The Importance of Sensory Play
Children use their senses to explore and try to make sense of the world around them. They do this by touching, tasting, smelling, seeing, moving and hearing. Providing opportunities for children to actively use their senses as they explore their world through ‘sensory play’ is crucial to brain development – it helps to build nerve connections in the brain’s pathways. This leads to a child’s ability to complete more complex learning tasks and supports cognitive growth, language development, gross motor skills, social interaction and problem solving skills.
Five reasons why sensory play is beneficial:
- Research shows that sensory play builds nerve connections in the brain’s pathways, which lead to the child’s ability to complete more complex learning tasks.
- Sensory play supports language development, cognitive growth, fine and gross motor skills, problem solving skills, and social interaction.
- This type of play aids in developing and enhancing memory.
- Sensory play is great for calming an anxious or frustrated child.
- This helps children learn sensory attributes (hot, cold, sticky, dry)
In the Nursery and Pre-Reception classes we incorporate sensory play and fine motor activities into students’ daily programme. Play dough is used as part of the heavy work component of a sensory diet. It can also help improve a child’s fine motor skills. They are encouraged to squeeze, stretch, pinch and roll the play dough and even cut the play dough with scissors.
Different types of painting can also help strengthen hand eye coordination and manual dexterity. Finger painting gives the student an opportunity to use their hands and get messy. Painting with a brush helps them learn to hold a brush and gain greater control using it as a tool.
The students also get to look for numbers covered in rice and play in corn flour mixed with water. A fun and messy activity enjoyed by most of the students!
Cindy Nunan
Nursery & Pre-Reception Teacher
Interactive Curriculum Morning, August 2019
On Saturday, 17 August we had another Interactive Curriculum Morning. The focus was Sensory and Fine Motor development in the early years. Both of these skills develop from birth and are essential for healthy brain development. Parents attended a PowerPoint presentation explaining the importance of these skills and were given some tips and ideas about activities that can be done at home with their children.
Then the messy fun began and the parents were invited to do the activities alongside their children. There were 2 stations. One for Sensory skills and the other was for Fine Motor skills.
At the Sensory station, the children could experiment with substances that appealed to all their five senses. They had a lot of fun playing with shaving cream, jelly, dry pasta, oats, coloured spaghetti and in the sand pit.
At the Fine Motor station, the children could use elastic bands to make patterns on peg boards. They did beading, making patterned necklaces for their parents to admire. The children also really enjoyed making monsters and other creatures from play dough, plastic eyes, pipe cleaners and sticks.
The morning is always a wonderful experience of learning through play.
Bronwen Nuthall
Reception Year Teacher