Parents Press Jun. 2013 | Page 6

SENSORY CORNER

SENSORY ACTIVITIES See , Smell , Hear , Touch , Taste
The five senses are your child ’ s most familiar and most basic way to explore , process , and understand new information and the world around them . Sensory activities are beneficial for young children as they encourage them to explore different activities with their five senses , aiding their development in many different ways . Benefits include :
• Building fine motor skills
• Building language and cognitive concepts
• Developing the ability to use those senses and build the neurological pathways associated with each one
• Becoming more perceptive
• More acute sensory processing
• More able to learn through their senses
• Invitation to explore
If you missed out on our sensory taster classes here are some activities that you can try at home with your children .
Activity One : Jelly Play ( Touch )
You will need :
• 2 -3 packs of jelly mix , different colours
• Bowl , Spoon
• Plastic animal toys ( thoroughly washed )
Method : 1 . Follow the instructions for making the jelly mixture . 2 . Pour into any shapes and sizes of container preferred . Add plastic animals to jelly and put in fridge to set . ( To form layers of different colours , cool and set each layer before adding on a new layer a few hours later ). 3 . Take it out the next day and play ! Extra : Try adding a layer of coloured water over the set jelly , and freeze until semi frozen . This is especially good for an ocean themed jelly play . Encourage squishing , dipping , feeling the gooey texture , and tasting ( ensure animals are clean ). Feel the temperature and texture describing it with different adjectives : cold , squishy , wobbly , wiggly etc . Tip : For an easy cleanup afterwards , playtime can be done in the bathtub or on a disposable plastic mat ( available from $ 2 shops !)
These activities are easy and cheap to do and are a great way to keep your children occupied during winter when there ’ s plenty of indoor time to fill in !
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