Sensory Exploration Games!

Exploration is a crucial and super fun part of early childhood learning. Sensory play is play that involves using one or more of the five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing. Another way to think about sensory development is: sight, touch/movement, hearing/speech.

Though ‘sensory exploration activities’ might sound fancy it’s really not…in fact if it is fancy…you might be doing it wrong! (kidding)

Here are a few ideas to get you going:

SQUISH!
Using the tray on a highchair place a cup or two of vanilla pudding (chocolate stains!) or whipped cream right in the center of the tray. Put the baby in the chair and let them go! Squishing and smearing, tasting and clapping translate to good ol’ fashion messy fun.
Go further:
• have half be cold (not frozen) from the freezer and half warm
• give a spoon, spatula, whisk or other tool to make designs on the tray.
For Toddlers:
• shaving cream on a large Tupperware tote lid or on the outside of a sliding glass door (spray clean with a hose). Use your finger to trace shapes and letters!


WATER PLAY!
Arizona has perfect weather for outdoor water play. If needed this could be moved inside to a bathtub, kitchen sink or Tupperware tote on a large towel or in a small baby pool.

All you need is: a large basin of water and any combination of cups, kitchen utensils, sponges, bowls, empty water bottles (no lid for the very little ones), etc.
Go futher:
• add baby bubble bath or dish soap for bubble fun
• older kids can learn about colors by mixing up small cups of color water (best outdoors)
• play a game of “sink or float?”


HIDE & SEEK!
For this you need a simple Tupperware tote (maybe 4-6 inches deep) to fill with any variety of sensory stimuli such as:
• beans
• rice
• rainbow color rice (parent colors with food coloring)
• drinking straws cut into two inch lengths
• sand
• potting soil with fake bugs and/or real/fake plants
• packing peanuts
• want to get really crazy?? …Jell-O

Then add your “seek” items such as:
• pony beads or larger wooden beads
• plastic toy animals
• small rocks or “jewels”
• think holiday! Spider rings at Halloween, small ornaments during Christmas, candy corn during Thanksgiving…

The possibilities are endless, I have even heard of putting grass sod in the bottom and letting kids cut grass with kid-scissors, water the grass with spray bottle and play ‘farm’ with toy animals.

Do you have a great idea? Tell us about it!
-Amanda