Holiday Sensory Play

What happens when you fill a sensory table with colored rice and add a hint of peppermint smell?

Add a few loose parts?

Then let the children do their thing?

You get FUN and a boat-load of learning!

You may be wondering WHY sensory play is important for children.

Sensory play is a child's way of examining, discovering, categorizing and making sense of the world. It gives a child the chance to play with different types of textures, tastes, and objects and helps them build new ways of talking about the world.

Sensory play often involves using and building fine motor skills by exploring things using pinching, pouring, dumping, etc. movements. It can be very calming for a child.

Sensory play allows children to be in complete control for their actions and experiences which boosts confidence in decision-making and inspires eagerness to learn and experiment. Sensory play also teaches kids about cooperation and collaboration.

Sensory play encourages children to use descriptive and expressive language and find meaning behind essentially meaningless words (slimy, bumpy, prickly...)

Children develop prewriting skills as they pour, scoop, spoon, grasp and work on eye-hand coordination tasks while using various materials. 

Sensory play provides open-ended opportunities where the process is more important than the product; how children use materials is much more important than what they make with them as in the case of playdoh play.

You can build a very simple, table-top sensory bin for your child by purchasing an under-the-bed, plastic container... large or small... and fill it with different dried materials (rice, beans, peas) You can also mix up crazy and messy concoctions of slime, kinetic sand, etc. It's so fun and the best part... you can clean-up the mess after all the fun and learning has occurred:) Don't be afraid of the mess. Learning happens in the midst of the mess:)