Kids need to be messy
I know it’s a pain in the but to clean up, I do work in childcare but messy play lets children explore the world they live in and has huge positive impacts on development. Children develop there senses by experiencing different sounds, textures, temptures, flavours, smells and sights. They learn to communicate by expressing there needs and describing what their experiencing. Sensory play can take many shapes, all of which are important to your child’s ability to function, or express themselves.
Taste can be one of the easiest senses to explore, all you need is some lemons, oranges and grapefruit to explore sweet, sour and bitter. Yet it’s the sense we seem to explore the least. Instead of setting up actives, I suggest you ask your child from their first taste of solids what it tastes like, using terms like sweet, sour, salty or bitter. Cook or order a wide verity of food for your child to try, with different flavours, textures, etc. Expose them to a vide range of meals and foods as they age and always ask the same question, what does it task like.
Tempture is another sense that’s easy to explore with your child, this can be done via allowing your child to play with Ice or warm, but not hot, water. I recommend frozen fruit as a quick and easy activity idea for a child who is on soft foods or solids, allow your child to taste the fruit and feel how cold it is. Ask the same questions regarding their experiences, allowing your child to put a word to the feeling. Do the same thing from birth during bath time, ask, is that water nice and warm.
Textures can mean several things, It could be the soft cuddly texture of you pet dog or cat’s fur, the squishy texture of play dough or the goop of slime. I suggest placing long socks that you don’t care about over some yogurt tubs with an opening over the top of the container. Add some fabric samples, cotton or ping pong balls and some cellophane to the container, allow your child to feel the textures by getting them to push their hand though the opening of the sock. Store this activity on your child’s toy shelf so that they have regular access to. Again, if your child is old enough to talk ask what texture the object their holding is.
Smell dough is a sent added to our favourite play dough. When making your own play dough from the quick activity guide add in a few drops of flavouring extracts into your water before adding to your solids. You could also use dried lavender florets, rose leaves or citrus peel for a scented play dough with extra textures playing on other senses to hit two birds with one stone. Alternately soak cotton balls in liquid spice blends, flavouring extracts and teas to release fragrance and again, ask your child what it smells like.
Any activity can, provide sensory stimulation for a child. All children are born without the words to describe what their feeling, all your trying to do is teach these words. Give them the approach they need to communicate why they are overwhelmed by something. Language, or the ability to learn one, starts from birth. By giving your child the tools as early as possible your inadvertently teaching your child to talk. Don’t hold back with sensory play, instead help them explore the world they will grow up in and make that as big as possible. I’ve written a few activities into this article so no activity of the week this week. Ill see you next time with a new, fun idea for your children.
Activity of the week
A compost jar is a great way of exploring the way materials degrade over time and fascinates children endlessly. The is an experiment that you can run over the course of a few weeks.
You will need:
Food scrapes
A jar or plastic bottle (the bigger the better)
Soil
Paper,
Soft plastic
Add the soil to the jar and place the food scrapes, paper, and soft plastic to the top. Set your jar on top of a counter and make it a part of your routine to observe everything but the plastic degrade away.