Here at Leigh’s Nurseries, we offer sensory play across all ages. Sensory play is a great fun way to learn. It helps children explore the world around them providing plenty of learning opportunities for them to develop and use all five of their senses. Sensory play has lots of benefits, it’s not all about getting messy as it also encourages and builds new vocabulary. It allows the babies to test out new ideas within their play using their fine and gross motor skills. Touching, seeing, tasting, smelling and hearing are all ways children learn, using their senses to feel and compare the objects within their environment. Using multiple senses at the same time stimulates learning and language development.
Sensory activities encourage babies to have an active role within their play and learning. It allows for staff to introduces new fun experiences, to challenge the babies within their development in fun and exciting ways. Sensory play allows the babies to explore within a safe environment, without the fear of doing something wrong. As the babies take full control within their learning. It’s also particularly good for providing new experiences for the babies to explore and develop new skills. It provides good opportunities for babies to develop hand eye coordination, problem solve, explore new textures, be creative and test out their own ideas, allowing them to demonstrate a ‘can do’ role within their learning.
Using loose parts within our sensory play activities allows for the babies to be able to pour, squish, squeeze, push, pull, taste, listen, dig, transfer, post, bang. All learning opportunities we know the babies love and demonstrate on a daily basis. When babies are weaning, we find taste testing activities really useful. Providing new foods of different textures for them to taste, smell and feel in a more relaxed way allows for the babies to be more confident in trying new tastes and textures at their own pace.
Lots of love,
Leigh and the team xxx
