Transforming Sensory Play

We are delighted to unveil our newly refurbished interactive room at Haven House.

Children and families are now able to enjoy the benefits of state-of-the-art equipment, thanks to a generous £52,000 donation from The Story of Christmas.*

The refurbished room now has soft cushioning and a mix of interactive play areas, wall mirrors, light tubes, a relaxing waterbed and flexible, coloured fibre optics.

Floor projection technology allows children (and adults if they want to!) to interact with virtual objects from moving stars, playing games, creating music or splashing virtual water. These activities can be beneficial in building interaction and movement skills.

The room is also used for storytelling and singing, and when some of the children’s siblings visit, they too run to the room to have a play. It helps the children to integrate with others at the hospice whilst giving them the chance to spend more time with their siblings.

Director of Care at Haven House Eileen White said: “The fantastic donation we received has enabled us to bring our facilities completely up-to-date and the interactive and discovery room is a stunning asset to our hospice. The importance of creating fun and stimulating play opportunities for children and young people with life limited or life-threatening conditions cannot be underestimated.

Sensory activities open a whole new world to our children that can help them develop, play and communicate in different ways. Whether it’s reacting to sound, light, touch or movement it is wonderful when you see a child reacting in a way they wouldn’t usually do. These reactions, however small are so precious to families.

We are simply thrilled to be able to have such an amazing room to enhance the care and experiences we can give the children at Haven House, and we hope that our families will continue to enjoy it for many years to come. Thank you to The Story of Christmas for making this possible.

*Founded in 1978, The Story of Christmas is an annual Christmas charity event which raises funds – donated chiefly by companies in the property and construction industries – to finance capital projects benefitting either the homeless or disadvantaged children in the London area.