Early Years

Order your Early Years Sensory Discovery Pack

Start discovering together…

We know it can be overwhelming knowing where to begin and how best to support your little one’s development through play and precious one-on-one time. Our Sensory Discovery Packs are filled with items to help you explore the different senses with your child and get off to a great start. Find out how to apply for your pack and start discovering together!

Start discovering…

We know it can be overwhelming knowing where to begin and how best to support your little one’s development through play and precious one-on-one time. Our Sensory Discovery Packs are filled with items to help you explore the senses different with your child and get off to a great start. Find out how to apply for your pack and start discovering together!

Introducing the packs…

Our packs have been carefully curated using input from parents and professionals to provide a sensory play starting point for parents of a vision impaired child.

Parents of VI early years children have told us they’ve sometimes struggled with play and interaction to support their child’s development – we hope our packs, supporting resources and videos will help to empower and educate during this crucial time.

Play to explore the senses

All children require a varied sensory diet, by encouraging them to experience lots of different sensory sensations, you can help their sensory systems to fully mature and develop. Children who are blind or partially sighted have a particular sensory system that requires a more unique approach to how you support it. These packs will be the start of your journey when thinking about play and interaction with your child. They will help you, as a parent, become more ‘sensory aware’ and you will start to look at the world around you differently!

Early Years Sensory Discovery Pack

What’s in the packs?

The items in the packs correspond to each of the senses and offer children a broad range of sensory opportunities, therapeutic benefits, and interactive experiences.

There are two packs to choose from based on your child’s age – a baby pack (0 to 1.5 years) and a toddler pack (1.5 to 4 years). These age brackets are a guide, and you can select your preference depending on your child’s needs.

Please note, the exact contents of your pack may differ slightly dependent on stock. In a typical pack, you can expect to find:

The baby sensory discovery pack

Touch

Space blanket
Chiffon scarf

Light

Baby Einstein toy
Light-up spiky ball

Sound

Egg shaker

Movement & balance

Tummy time baby roller

Smell

Lavender scented baby product

Taste

Baby chew

Please note, you will only receive one of each item and products may vary from those shown in these photos.

The toddler sensory discovery pack

Touch

Space blanket
Chiffon scarf

Light

Fibre optic lamp
Light-up spiky ball

Sound

Egg shaker

Movement & balance

Exercise ball

Smell

2 pots of scented play sand

Taste

Sensory chew

Please note, you will only receive one of each item and products may vary from those shown in these photos.

Getting the most from your pack!

The world of play

Once you have received your Early Years Sensory Discovery Pack you will find lots of play suggestions and videos with further ideas to help you engage with the items in your pack.

Am I eligible to apply for a pack?

VICTA supports children and young adults in the UK who are registered or registerable as sight impaired or severely sight impaired. We know, that with very young children, you may not have reached this step yet. Please provide as much information as possible and don’t be alarmed if we contact you for more information once you have completed the form.

To apply for a Sensory Discovery Pack you will need to meet the following criteria:

  • Your child is aged 0 to 4 years
  • You are permanent residents of the United Kingdom
  • Your child is blind or partially sighted (we will ask for information around their eye condition)
  • If you are a professional working for an organisation supporting children with a vision impairment, please visit the following link for details on how to apply: victaparents.org.uk/professionals-sensory-discovery-pack

Please read our Terms and Conditions before you apply

  • Only one pack per VI child
  • Cost: £10 per pack (these packs are subsidised by VICTA, by adding a small contribution, more families can benefit from the service). This contribution is non-refundable. We don’t want cost to be a barrier, please get in touch at parents@victa.org.uk if you need any support
  • Items included in the pack are to be used under adult supervision only – many of them are not toys but sensory items intended for adult led sensory play. Safety while playing and following age specific guidelines is the parent/carers responsibility
  • Items may differ slightly to those advertised on this page and in the featured photography/videos. This is dependent on stock
  • Unfortunately we cannot take requests for specific styles/colours of the items included
  • The items are a perfect starting point to play. VICTA will not replace broken or damaged items that occur over the course of time. If you do encounter any immediate problems, please email parents@victa.org.uk for further information
  • Applications are currently to be made by families directly, if you are an organisation or work in a supportive role, please contact us at parents@victa.org.uk
  • Packs are currently limited, your application will be dependent on eligibility (at the discretion of VICTA) and stock levels. We will do our best to respond quickly to let you know if your application has been successful

Apply for your Early Years Sensory Discovery Pack

Please note, as we approach the end of our current stock levels, your application may be added to a waiting list. If we aren’t able to fulfil your order currently, we will let you know before payment is taken.

Note for applicants completing this form

After completion, if you have successfully submitted the form, you should receive a successful submission message. If you do not it may be because you have not completed a required field.

If you are having difficulty with the form, please contact the office on 01908 240 831.

Parent/carer details

Primary contact - parent/carer/guardian of the VI child.

Details of your VI child

Please fill out the details for your child who has a visual impairment, although children are not attending this is required for our information and planning.

Supporting documentation


We know, that with very young children, you may not have reached registration stage yet, however we will still ask for some form of documentation which helps us understand your child's eye condition. If your child is registered, or you have a letter from an ophthalmologist or your local authority outlining your child's eye condition/visual acuity, please upload a copy here. If you don't have any of these formal documents yet due to your child's age, we will consider a professional letter which refers to your child's eye condition such as a referral or appointment letter. We may contact you following your application to request this documentation. If you are unsure, please complete the form without it and then contact us at parents@victa.org.uk.

Terms and conditions

1) Applicants will need to meet the following criteria:
a: Your child is aged 0 to 4 years
b: You are permanent residents of the United Kingdom
c: Your child is blind or partially sighted
2) Only one pack per VI child
3) Cost: £10 per pack (these packs are subsidised by VICTA, by adding a small contribution, more families can benefit from the service). This contribution is non-refundable
4) Items included in the pack are to be used under adult supervision only – many of them are not toys but sensory items intended for adult led sensory play
5) Safety while playing and following age specific guidelines is the parent/carers responsibility
6) Items may differ slightly to those advertised on this page and in the featured photography/videos. This is dependent on stock
7) VICTA cannot take requests for specific styles/colours of the items included
8) The items are a perfect starting point to play. VICTA will not replace broken or damaged items that occur over the course of time. If you do encounter any immediate problems, please email parents@victa.org.uk for further information
9) Applications are currently to be made by families directly, if you are an organisation or work in a supportive role, please contact us at parents@victa.org.uk
10) Packs are currently limited, your application will be dependent on eligibility (at the discretion of VICTA) and stock levels. We will do our best to respond quickly to let you know if your application has been successful

Declaration, privacy and consent

To be signed by the applicant.

I confirm that this form has been completed accurately and I undertake to update VICTA should any information contained on the form or personal circumstances change.

By signing this form you consent to VICTA using the information supplied for the purpose of administering the offer.

All the information will be treated in the strictest of confidence and made available only to those staff working on the offer.

Contact information will be retained and used for marketing of other relevant services.

I give consent for VICTA to carry out the following in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulations as supplemented by the Data Protection Act 2018 and related laws and to store my personal information on VICTA's database and/or any other suitable system.

Agreement to payment

So now you’re ready to start exploring the different senses with your child!

These resources are for everyone and can also be explored with items found at home. So if you don’t have an Early Years Sensory Discovery Pack yet, you can still start exploring.

Touch

Light

Sound

Movement & balance

Smell

Taste

Latest stories on the blog