Sensory-Friendly Hours in Rhode Island

If you’ve been wondering where you can take your sensory-sensitive kiddos and family members to enjoy some fun in Rhode Island, check out this growing list of places offering sensory-friendly hours in the Ocean State!

What are sensory-friendly hours?

In 2023, Walmart announced that in all stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, they would be dimming the lights, turning off the music, and leaving a static image on the televisions in the stores. These hours were dubbed “sensory-friendly hours.”

Sensory-friendly hours are designed to create a calm environment in commonly frequented places, allowing individuals with sensory needs to comfortably enjoy these spaces. Places that are deemed fun for most kids can sometimes be overstimulating for others. Luckily, the following places in Rhode Island are taking this into consideration and offering sensory-friendly hours.

Audubon Society of Rhode Island Nature Center and Aquarium

• Sensory-friendly hours twice a month: the second Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the fourth Tuesday from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Fewer guests with a quieter environment, lower lighting, and no screens

Roger Williams Park Zoo

• Certified sensory-inclusive facility
• Sensory bags are available to patrons for free (they include fidgets, noise cancellation headphones, and emotional cue cards)
• Sensory-friendly hours at many of their events (such as the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular)

Trinity Repertory Company

• Their Sensory-Friendly Plus! program for kids offers modified sound, lighting, and technical adjustments, and allows patrons to make noise, along with freedom to exit and enter as needed.
• For teens and adults, sensory-friendly performances include social stories and warnings of loud sounds and harsh changes in lighting.

Providence Performing Arts Center

• Sensory-friendly performances
• Lower sound and light levels
• Patrons are allowed to bring comfort items (weighted blankets, fidgets, etc.), talk, stand up, move around, exit, and enter as needed.

Chuck E. Cheese – specifically the one located at 650 Bald Hill Rd. in Warwick

• Sensory Sensitive Sundays
• Quieter environment, dimmed lighting, sensory-friendly arcade experience

The Impossible Dream Playground – 575 Centerville Rd., Warwick

• Rhode Island’s first integrated playground
• Play for children of all abilities
• Sensory-friendly events throughout the year

Providence Children’s Museum

• Sometimes offers sensory-friendly hours and/or events

Mystic Aquarium – in Connecticut, but just over the border from RI

• Sometimes offers sensory-friendly hours and/or events

Local Libraries

• Check your local libraries for sensory-friendly story hours and/or events

Department of Environmental Management’s “Quiet Fireworks“

• 4th of July quiet fireworks at Beavertail State Park in Jamestown
• Reduced noise levels for hearing and sensory sensitivities
• Wheelchair and stroller friendly
• Aquarium open to reduce stress of wait times

The hope is that this list will continue to grow, so please feel free to comment below letting us know if you come across a local business offering sensory-friendly hours!