The Importance of Baby Sensory Play.

 

Enhancing Baby’s Sensory Experiences – Through Sensory and Messy Play.

 

Sensory Play is all about providing safe and fun activities that stimulate a child’s senses and allows them to learn how to respond to different sensory information.

Activities that provide different textures, sounds, smells, or let a child experience differences in movement and space are all part of sensory play.

 

5 Benefits of Baby Sensory & Messy Play are:

 

• Develops baby’s first five senses through interactive, engaging play.

 

• Support Baby’s learning and problem solving skills.

 

• Enhances Baby’s creativity and imagination.

 

• Helps to develops Baby’s motor skills.

 

• Secure bonding experience between baby and Parents

 

Everything we do as humans involves our senses.

Through a mix of these senses, we learn to explore and experience the world around us.

Each time your child uses one of their senses to discover and learn they are building new neuronal pathways in their brain and strengthen pathways that are already established.

The easiest way to help sensory development in infants is through play activities. So, what is sensory play?

You will have probably noticed that sensory exploration is a natural way for your child to learn.

How many times does your baby put anything they have grasped straight into their mouth? 

Through play, children learn what cold, smooth and rough are. What smells nice, what doesn’t and lots more.

All this learning also helps enhance their memory too.

 

Sensory play can enhance baby’s development in a fun and interactive way.

Here are some examples of learning through sensory play by engaging baby’s first five senses:

1. Taste 

Your baby’s sense of taste, combined with their own natural curiosity, helps them to explore the big, wide world.

Even before they start solids, your baby’s taste buds can help them discover whether they like or dislike, different textures and flavours.

Some Tastes Sensory Activity Ideas:

• Once weaned your baby can start to learn about different taste, engaging their taste buds with naturally sweet or sour foods. Fruit is a great way to explore taste with your baby.
• You can place food of different textures and tastes on a tray or bowl, try jelly and cream/custard, let them mix the foods together and use their fingers to grab and taste the new foods.
• Sensory messy play with food, such as cooked spaghetti and mash potato helps your baby to explore food further which brings us too our next sense, touch.

2. Touch 

I don’t know about you but even as an adult I often have the urge to touch something, just to feel the texture.

There’s more to touch than texture – we can explore hot/cold and even movement.

Think of using things like sensory bags for babies.

Some touch sensory play ideas are:

• Sensory balls – spiky/smooth introducing texture and movement.
• Feathers – large Ostrich feathers are great way to introduce light touch to baby, tickle their cheeks, tummies or feet, see if you can get a first smile or cheeky giggle.
• Textured blanket or book will give your baby extra sensory development, introducing soft/fluffy and smoothness to baby’s sensory touch.

 

 

3. Smell 

How many times have you smelled something to identify it when sight alone isn’t enough?

Smell sensory activities for infants help them identify objects.

Some smell sensory play ideas are:

• Make some cloud dough and add food grade flavorings for different scents i.e. mint, strawberry and lemon.
• Uses spices to create spice playdough using spices and herbs like cinnamon, rosemary, and ginger.
• Provide different scented foods, flowers or scented sensory bins to explore through some messy play.

 

4. Hearing 

This can be subtle sounds like crunching/jingling noises or louder sounds such as drums and shakers.

How do different music sounds or songs make them feel?

Here are some audio sensory ideas:

• Buy Shakers or make them using containers with different items i.e. Dried beans, rice, pasta, or water
• Use natural resources around the house like pots and pans bells or packets of crisps.
• Go on a nature walk – Listen for what animals you can hear and repeat them back to your baby i.e. bird call, dog barking etc.

5. Sight

Probably the easiest sense to stimulate but think of different ways to learn such as by using light and shadows, reflections and other fun activities. 

Some fun ideas for sensory play are:

• Sensory bags for infants. Fill large sealable bags with brightly coloured paints that mix.
• Use light up ball and other light up toys, try a night time room projector to catch baby’s attention.
• Make sensory bottles at home with water, oil, glitter, food colouring or use water beads.

 

The most important thing to remember is to not over stimulate your baby’s senses, go slowly introducing one sensory play at a time.

Listen to your Baby’s cues and enjoy the lovely bonding experience of sensory & messy play together.

 

look forward to seeing you soon.

Love & light

Gail

 

Little Possibilities