Contributor: Stacy Bailey, EIS
We all learn about ourselves and the world around us through our sensations! Sensory information can come in all forms, information to our eyes, ears, skin, mouth, movement, etc. helping us learn about the world around us and internal signals letting us know if we are hungry, thirsty, tired, or need to go to the bathroom, which help us learn about ourselves. And kids are no exception! Below are some tips to help you create multi-sensory activities for the little ones in your life.
Young children are learning how to use and understand these sensations so they can respond correctly to them. This time of year, when we are all stuck inside, it can be challenging to help our children continue to get the sensory rich experiences they need. Making the effort to layer multi-sensory activities for young children can help meet their needs in exciting and interesting ways.
To get sensory-rich play we need to think about activities that will engage different sensations at the same time, often this can be achieved by mixing activities together or doing them in an unexpected way. Examples of sensory rich play are:
- playing music while also engaging in messy play,
- coloring but place the crayons on a separate surface and encourage the child to use fun ways to move from here to there to get their next color, or
- building a blanket fort to have story time with flashlights.
Learning and engaging their senses in new and exciting ways keeps children’s brains active and helps them learn about themselves and the world around them.
Questions?
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