Slime, playdough, water, kinetic sand, rice, flax seed, dirt, oobleck? Parents hear these words and think “too much mess!” It’s true. Sensory play can be quite messy…however most kids love it!! And love equals engagement. More importantly, sensory play is a vital part of a child’s learning and development.
Most kids love to explore their world through their senses! This is what sensory play is all about! It’s any activity that engages their learning through touching, smelling, tasting, feeling, or hearing! When a baby is born, their senses are not yet fully developed. Neural pathways in the brain are being created when the senses are being engaged. These pathways help children learn.
During sensory play, kids play with objects and explore the world around them. They are developing so many skills:
Problem solving– For example, the ability to figure out how much water they need to fill up a cup without it overflowing.
Exploring- They may try out new ways of playing with objects, such as using an ice cream scoop with playdough to create a ball.
Estimating- This is an important part of the problem solving process. Children may use trial and error to figure out just how far they can stretch their slime before it breaks apart.
Language development– Children will describe what they see, feel, hear, smell, or taste (only if it’s something edible of course for the taste option). They may try out new words such as squishy, bumpy, smooth, slippery, sour, and so on.
Cognitive abilities- While children are engaged in sensory play, their brains are engaged and thinking and continually working to explore and understand.
Fine motor skills- This is an important skill because it focuses on the small muscles in our hands and fingers. Strong fine motor skills help a child to correctly hold a pencil, lace and tie their shoes, zip up a zipper, button their shirt or pants, or buckle a belt.
Curiosity- A child will become very curious as they explore in sensory play. They will be wondering to themselves and perhaps even out loud. What will happen if I scoop this water and pour it through this funnel? Why do some toys float and others sink? Why does slime stretch like that?
Creativity- Children will get creative and try new ways to make things happen. For example, while playing with a toy piano, a child might try hitting several keys together or they might hit one key very quickly and another very slowly.
Retention- The more senses that are engaged in an activity, the more children will remember what they learned.
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Mental focus- Our world is full of so many distractions. Since children will stay engaged longer during sensory play, this will help their brains to stay focused longer.
It’s Calming- Sensory play can help calm a child down pretty quickly and help them regulate their bodies and emotions. A couple of years ago in my preschool classroom, we had a little extra time at the end of the day and the kids were getting a little loud and antsy. I pulled out our container of fidget toys and ta da! The room went quiet as the kids explored and engaged with the sensory focused toys.
Parents should not only encourage their kids to get engaged with sensory activities, but they should embrace the idea. The benefits of the sensory play outweigh the mess that it might cause. Plus, cleaning the mess is also a good opportunity to get kids involved in the cleaning process (that’s another sensory activity to teach the kids the importance of cleaning).
For thoughts and ideas on sensory activities, please make sure to follow my blog for ideas and thoughts that I use daily with my kids.
Until next time, remember, our words and actions have power!
References:
Kable, Jenny. “Exploring the Benefits of Sensory Play for Children.” Only About Children. https://www.oac.edu.au/news-views/sensory-play/
Kostelyk, Sharla. “The Importance of Sensory Play for Children.” The Chaos and The Clutter. thechaosandtheclutter.com/archives/the-importance-of-sensory-play-for-children
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