Sensory play allows kids with special needs to explore different ways of discovering how things work around them, including how people interact with their surroundings and how their bodies react to different sensations. Sensory play allows kids to learn in an unstructured environment.
Check out these five senses activities that you and your kids will love to play!
Sensory Play for Touch
- Create a Sensory Bin
Sensory bins are a great way to introduce different textures and scents to your kiddos. Get a small container and fill it with various objects from nature, foods, or small toys for your kid to discover.
- Painting
Painting with their fingers is a fun way to engage kids at an early age in creative and sensory play, which stimulates learning and development through an exploration of color and shape.
- Play slime and dough
Play doughs and slimes' soft and squishy texture will make your kids enjoy hours of playing, rolling, and slicing them.
Sensory Play for Sight
- Visual Tracking with Bottle Caps
Visual tracking is a great way to improve your kid's hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness. One way to improve your visual tracking skills is by using bottle caps. Place a few bottle caps on the ground and try to follow them with your eyes. Move them around and make sure that you can keep track of them even when they are not in front of you. This will help improve. How to make visual tracking with bottle caps:https://www.theottoolbox.com/visual-tracking-tips-and-tools-for/
- Color Mixing Sensory Bottle
Color Mixing Sensory Bottles are a great way to help kids learn about colors. You can make a color mixing sensory bottle by filling a bottle with different watercolors. When you shake the bottle, the colors will mix. This is a great way to teach kids about the different colors and how to create new colors.
- Sandbox
Sandbox play is an important activity that helps kids in their sensory, cognitive, and social development. Kids can dig, build, and create whatever comes to their minds, and it also allows them to explore various textures, colors, and shapes while developing their creativity and problem-solving skills.
Sensory Play for Smell
- Gardening
One of the best things about gardens is providing a wealth of sensory experiences. Touching different textures, smelling fragrant flowers, and hearing the trickle of a fountain can all be wonderfully calming and stimulating for kids with special needs such as autism. Gardens also offer opportunities for physical activity and exploration and a range of learning possibilities.
- Homemade spice paint
One fun and easy sensory activity are to make homemade paint using spices. The children will have fun mixing and painting with the different colors, but they will also be able to smell the other spices. How to make homemade spice paint:https://craftulate.com/sensory-spice-painting/
- Smell it and Guess
How to make sensory smell bottles:https://www.thechaosandtheclutter.com/archives/sensory-smell-bottles
Sensory Play for Sound
- Sound tubes
You can teach your kids to explore sounds by creating sound tubes. You can ask your kids which is the quietest or loudest sound? They will unleash science skills and have fun. How to make sound tubes:https://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2017/12/preschool-sensory-activity.html
- Homemade musical instruments
Music is a great way to engage kids' senses and minds. Neurodiverse kids might feel less stressed and more composed when they make simple instruments out of everyday materials. How to make homemade instruments:https://www.playgroupnsw.org.au/ASD-play/sensory-play/homemade-musical-instruments1
Sensory Play for Taste
- Taste-test
A simple activity to teach the kids to develop their sense of taste is by ‘taste-test.’ It will encourage them to distinguish between different flavors from one another. Giving them jelly beans can be a good example as flavors are so distinctive from each other. Let them taste it, ask them words to describe what they were tasting, and guide them by talking about different flavors.
These activities are just a few ways for kids to explore the world around them using their senses. While playing with different textures and materials might help teach your kids about their environment, beneficial outcomes may also include problem-solving skills and language development.
