Activities for Kids: Sensory Play
Boost Your Child's Development, Academic Achievement and Confidence
Enhance the sensory world of your child through hands-on exploration using art, cooking, water play, pottery and other activities.
The sensory world of the child is magical. Children learn through sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, movement and exploration.
Most of our children are inundated with television, movies and video games. But, your children need activities that appeal to all their senses. Enjoy the experience of creating sensory activities for you and your children to enjoy.
Here are some ideas to get you started.
Cook - Move beyond baking a batch of cookies. Find some recipes that will allow your children to use their hands and smell wonderful aromas. Making bread is a great way to let your children get their hands in the food and experience the feeling of creating something edible using their sense of touch. Homemade cinnamon rolls will provide the great feeling of working with dough with the wonderful aroma of spices. Baking a variety of fruit tarts engages sight, touch, and taste all at once. The final sensory experience comes with a sense of personal accomplishment, of course!
Create a sensory garden - In your kitchen, playroom or backyard create a sensory garden with a water table, a sand tray and an art table for your children to experience water play, little toy hide and seek, texture exploration, clay, paint and finger paint. Research suggests such sensory play benefits brain development so start early and play for a lifetime.
Make pottery - You don't need to be an artist to practice on a potter's wheel. In fact, many children's pottery stores have one in the back waiting for you to explore. Just ask. Using a potter's wheel allows your child to create a lasting piece of art in a very tactile way. Making a thing of visual beauty is always a joy to a child. Even though your child may not get the hang of the potter's wheel right away, they'll still love the experience of working with their hands in clay.
Visit the Beach - The feel of the sand, the crashing of the waves, the cool of the water and the grandeur of the view - what could be more spectacular than a visit to the ocean? Take your kids on a weekend getaway that will delight all their senses. Eat seafood, build a sandcastle, splash in the waves and smell the ocean.
Use your imagination. There are lots of ways to stimulate all of your child's senses, and doing so will help your child expand his imagination, his awareness and his sensitivity. Regular stimulation of all the senses helps your child to experience activities more fully and be more aware of the world around him. In the long run, you may be helping your child improve academic achievement by teaching him to tune into all aspects of an activity.
You'll certainly be teaching him to live life to the fullest and experience every detail of his sensory moments!
