyze, interpret, explain and apply sensory processing information!

Cindy is a registered occupational therapist practising in Sydney, Australia.  She has two growing children who are a constant source of inspiration and learning.  Cindy loves working creatively to help children to reach their potential, finding opportunities in everyday living and making learning fun. She is also addicted to making printables (even when they take a long time to complete).  Cindy is the author of the Occupational Therapy blog Your Kids OT.  Read more articles from Your Kids OT at https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog

Cindy is a contributing author of the Functional Skills for Kids Therapy Team.  They have together published THE HANDWRITING BOOK, THE SCISSORS SKILLS BOOK and THE TOILETING BOOK.

​The information on this site is general in nature. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions. Affiliate links are used throughout this website to promote recommended products. Your Kids OT receives a small commission if any purchases are made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details. ​​​
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