Sensory Play is Important for Preschoolers and Toddlers

Preschoolers learn through their five senses. The senses of touch, sight, smell, taste, and hearing are how young children explore the world around them. As parents and educators, it is our job to help them explore their senses by providing appropriate activities for sensory play and learning. To better understand the importance of the senses for young children, imagine you are about to take a drink of something you think is water. You lift up your glass and take a big swig. It turns out to be lemon-lime soda. You pull your face back quickly and possibly even gag a bit. Did the soda taste bad? Not at all. But, you were expecting water. Adults already have mental ideas of what things look, sound, feel, hear, and taste like. We already imagine what an item will taste like before we even have it in our mouths. When something challenges what we already know, it throws us for a loop. For toddlers and preschoolers, everything is new! They have not developed these mental pictures yet. That is why the world is so fascinating to them, and why we have an obligation to show them the world through their senses. Try these tips and ideas to get your toddler or preschool child to delve into our amazing world and to start using his senses to develop his own mental pictures.

The most commonly stimulated sense for young children is sight. From birth babies are given brightly colored and patterned playthings. Indeed, many children and adults learn best through their sight. The best way to stimulate the sense of sight is to allow your child to experience as many different sights as possible. Take your child to different places: the grocery store, a local park, the library, etc. Exposing your child to new and interesting experiences will keep her curiosity high. While you are exploring these places, talk to you child about what she is seeing. Explain what each item is to help develop the link between sight and sound. Visual art projects are also a great way to stimulate this sense. Age appropriate art materials of various colors provide a sensory smorgasbord for young kids.