If you are a parent of a child born in the iGeneration, and you spend a considerable amount of time on social media and Pinterest, you have no doubt stumbled upon your fair share of sensory play activities. But what exactly is sensory play? Why does the Internet have so many sensory activities? Most importantly, should your child be doing sensory activities too? Let’s look into each of these questions!

What is sensory play?

Sensory play is any activity that stimulates and hones the senses your child is born with – smell, sight, touch, taste, and hearing.

Babies are born with brains packed full of neurons. Learning about the world through their different senses helps them develop pathways between these neurons. Building nerve connections in these pathways will help them complete more complex learning tasks as they grow. The more of one type of experience your little one has, the stronger that pathway becomes. And that is what sensory play offers.

Unfortunately, if a pathway is not used often enough, it can disappear completely. So sensory play is not just beneficial, but crucial for a growing child.

What do sensory activities teach your child?

Sensory play is similar to free play (with a few rules), where your child is encouraged to explore and discover through the things in front of them. The activities are set up in a manner where your child will have to navigate using their senses. This helps develop their thinking, language, and social skills.

We tend to use our senses in isolation and sometimes use one more than the other. That is why it is so important that children learn to explore the world around them using all their senses. Sensory play teaches children to explore different tastes and textures, improves motor skills, and enhances overall cognitive development.

Here is how sensory play helps a child:

1. Touching different textures evokes sensations and creates learning that a child may enjoy. For example, this organic plush toy works on tactile and auditory senses.

2. Sensory play is a great way to calm down anxious or fussy children. It can also have a soothing effect when played at the end of a long day.

3. Sensory play works at various levels and should not be limited to toddler play alone. Preschoolers and gradeschoolers can learn independent thinking and problem solving with sensory play.

Intrigued and can’t wait to try out sensory activities with your child? Read on to find out a few easy ones you can start with!

Sensory activities your child will love

1. Sight activity

Bring a few blocks to the table and ask your toddler to memorize them. Now ask them to close their eyes and remove one block. When they opens their eyes, ask which one is missing. This activity can also be played with slightly older children using these brightly colored shumee wooden blocks.