Little ones love to explore new objects, new tastes, new smells. They love feeling weird textures and exploring why certain things stick to the floor and others don’t, and that’s where sensory play shines.
Sensory play means giving children hands-on activities that stimulate their sense of sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste – like making mud pies or stretching out some homemade goo. But it’s not just about engaging and stimulating the five senses – sensory play has a big role in children’s brain development.
If we take an example, like making fake snow out of shaving foam; it feels soft and squishy, and might smell strongly of peppermint. This activity is exactly what Suzanne Gainsley calls ‘brain food,’ as stimulating various senses at once strengthens the neural pathways in the brain that children need for lifelong learning. But why are neural pathways important, and how does sensory play help them develop?
Let’s break down five key areas of development sensory play helps to nurture, and then we’ll give you some great sensory play ideas that you can introduce into your setting at the drop of a hat.
When children are born, they need time for their brain pathways to develop. Their surroundings and experiences help create these pathways, which is why those first few years are so crucial to develop little minds. In fact, during those first few years, more than 1 million new neural connections form every single second.
Neural pathways are the foundations of a child’s learning journey, as they’re how the brain receives and processes information. They’re how the brain communicates with the rest of the body. If children aren’t stimulated enough in the Early Years, their neural pathways won’t develop and strengthen, and this can cause significant learning delays as they get older.
You play a big role in aiding development, as the way you interact with children while they play can help maximise the learning opportunities.
We’ve got a great piece on scaffolding detailing when you should sit back and let children explore for themselves. Sometimes interfering in the wrong way takes children out of that world they’ve created for themselves, and actually does more harm than good. But when you do engage with children’s play, we’ve got some handy tips to gently encourage children without interrupting their flow:
Now that you can see the learning potential of sensory play, let’s look at three wonderful ways you can introduce it into your daily practice.
There is no right or wrong way, as long as you’re giving children lots of different (and safe!) stimuli to get their senses and their curiosity piqued.
Sensory boxes
Sensory bottles
Messy play
I don’t need to tell you to make sure the youngest ones shouldn’t have small objects that could potentially be a choking hazard – you’re well aware of that already.
But if you’ve got objects that aren’t quite appropriate for an age group due to a risk, why not try sensory bags? They’re a great way to introduce all sorts of objects that might be too small for the smallest hands in your setting – pop your sensory objects in clear bags that children can squish and feel the objects through. This can be bits of pasta, shells, small pompoms or figurines – just make sure you close the bags up correctly, tightly and make sure there’s always supervision.
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Get free tools nowLooking for more inspiration or specific activities? We’ve got 10 great sensory play examples here, like recipes for fluffy, homemade slime or frozen dinosaur activities. If you’re working virtually, here are another 10 to start you off.
Please note: here at Famly we love sharing creative activities for you to try with the children at your setting, but you know them best. Take the time to consider adaptions you might need to make so these activities are accessible and developmentally appropriate for the children you work with. Just as you ordinarily would, conduct risk assessments for your children and your setting before undertaking new activities, and ensure you and your staff are following your own health and safety guidelines.
Find out below how Hungry Caterpillars got started with Famly so easily, and see what we can do for you in a personal demo.
“Famly’s been incredibly easy to roll out, we wouldn’t have taken so long to make our decision if we’d known. The system’s so straightforward that even after a day you’d know what you’re doing.” –Olivia, Director, Hungry Caterpillars
Find out below how Hungry Caterpillars got started with Famly so easily, and see what we can do for you in a personal demo.
Sign up nowFind out below how Hungry Caterpillars got started with Famly so easily, and see what we can do for you in a personal demo.
Sign up nowFind out below how Hungry Caterpillars got started with Famly so easily, and see what we can do for you in a personal demo.
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