Sensory Day

As we all know, toddlers absolutely love exploring their world through their senses. They delight in the messy and always look for opportunities to keep their hands busy. Sensory play encourages just that and provides an opportunity for toddlers to learn through exploration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity. It even assists in the development of language and motor skills.In Nursery, we love to learn with our senses and enjoy engaging the students’ sense of smell, sight, sound, touch and taste. Thus, we had a sensory day where our toddlers could explore various sensory bin stations, which engaged each of their senses. The day was filled with a squish, splash, spin, squeeze, bang, shake, smear and ooze.

Even though it was messy, and oh the clean-up was a delight, the toddlers thoroughly enjoyed every minute of exploring the colourful spaghetti, the mushy sago and the sticky rice. They were able to hop out of the ‘clean class’ box and just enjoy making a mess.

Sensory play is an important part of childhood and there are really no limits to what you can use in your sensory activities. However, nature and food can often be your best friend when it comes to sensory play.
To help you keep your youngster busy during the holidays, here are a few great sensory play ideas for home:

1. For keeping their hands busy:
   1. Soapy Jars: Fill a plastic peanut butter jar halfway with water, a pinch of dish soap and food colouring. Seal it tightly, and let your toddler roll it/shake it around outside.
2. To explore their sense of smell (ages 4-6):
   1. Smell it and guess: Blend up six different fruits/vegetables in small quantities and pour them into separate dishes. Allow your little one to taste and guess.
3. For co-ordination and organisation:
   1. Alphabet scoop and transfer: You will need alphabet magnets or water-safe letters, a storage container, a wooden spoon, two dish buckets and water.  Pour enough water into your container to allow the letters to float and allow your child to scoop each letter out individually. You can practice various beginner literacy activities with them!
4. To assist with emotions, and to keep them calm:
   1. Place beach sand or regular sand into a big container and hide small toys in the sand. Make sure the toys are all of the same themes. Once they have been able to scoop out each toy, engage with them to create a fantasyland on the sand. It’s like a zen garden for kids.

Jo-Anne Dickason
Nursery Teacher