SENSORY PLAY.
Especially with pre-schoolers, getting in touch with their senses is not only fun, it’s an important set of skills they need to develop. It teaches them to recognise not just texture, but temperature, shape, pressure and more. While they do this naturally as they explore the world, you can help them by introducing some sensory play into their day. Here are some ideas that are easy to organise and fun to do.
TOUCH – (From www.giftofcuriosity.com)
Recognising 3D shapes.
Put a whole range of building blocks into a bag. Make sure there are several of each including cubes, rectangles, balls and triangles. Get your child to pull a beanie or ski hat over their eyes so they can’t see, or wear a blindfold if you have one, then get them to reach into the bag and pull out one shape. See if they can recognise the shape just by feeling it. They’ll be very pleased with themselves when they get it right. Get them to sort the shapes into piles as they take them out, still with their blindfold on.
Recognising 3D shapes.
Put a whole range of building blocks into a bag. Make sure there are several of each including cubes, rectangles, balls and triangles. Get your child to pull a beanie or ski hat over their eyes so they can’t see, or wear a blindfold if you have one, then get them to reach into the bag and pull out one shape. See if they can recognise the shape just by feeling it. They’ll be very pleased with themselves when they get it right. Get them to sort the shapes into piles as they take them out, still with their blindfold on.
Grading texture.
Get some pieces of sandpaper in three very different grades. Cut a square from each and glue it to a larger piece of cardboard numbered one to three on the back from smoothest to roughest. Then cut a smaller strip of each sandpaper and put aside. Let your child become familiar with the textures of each piece of sandpaper and then blindfold them as in the game above and get them to sort the piece in order from smoothest to roughest. When they’re done get them to take off the blindfold and check to see if they are correct by turning over the cards to see the number on the back. When they’ve mastered this game, give them one of the smaller pieces of sandpaper and blindfold them again. See if they can match the smaller piece to one of the larger pieces just by feeling them. When they’ve made their choice, get them to take the blindfold off to see if they are correct. You can do this with any range of different textures if you don’t have sandpaper but make sure the textures are similar so that they have a bit of a challenge.
Get some pieces of sandpaper in three very different grades. Cut a square from each and glue it to a larger piece of cardboard numbered one to three on the back from smoothest to roughest. Then cut a smaller strip of each sandpaper and put aside. Let your child become familiar with the textures of each piece of sandpaper and then blindfold them as in the game above and get them to sort the piece in order from smoothest to roughest. When they’re done get them to take off the blindfold and check to see if they are correct by turning over the cards to see the number on the back. When they’ve mastered this game, give them one of the smaller pieces of sandpaper and blindfold them again. See if they can match the smaller piece to one of the larger pieces just by feeling them. When they’ve made their choice, get them to take the blindfold off to see if they are correct. You can do this with any range of different textures if you don’t have sandpaper but make sure the textures are similar so that they have a bit of a challenge.
SMELL
Get a number of very small bottles (old spice jars are ideal) and place a cotton ball in each one. Put a few drops of an essential oil on each cotton ball and screw the lids on. Use whatever you have on hand or get some essential oils from your cheap shop. They don’t cost a lot. You might think of other things that have a distinctive smell that you can put a piece of into the jar, but if you do you’ll have to get them to close their eyes while they sniff and guess or it will be a giveaway immediately. You can use things like almond extract, vanilla, peppermint, lavender, olive oil, herbs, coffee. Let your child take the jars one by one and sniff them to see if they can recognise the smell. You can include other types of smells but be careful with what you use. Cinnamon is dangerous if inhaled for example. This activity will help them develop their sense of smell and also help them recognise some of the smells around them every day. |
HEARING
Put a number of items that make a noise on a tray. Get the child to handle each one to see what sound it makes, and to identify what the item is. Then get them to turn their back to you. Pick up one of the items and make the sound and ask your child to guess what item made it. This helps them become more aware of sounds and their ability to recognise them even when they can’t see the source.
Put a number of items that make a noise on a tray. Get the child to handle each one to see what sound it makes, and to identify what the item is. Then get them to turn their back to you. Pick up one of the items and make the sound and ask your child to guess what item made it. This helps them become more aware of sounds and their ability to recognise them even when they can’t see the source.
TASTE
Get a number of food items your child likes and put them on a tray. Show them the range of things on the tray. Use everyday tastes like peanut butter, vegemite, fruit, vegetables, cordials, sweets and such. Now blindfold them as in “Recognising 3D shapes” and place a little of the taste in their open mouth to see if they can guess what it is they are tasting. Get them to try to describe what the flavour is to them, for example, is it sweet, salty, sour, savoury? This not only helps them hone their sense of taste, it introduces the concept of flavour types which helps them analyse what they like. |
SIGHT
This is a version of the old memory game suitable for children. Put a range of five or six items on a tray and let your child have a good look. Then tell them you are going to take one of the items off the tray without them looking and they must guess what is missing. Tell them to close their eyes or turn around and then take an item and put it behind your back. Get the child to look at the tray again and tell you what is missing. You can increase the difficulty of this game as they become more adept at it by including more items. |
ALL FIVE SENSES
Describe a….
Choose a fruit or a vegetable and get your child to describe it using all five senses. You could make up a sheet of paper with the following question on it.
What does it look like?
What does it smell like?
What does it taste like?
What does it feel like?
What sound does it make?
Ask them each of these questions and get them to use each sense to create an answer which you can write down. While this seems a simple exercise you’ll be surprised how much fun they’ll get out of really analysing something they may be very familiar with. You can do this with all sorts of things like toys, plants and household items but make sure you choose things that have answers to at least four of the five questions.
Describe a….
Choose a fruit or a vegetable and get your child to describe it using all five senses. You could make up a sheet of paper with the following question on it.
What does it look like?
What does it smell like?
What does it taste like?
What does it feel like?
What sound does it make?
Ask them each of these questions and get them to use each sense to create an answer which you can write down. While this seems a simple exercise you’ll be surprised how much fun they’ll get out of really analysing something they may be very familiar with. You can do this with all sorts of things like toys, plants and household items but make sure you choose things that have answers to at least four of the five questions.