⭐The five senses: Importance of sensory play⭐
What is sensory play?🤔
Sensory play is activities that stimulate⬆ a child’s five5️⃣ senses, namely touch✋🏻, smell👃🏻, sight👀, hearing👂🏻 and taste👅. It also engages movement and balance🤸🏻♂️ which are very important for a child’s brain🧠 development.
The five senses
* Sight👀: Our eyes are the sense organ of sight. Having sight means we are able to see shapes🟢🟨, colours💙💜💚 and sizes of objects around us.
* Hearing👂🏻: Our ears are the organs of hearing. It helps us hear👂🏻 and identify lots of different sounds🔊.
* Taste👅: Our tongue is the sense organ of taste😋. It tells us how things taste and whether they are sweet🍓, sour🍋and salty🥓, etc.
* Smell👃🏻: Our nose is the sense organ of smell. It helps us smell things around us💐.
* Touch✋🏻: Our skin is the sense organ of touch. It allows us to identify how different things feel⚽🩰 and what the temperature is (hot♨ or cold🥶).
Sensory play leads to a child’s ability⬆ to complete more challenging tasks🤓 and supports cognitive growth🧠🔍, language development🗣, gross motor skills💪🏻🦵, social interactions👩🏻🤝🧑🏻 and problem-solving skills👏🏻.
Key🔑 Benefits of sensory play👏🏻:
1. Engaging in sensory play activities helps children build⬆ nerve connections in the brain🧠.
2. It encourages👌🏻 the development of fine motor skills (the ability to make movements using the small muscles in our hands✋🏻 and wrists).
3. It supports and encourages language🗣 development from a young age👧🏻👦🏻.
4. It encourage children to be creative through 👩🏻🔬‘scientific thinking’🤔 and problem-solving👏🏻.
5. Play using the senses aids💯 in developing and enhancing memory🧠.
What activities are good for sensory play?
1. Frozen dinosaur🐱🐉eggs
Frozen dinosaur🐱🐉 eggs are great for sensory play and scientific discovery💯, it helps children explore the sense of touch✋🏻. Playing with ice🧊 is an absolute favourite sensory and science🧪 activity for kids to explore🔍!
Have some fun🕺🏻 creating these amazing frozen dinosaur🐱🐉 eggs and explore your sense of touch:
2. Homemade musical instruments🥁
Creating homemade musical instruments🥁🎤 using different household objects is a fun😁, exciting and educational way for kids to develop👏🏻 their sense of sound👂🏻.
Follow these easy steps to create a pots and pans drum set and glass jar xylophone and develop your sense of sound:
3. Crafts✍🏻🎨
When children👧🏻👦🏻 engage in different craft activities it helps develop language skills🗣, fine and gross motor skills👏🏻 and allows children to be creative and have fun at the same time🕺🏻.
Head over to our Explore Planet English channel to engage in hours of craft fun! Click here!
Sensory play🧸 is an important part of a young child's👦🏻👧🏻 life, it's essential for developing⬆ skills and exploring 🔍 the world🌍 around us.