Want to know what sensory activities for toddlers are and why they are important? Keep reading to see what it is, what the numerous and amazing benefits are, and how to start implementing this with your toddler ASAP!
Sensory activities are the oldest form of learning before there was language, toys, electronics or books (think of what toddlers must have done in the caveman days!) Despite that fact, it can still baffle some parents with exactly what it is and how it can benefit their toddler’s development. In this article you will learn what it is, what the benefits are and how to incorporate it into your toddler’s regular routine.
Basically, there are 3 different ways of learning information: Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic. Eventually around the time we approach middle school we generally fall into one of these 3. The most common is visual (by reading text or through pictures) and the rarest is by hearing (listening to a lecture or listening to instructions). Meanwhile, Kinesthetic is the often least-used form of learning but it it one of the most powerful ways to absorb and retain information particularly before we are fully able to communicate through reading or speaking.
Sensory activities for toddlers is the most instinctual way for them to absorb and retain information.
Think about it, someone can learn not to touch a hot stove in 3 different ways:
Auditory: Someone said “Don’t touch the stove, it is hot and will burn you!”
Visual: You see a sign with a picture of a person getting burned to warn you not to touch
Kinesthetic: You can actually touch the stove and get burned and never forget again that you shouldn’t touch a hot stove.
When you learn through your senses you create experiences which will stick with you in order to help you learn about the world around you.
Obviously we want our child to not have to get burned to remember not to touch a hot stove, but it is an example of the concept, children learn most powerfully by doing and therefore creating their own lived experience.
So while kids can learn from some songs and TV shows and they can also learn from books being read to them and looking at the pictures, these are more passive ways of learning. They need to actively participate in order to capture their attention and actually get them to absorb and retain the information.
What is Sensory Play for Toddlers?
Sensory play is an activity that stimulates the child’s senses. This can include smell, touch, taste, hearing and sight but most commonly it will be something hands-on that has to do with touching and exploring different textures, smells, and sounds.
Sensory play for toddlers especially helps them to understand and widen their view of the world by being exposed to different things and being mindful and focused on those particular senses.
These are the main elements of sensory play for toddlers that you want to include:
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Incorporate many different textures:
- rough, soft, slimy, squishy, wet, dry, smooth.
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You should engage with the child:
- Encourage toddlers to explore and compare different shapes, textures, smells, tastes and sounds. This not only engages them, but it can help with their language development as they find ways to describe things and communicate them to others.
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Messy play is okay:
- Don’t get hung up on mess too much. Many sensory activities for toddlers can be messy, which is a normal part of exploration for toddlers. Similar to how dogs have a need to chew, if you don’t give a dog a chew toy, they will find something else (maybe an expensive pair of shoes to chew…). By providing supervised “messy time” this allows your child to explore and get messy with your help and guidance so they are less likely to go off and get messy on their own by finger painting on the walls or face-painting with permanent markers…
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Always closely supervise:
- Sensory activities for toddlers are group activities, not only for the reasons above, but also to make sure the child remains safe and doesn’t eat paint or glue and doesn’t choke on dried beans or rice, etc.
What are the benefits of sensory activities for toddlers?
There are so many benefits to incorporating sensory activities into your toddler’s playtime. The 5 most notable benefits are:
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Language development:
- Children build vocabulary by finding different ways to express what they are experiencing, feeling, seeing etc. This improves communication and social skills. This can also give toddlers the tools to describe what upsets them rather than resorting to screaming and throwing fits.
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Stimulates brain development:
- Actively engaging multiple senses helps their brains learn to adapt to new stimuli which is imperative for learning any new skills. This also creates strong connections in the brain that can allow for progressively difficult thoughts and tasks. This helps improve their memory and problem-solving ability
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Stimulates fine motor skill development:
- Holding, squeezing and inspecting smaller objects improves a toddler’s dexterity and also helps to development hand-eye coordination
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Fosters Creativity and Imagination:
- Sensory activities for toddlers is something where they are in control of their own experience and each child may experience it differently. This encourages independent thinking and broadens their mind and can expand their view of the world in a way that can inspire them to create
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Emotional regulation:
- Sensory activities for toddlers with calming textures can become an exercise in mindful meditation in a way. Being focused on what the smooth or soft textures feel like, smell like, sound like, etc. uses aspects of mindfulness which can help children learn to manage their emotions, especially anger or anxiety.
Now that you have learned all the benefits, you want to know how you can get started with sensory activities for your toddler!
22 Ways to Do Sensory Activities with your Toddler.
1. Sensory Bin
Fill a bin with different materials and hide small toys in the bin for them to dig for and discover. You can fill the bin with dried beans, rice, dried pasta or different shapes, sand. Add spoons or small cups for them to scoop and pour the beans or rice
2. Play Dough
Have children squish it, roll it, mold it and shape it, have them describe the different colors they are using and what they are making. Show them how they can create different textures in the play dough. Even show them what happens to the play-dough when they don’t put the lid back on…(silver lining – it becomes a new texture for the same material). Playing with slime is another alternative
3. Water Play
- Set up a water table outside with sponges, and containers. Take old cream cheese, sour cream or margarine containers and poke a few hole in the bottom in various sizes and amounts of holes. They can scoop up water and watch it escape the containers in different ways based on how many holes there are and how big they are
- Fill up a kiddie pool with balls, cups, toys and have the toddlers compare and observe which objects float or sink, which ones splash and which ones don’t, etc.
- You can also fill up a few buckets, pots or bowls with water for the toddler to scoop and pour back and forth from one container to another.
- Give a small plastic bin and add foaming hand soap or bubble bath to it. Kids love to give their toys a bath. It might be messy (i usually put a towel down on the floor or have them do it outside) but at least their toys are getting clean! Make sure they are doing this with plastic toys. I had them do it with some stuffies and had to leave them outside for days to dry.
4. Shaving Cream Art
My 4th grade teacher used to do this with us and we LOVED it! Take foam shaving cream and spray all over a table or kitchen countertop. You can choose a glass or plastic table or you can put down saran wrap or a plastic cutting board if you like. Children can practice writing different letters in the shaving cream or drawing in the shaving cream with their fingers.
5. Sound Exploration
Play instruments like xylophones, drums, bells and shakers. Show the toddler how you can play loud or soft, fast or slow and the different pitches of the sounds.
Make music with household items like pots or metal bowls and wooden spoons. Fill a jar or bottle with dried beans or rice to create maracas or shakers. Use an empty tissue box and put rubber bands around it to make a guitar
6. Finger Painting
I know that can feel triggering for some parents since all you may be thinking of is a huge mess. But there are ways to do this:
- Use washable paints
- Put an apron on the toddler (there are some aprons made specially for painting that do not absorb paint which can just be wiped off with a cloth)
- Clear off a table and cover it in plastic wrap, butcher paper or wax paper. I actually save the disposable tablecloths from my kids birthday parties and just throw them on the table when the kids paint.
- Ration the paint, only put a little out at a time and you should be the one controlling how much paint they have. Don’t leave the bottles out there for them to open and empty the entire bottle.
Take it a step further:
Give toddlers different textures to paint on with the same paint and have them observe how the paint either goes on smooth and even or splotchy and how the color looks slightly different from one surface to another. I have used saran wrap, paper, old bricks, mini canvas (you can get a bunch at Michael’s or 5 Below for cheap). Show them how any white surface will have the colors appear brighter and any smoother surfaces will have a nice smooth line and a more rough and porous texture like a brick or cinder block will look a little speckled and the color may appear differently depending on the color of the brick or cinder block
But if you don’t have a lot of space and are concerned about mess, you can do mess-free finger painting by squirting a few blobs of paint in different colors onto a sheet of paper and placing the sheet of paper in a large ziplock bag and zipping it shut. Have the toddler push down on the bag to spread and swirl the paint around from the outside of the bag (no paint-covered fingers!). Afterwards you can take the sheet out of the bag and let it dry and they have a mess-free masterpiece!
7. Sensory Bottles
Fill clear bottles with liquids, glitter and small objects like beads or sequins and observe how they move when the bottle is shaken up. Add a few drops of oil to the liquid for the child to observe how the oil separates from the water and moves once shaken.
8. Sand Play
Fill a bin with sand and add scoops, molds and cups. Have the child pour some water over the sand and observe how the texture of the sand has changed and how the sand now holds it’s shape better.
9. Blowing Bubbles
This is a pretty simple one. And nowadays there are so many different types of bubble things out there. There are some bubble guns, bubble machines that create a ton of bubbles the toddlers can run around in, Bubbles never get old.
10. Smell Exploration
Take various seasonings and spices from the pantry (avoid spicy ones that could irritate them). Show children different body lotions, candles, and soaps and have them smell and note the differences and how the smells make them feel (energized, calm, happy, sleepy, etc.)
11. Explore Different Foods
Provide a variety of different fruits and veggies and examine their shape, texture, smell and eventually their taste. Taste test challenge: Put a blindfold on the toddler and feed them a few different foods hat you know they like and see if they can guess what they are eating.
12. Nature Walks
Take the kids outside and have them try to collect as many different types of leaves as they can. Help them to observe the different colors, shapes and sizes.
Encourage toddlers to point out different types of trees, rocks, flowers, animals and smells etc.
13. Sound Tubes
Save empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls. Place different items inside (screws, buttons, dried beans, dried rice or beads. Cover the open ends with duct tape to encase these objects inside. The kids can decorate the outside however they would like with crayons.
14. Texture Exploration
Either provide different fabrics or items with a variety of textures (fur, leather, spandex, wool, cotton, silk, etc. and have them examine and touch each and say which is their favorite and why. Ask them which fabrics you think would keep them warm and which fabrics would be best to wear when it is how out.
15. Bath time Play
Add a couple drops of food coloring into the tub before running the water and have the kids watch the colors swirl and mix as he bath fills up. Add bubble bath and bath toys like rubber duckies, cups and loofahs.
Give toddlers bath crayons to draw on the walls or spray foam shaving cream on the walls for the kids to draw or write in with their fingers.
16. Obstacle Course
Create an obstacle course using rocks, sticks, chalk and other objects to mark where the obstacles are. Challenge the child to jump over or around the objects. You can also create an obstacle course inside using pillows, blankets or chairs
17. Pasta Jewelry
Take dried pasta in various shapes and sizes that all have holes in the middle and have your toddler slide them onto a string to make pasta jewelry! String can be tough for them at first, so pipe cleaners are good to start with and are much easier. After they string their pasta jewelry let them color or paint over the pasta pieces
18. Gardening
This one is great to do with kids on so many levels. They get to dig in the dirt, smell the flowers or herbs, pick up and plant tiny seeds and water the soil they will be stimulating several senses at once. This will make the children more interested in where their food came from and all that it takes to make their food which can help them to be more appreciative of their food and more adventurous with food as well.
19. Play With Food As You Cook
Let them play with a few stems of herbs like parsley, rosemary or thyme. They can compare the textures, smells and shapes. Or give them potato or carrot peels or broccoli stems to explore with as well.
20. Mud Kitchen
Set up a corner in the backyard with little pots, pans, spoons, etc. You can use any toy metal or plastic cooking utensils that your child might have. They will have so much fun baking mud cakes and decorating them with rocks, sticks, leaves and flowers they find
21. Texture Rub
Have children take items of different textures and rub over them with a crayon on it’s side. My kids love to do this with leaves but this is also great for coins and any other textures surfaces
24. Guess That Sound
Have your child turn around or cover their eyes. Then, take various objects and make sounds with them and have them guess what the sound it is. Try crinkling paper, pinching a balloon so it squeaks, pressing keys on a keyboard, or scratching a pen over a sheet of paper
Finally, you have learned what sensory activities are and the many benefits. Also, you have 22 ideas for how to start doing them with your toddler.
So sensory activities for toddlers don’t have to be complicated and many of them can easily be incorporated into your regular routine. While some activities may get messy, life with a toddler is a messy one so try not to fixate on that. But at least there is a controlled environment for the mess while they reap all of these benefits in the process. Sensory play helps children to make sense of and engage with the world around them and is a crucial part of their overall development.
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