Sensory play with bubble wrap is inexpensive and pops with fun and learning for kids. It can be used in an amazing variety of ways.
We all know that kids love to press on the bubbles so they can hear that satisfying pop but bubble wrap also appeals to the sense of touch, not just the sense of hearing. While a baby’s sense of hearing is already fully matured just a month after birth, touch is the primary sense for interacting with the world. “At about eight months, a baby can touch and identify a familiar object without seeing it,” says Dr. Greene, author of Raising Baby Green. (Parenting, Developing Baby’s 5 Senses) With bubble wrap, kids get to hear and touch together.
Bubble wrap calls out to kids to pop. They will do it over and over, driving adults crazy. Besides the sensory stimulation, kids are exploring cause and effect. There is a sense of accomplishment with the mini-explosions. The translation of “Pop” could easily be “I did it.” As an adult, would you confess to responding to the temptation of bubble wrap? I wonder f psychologists could suggest bubble wrap as stress therapy? It can be so satisfying.
Mom Laura at SunnyDayFamily.com had a super clever idea for sensory play with bubble wrap: a bubble wrap road! She laid out some long pieces on the floor and taped the edges down with painter’s tape. This kind of tape is usually better for floors and walls that masking tape or duct tape, but as she reminds us, check a small patch first. She added small bits to make lanes. Can you imagine the fun of driving toy cars on the bumpy road? (Thank you Laura, for permission to share.)
The tires of small vehicles transfer the feelings of the bumps to muscles in the body, giving lots of sensory stimulation. Young children are not just exploring their senses, they are figuring out how to organize and respond to sensory information. This is called sensory integration and is a critical aspect of this type of play.
As an adult, would you confess to responding to the temptation of bubble wrap? I wonder f psychologists could suggest bubble wrap as stress therapy? Sensory play with bubble wrap can be so satisfying and fun, would you agree?