Sensory Play Benefits for Children

The senses are an important part to any person’s daily life. This goes especially for an infant or young child. Children and adults, for that matter, explore, learn, and experience the world around them through their senses. That’s why sensory play is important for development.

Retention of information go hand-in-hand with sensory input. A person’s prized memories usually go along with the senses; sight, touch, sound, taste, and smell. When stimulating any or one of our senses, our minds are often transported to that memory. The same goes more so for children.

Allowing children to explore their environment through sensory stimulation also called, “sensory play” is significant when it comes to brain development. These actions build pathways in the brain. This enables the child to build skill and ability. Sensory play develops cognitive growth and encourages language development, motor skill, social skills, as well as increasing their complex learning ability and problem solving.

What are The Seven Senses?

• Taste
• Touch
• Smell
• Sight
• Hearing
• Vestibular (Movement)
• Proprioception (Body Position)

What is Sensory Play?

Sensory play is as the name suggests: an activity that stimulates your child’s senses.

These activities are used to develop a child by gently encouraging them to use scientific processes while playing such as encouraging creativity, exploration, and investigating the world around them. This enables the child to process the different information they receive and make true connections about the world to appropriately respond to different forms of stimulation.

Examples:

It’s hard for a child to play with a friend when other things are going on around them. Sensory play with sounds allows the child to understand what’s heard and block the noise out, so they may focus on playing with their friend.

If a child has particular food adversities, sensory play can lend a hand. Exposing them to the smell, the feel of the texture of the food in question outside meal-time lets the child come to terms with it.. The use of sensory stimulation helps navigate safe and positive aspects about what’s around them. This results in the shaping of their choices and long term behaviour.

Benefits of Sensory Play

• Children’s brains develop new connections and pathways when they participate in sensory play. Meaning, they have an easier time when completing complex tasks.
• With sensory play motor skills, problem solving, interaction, cognitive growth, language, and others develop.
• Memory is enhanced when senses are stimulated
• Sensory stimulation soothes anxiety and frustration in children
• Sensory Play broadens a child’s knowledge on texture, temperature, and more.

Sensory play is a beneficial and crucial role in child development. It expands memory, encouraged cognitive growth, develops motor skills, critical thinking, and stimulates curiosity and understanding of the world around them. It helps them learn about textures and temperature as well as shape their long term behaviour.

Final Thoughts

Sensory play helps a child learn about what is safe and positive around them. It also develops their reaction to their environment. If upset, it can soothe them and redirect their attention. It is a rounded, positive play to participate in with long-lasting effect all the while being a fun engagement for your child.