Benefits of Sensory Play

Sensory Activities are not only fun and interesting, but encourage children to explore and investigate. Sensory Play introduces the use of the "scientific method" of observing, forming a hypothesis, experimenting and making conclusions.

Sensory activities allow children to refine their thresholds for different sensory information, helping their brain to create stronger connections to sensory information and learn which are useful and which can be filtered out.

Because there is no right or wrong way to engage in sensory-rich play, it encourages inclusion. Sensory activities are for everyone of all different levels of ability! They can particularly benefit children with special needs and children who enjoy a practical, hands-on approach to learning.

 Seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling are all ways children learn to think, feel and compare their environment and the objects within it. Using multiple senses at the same time stimulates learning and language development, especially descriptive words. 

Children love to squish, pull, our, stir, tap, rub, push, sniff, listen, transport, combine, make patterns and engage in role play - all things that different stages of sensory play encourages, including play with loose parts.

Using sensory materials in play creates hands-on, self-directed, and self-centered play, and it encourages discovery and development. This approach appeals to children who have many different learning and thinking styles.