Kids need sensory play. For all of us, we might think that sight is our most important sense, but our sense of touch is critical.
For animals, newborns that are not licked and nuzzled by the mother suffer lower resistance to disease and may not even survive. For humans, touching is linked to loving and care. Our sense of touch is needed for thriving and for learning. Babies and kids touch everything. That’s what gives us grey hairs!
Sensory play is sometimes called messy play, but there are ways to keep the mess in a contained area. One way is with a sensory tub or bin. Usually, these are made with some kind of textured material such as beans, seeds, rice, sand, water beads, etc , in a big container. A sink or tub will also work as long as the base material won’t clog the drains. Smaller objects can be added for kids to discover along with cups, spoons, tongs, and other tools for mixing, scooping, and pouring.
October is both fall and Halloween, so this tub has some items for both. There are some plastic fall leaves, sponge apples, and some plastic skeletons, bugs, and spiders. Little Sister liked the feel of the ‘spider-webs and clouds’ made from quilt stuffing and heavy paper from the table at the last doctor’s visit.
The small items slipped into the spaces so she had to search with her fingers to find them all. Somewhere in the house are some soft water beads that I’d intended to use. Flat, glass marbles or the green plastic chunks used in vases would work too.
Another material for sensory play is some form of playdough. With all the talk of ooze and creepy stuff, we made slime. There are several different recipes for making slime and some are more liquid than others but they are all fun. Little hands can twist, smoosh, roll, flatten, pat, pull apart and squish back together. Kids can also use scissors to make tons of little pieces. Plain white is an option or colors. This slime has both red and yellow to make orange but came up quite pale. It’s still fun and will keep for weeks in the fridge.
These are only two suggestions for sensory play with kids. Could either of these be part of your child’s play-of-the-day?