I’m sure that many of you have been wondering, “Why is my kid so dirty/wet/sandy/ when I pick him up?  What’s going on in Room 2?”  Well, I want to let you know what our students are learning during sensory play.

Sensory play includes any activity that stimulates your young child’s senses: touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing. Sensory activities and sensory tables facilitate exploration and naturally encourage children to use scientific processes while they play, create, investigate and explore. Spending time stimulating their senses helps children develop cognitively, linguistically, socially and emotionally, physically and creatively.  How does one activity do all that?  Let me give you a few examples:

Imagine all that can be learned when playing with sand.  Is it wet or dry?  Can you build with it? Is it really wet and slippery?  Is it a liquid or a solid?  Can you drive a truck in it?  How about sharing?  Can I use the blue shovel?  Do you want to build with me?  Do you want to bake with me?  Children are learning about texture, vocabulary, and building friendship in addition to improving their gross and fine motor skills.  Playing in the sensory table can also help children to soothe themselves and burn off excess energy.   Hands-on learning helps kids to learn about scientific processes too.  For example, “how many scoops do I need to fill up this bucket?” Questions like this help with early math skills like counting and classifying.  I hope this helps you see what messy sensory play can teach your child.  (And we apologize for all of the extra laundry!)