WHAT IS SENSORY PLAY

Sensory play involves the use of fun activities to help stimulate your child’s senses. Sensory play is important for little ones to find out how their bodies work and the way to process and interpret the planet around them. Sometimes special needs disorders such as Downs Syndrome or Autism provide barriers, but sensory play remains equally important for all children.

What are the Main Human Senses

1. Sight
2. Sound
3. Smell
4. Taste
5. Touch
6. Vestibular (sense of balance)
7. Proprioceptive (sense of where each a part of the body is in reference to the remainder of the body)

Importance of Sensory Play Activities

1. Help children learn: Toddlers learn and develop an understanding of people, spaces, objects, and other skills by using their senses in the various activities.
2. Develop language skills: When children describe a sensory play activity and the way they feel as they experience it, they gain an understanding of words, and this helps them develop their descriptive vocabulary.
3. Promote social interaction: Children of all abilities can participate in sensory play. Sensory play activities naturally attract their curious minds to partake and explore. Many sensory play activities can be done in groups to aid children with their social skills while interacting.
4. Develop motor skills: Whether kids are making waves in water, drawing shapes in shaving foam, playing hopscotch, or jumping on a trampoline, they are  strengthening the muscles in their body. Refining these skills are necessary to help them complete day-to-day activities like zipping a jacket or brushing their teeth.