What is sensory play?
Sensory play may also be referred to as “messy play” or
“hands on learning”. It is anything that engages your child’s senses, most
often touch or smell. Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers interact with their
world mainly through touch to gain knowledge and feel confident in their
environment. At the earliest stages of learning, children process information
through direct interaction, observation, and exploration.
What
is purpose of sensory play?
Children
are hard wired to learn through sensory input from day one. By providing
frequent opportunities for sensory play you are helping their brain build neural
pathways that will support later learning. At its core, sensory play is the
earliest form of the scientific process your child will encounter. They have
formulated a question, hypothesized an outcome, experimented, and made
conclusions all without being able to verbally communicate it to you.
Sensory play promotes and
supports fine and gross motor skills, cognitive development, social
interactions, builds self esteem, pre math concepts, problem solving and reasoning
skills, imaginative play, language development, and so much more. In a single
activity, sensory play can be hugely beneficial to your child crossing multiple
early learning objectives. The same sensory play materials can be used with
various age children meeting each child where he or she is in the learning
process. Consequently each child will
explore, learn, investigate, and form conclusions appropriate to their
individual needs.
Creating
sensory play opportunities
Sensory play is a process driven activity. It is about your
child’s interactions and explorations with the materials rather than a final
product or outcome. Sensory play should be a child lead activity start to
finish. There is NO right or wrong way for sensory play. It can be as
simple as rice or beans in a bin to explore or in depth small world play and
themed set ups. It can be extremely messy with shaving cream, goop, or Jell-o
to no mess at all with sensory bottles, textured fabrics, or glow sticks. Going
for a walk to observe nature is sensory play in a simplistic form that requires
no set up or clean up and is free.
As I present the activity or materials to my child, I let
him take the lead. I may verbally illustrate what he is doing or feeling. I
copy his movements and ideas (within reason!) I may demonstrate a different way
to play or ask questions to further the activity. I often pick a few new
vocabulary words or phrases to repeat frequently throughout the activity. This has been a critical learning step for my
speech delayed toddler. We verbally label everything!
Example:
Wrapping paper runway-
encourage them to run, walk, crawl like a cat, jump like a frog, bear crawl,
etc. We’ve now incorporated different movements with animals and sounds.
Set up
Where,
when, and how you include sensory play into your child’s daily routine is up to
you. Keep in mind your space restrictions as well as you and your child’s
comfort level with play materials. Sand/water tables are great inside and out.
Under the bed storage containers, baby pools, and my personal favorite – the
bath tub, are all great options for containing messes. You may also want to use
a sheet, plastic table cloth, or shower curtain to aid in the clean up process.
Play materials such as rice, small beans, oatmeal, and lentils all vacuum up
easily and quickly for inside play. Get your children involved in the clean up
process. My tot loves to use a washcloth to clean the shower walls or the
vacuum hose to get the last beans from the play room floor.
Sensory play extensions
Sensory play can be used to introduce or reinforce other
learning concepts and objectives such as color or letter recognition, cultural
celebrations, animal habitats, and other areas of scientific study. A favorite
at our house is extending a favorite story with a sensory play activity.
Examples:
· Letter I-Spy: ABC beads in a water bottle with rice
· Color themed sensory bins, bottles or tub play
· Holiday themed sensory bins or tub play
· Ice and arctic animals
· Mixing colored vinegar with baking soda
· Mixing paint or colored water
Sensory Play for Babies & Toddlers
With a little careful consideration and preparation, the
littlest of children can participate in sensory play. If you think, many baby
toys are in fact geared towards sensory stimulation. Bright or contrasting
colors, various textures, toys that crinkle, rattle, or squeak.
I am a huge fan of edible materials for babies and young toddlers. This allows
them to freely explore while ensuring their safety. Baby food, yogurt, cooked
pasta, oatmeal flakes, bread crumbs, rice, cornmeal or flour – plain or mixed
with oil to make moldable dough.
For my son, the more sensory play we did the better he became at keeping things
out of his mouth as even with edible materials our sensory play rule is always
“no mouth”.
Material Suggestions
Most sensory play items can be purchased
at the grocery store or Target. You can find great accessories or add ins at
the dollar store, craft store, or thrift shops.
Food Items: Beans,
lentils, pasta, rice, cous cous, oatmeal, cornmeal, flour, bread crumbs,
cereal, jell-o, pudding, yogurt, baby food, cooked spaghetti, coffee grounds,
popcorn kernels, popcorn, salt, sugar/sugar cubes, coconut, whole nuts
(walnuts, pecans, peanuts) dried fruit slices (orange, lemon, apple) Apple
peels, marshmallows, sprinkles,
· root veggies with the leafy tops (carrots, beets,
radish)
· Investigate, then cut open fresh fruit or veggie –
bell peppers, squash, watermelon, apples, pumpkins, etc.
Paper:
wrapping paper, tissue paper, toilet paper, shredded paper, butcher paper, streamers,
Easter grass
Natural Items:
acorns, pinecones, grass, leaves, rocks/gravel, dirt, hay, fresh or dried
flowers, planting seeds, vegetation - (ferns, moss, grasses), sea shells, drift
wood, natural sand, snow, water, ice,
Fabric: Ribbon, felt, tulle, various
fabric scraps, yarn
Misc: packing peanuts, bird seed,
deer corn, aquarium gravel, glass decorator beads, Epsom salts, shaving cream, glow
sticks, paint, pom poms, pipe cleaners, feathers, bubble wrap, cotton balls,
Accessories & Add ins: Food
coloring, essential oils or extracts for scents, kool-aid (to dye and scent),
spoons, kitchen utensils, measuring scoops and spoons, funnels, colander, cups,
tweezers/tongs, turkey baster, eye droppers, small garden tools, muffin tins,
pie plates, tin cups, ice cube trays, small animals or figures, foam shapes, glitter,
confetti
What you put into sensory
play and get out of it is completely up to you; from super messy, to dry and
clean, and everywhere in between. Sensory play provides opportunities to learn,
grow, and create magical childhood memories.
The jello hearts made for an interesting texture to squish with his hands and toes.
The conversation hearts were a great addition that provided many teachable moments. 
As Baby Rex was winding down, I turned on the water to add a new dimension to his play. 
The jello hearts quickly melted while the conversation hearts took a bit longer to dissolve. Baby Rex enjoyed splashing, scooping, and pouring the red cherry scented water.
