Categories Classroom Management, Inspiration

Sensory Chair DIY: Monday Made It

We all know that our students need more sensory experiences. That’s why we incorporate lighting, music and sensory bins into the classroom. Why not incorporate sensory experiences into their seating as well? That’s why we’re creating a sensory chair for our classroom! And an added bonus: it’s a fun piece of furniture for flexible seating! And you might be getting a hint at my classroom theme…

Ya’ll know I LOVE me some PVC pipe projects! So when I saw this fun sensory chair on We Are Teachers, I knew I had to make it. I followed the directions from the website to the T…but they needed some tweaking as I worked on the project so I’m going to share my process and directions to make it a bit easier. I hope!

How To Make A Sensory Chair

Materials:

3/4″ PVC Pipe cut into the following pieces:

11- 16″ pieces

12 -7.5″ pieces (Note: I had to trim these pieces down slightly so make them a little less than 7.5 inches to save some work later!)

29- 2′ pieces

PVC Pipe Cutter

16 3/4″ elbow connectors (the slip kind without the threads on the inside)

24 3/4″ T connectors (the slip kind without the threads inside)

PVC glue/cement

You will need 6 pool noodles cut into the following sizes:

11- 15.5″ pieces

12- 7.25″ pieces

In the original post, the pool noodle pieces were the exact same size as the PVC pipe pieces. However, when assembling the sensory chair, this didn’t work because the pool noodles and PVC were the same size which meant you couldn’t put the connector pieces on! So I just shortened the pool noodle pieces a bit!

Assembling The Sensory Chair

First, cut your PVC pipe pieces and pool noodles pieces. Then slide the pipe into the pool noodles. This ain’t easy folks! I found I had to stand up and push the noodle onto the pipe! It’s a very tight fit, but it will go!

Next tis assembly! There is no EASY way to explain the assembly step-by-step so I’m going to use pictures to show you how to assemble the sensory chair! 100% transparency….I had this image pulled up on my phone and used this to assemble each piece. It’s much easier to do than written directions! TRUST ME!

Here is what the chair looks like with each piece assembled and laid out in a line.

Bottom Support:

A 16″ piece with elbows

2 2″ pieces with elbows

2 7.25″ pieces connected in the middle with a T connector

Seat: (This is where the kids sit their bottoms!)

4 7.25″ pieces connected with a T and 2 elbows on top and 2 on the bottom

8 2″ pieces

6 T connectors

3 16″ pieces

Back: (This is where the kids rest their back)

4 7.25″ pieces connected with a T and 4 elbows

8 T connectors

10 2″ pieces

4 16″ pieces

Back Support Piece (This is what holds the chair up)

3 16″ pieces

4 elbows

6 2″ pieces

2 7.25″ pieces connected with a T connector

Finally, the finished product! After assembling the chair, you can position each section to fit your needs. Finally, once you’re happy with it you can glue the pieces together. JUST DO NOT GLUE THE PIECES THAT MOVE TO ARRANGE THE CHAIR!