Sensory Activities

Yes, sensory activities can be messy.  But sometimes the benefits outweigh this small inconvenience.  Rachelle Doorley from artfulparent.com shares the benefits of sensory play as well as some simple activities that little ones can enjoy.  You can click on the underlined activity for more information.  Another BIG benefit of sensory play is it might just give you a few minutes to get something done!  You can check out the full article at this link: http://artfulparent.com/2013/02/8-sensory-activities-for-kids-to-fill-the-witching-hour.html

THE BENEFITS OF SENSORY PLAY

• Calming: Playing with dry rice, sand, water, play dough, and other materials that stimulate the senses can calm children and improve their focus
• Find inner voice: Sensory experiences encourage children to tap their inner voice as they test their ideas and explore the phenomena of the material/s that are in front of them
• Fine motor development: Oftentimes sensory experiences foster fine motor skills as children are challenged to scoop, pour, cut, sift, or mold.
• Language acquisition: Sensory experiences can build language acquisition when adults facilitate the experience with contextual description language such as, “You’re moving the sand into the corner of the box,” or “Do you feel the warm water pouring over your hands?”

Water Scooping for Babies: This is one of the first sensory activities that my children were introduced to. We drink it, bathe in it, cook with it, and water our plants with it. Water is familiar to children, safe to touch, and endlessly fascinating.

Cloud Dough: This moldable, yet crumbly, dough is made from flour and oil. That’s it. It’s so simple and I’ve found that even if it spills all over my table and hardwood floors, it’s easy to clean up. If you add a little bit of lavender oil to the dough it will also leave your hands with a yummy smell.

Slime: The texture of this gooey substance is somewhere between play dough and silly putty. If you have carpets you’ll want to cover them first, but this is otherwise a fine activity to do indoors.

Goop: A simple mixture of cornstarch and water. It feels like a solid, and then a liquid…the texture will boggle the mind.

Water Beads: You’ll want to keep a close eye on small children who mouth objects. This is one of the most popular sensory experiences in my home.

Tearing wet paper: I gave my toddler a tub of water to play with and she carried sheets of paper over to it. Before I knew it she was soaking the paper and shredding it. She loved this activity.

Shredded paper: This is a super messy activity, but my kids ask for it ALL the time. See what you think.

Wheat Berries: Read more about how my girls used wheat berries in their play. Wheat berries could easily be substituted with dry rice, beans, sand, or lentils.