Sensory play is any activity that stimulates a child’s senses, such as touch, taste, smell, auditory, visual, and proprioception. Proprioception is a child’s ability to identify their body’s location, how much force they are applying, and body positioning or where the body is in space. Sensory play encourages your child to explore their environment and develop their critical thinking skills. Sensory play also aids in the development of self-regulation skills, encourage language and motor skills, helps build positive engagement with non-preferred foods, and help build nerve connections in the brain. Sensory play may come naturally to your child, such as playing in the mud outside, and should be encouraged and supported so that the child can explore and learn from their environment.
Examples of sensory engagement at home:
- Helping carry in the groceries or laundry
- Digging
- Riding a scooter or bike
- Jumping on a trampoline
- Climbing on playgrounds or trees
- Playing in the mud
- Playing with water or water beads
- Playing play dough or slime
- Playing with different food items i.e. rice, pasta, corn, beans, spinach leaves, etc - Finger paints
- Playing with shaving cream
References:
- Hunter, M. (2018). Sensory Strategies Outside of School. Palaestra, 32(4), 8–9. - Exploring the benefits of sensory play. Goodstart Early Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved June 12, 2022, from
https://www.goodstart.org.au/news-and-advice/october-2016/exploring-the-benefits-of-sensory-play#:~:text=Sensory%20play%20includes%20any%20activity,which%20engages%20movement%20and%20balance.