Sensory play is a vital part of your baby’s life-their little brain needs to be constantly stimulated by sensory experiences to develop. That doesn’t mean that if you’re not constantly creating and providing your baby with, super amazing, Pinterest worthy activities, that your baby’s brain won’t develop. Whilst those activities can be awesome fun and there are those of us (guilty!) who thrive on providing activities like that for our little ones; for babies all play experiences are sensory. Your baby is naturally curious and from the time they were born they’ve been using their senses to explore the world around them. You can enhance their sensory exploration and in turn help their brain development by doing very simple things, here’s just five to get you thinking about how you can engage in sensory play with your bub.
1 .
Get them out
of the pram/wrap
Next time you go on a family outing take your baby out of the wrap or
out of your pram (whichever you use) and let them explore whatever textures (grass,
sand, fabric, metal, wood etc) are around them; with their hands, with their
feet, with their whole bodies! Help them by giving them the words they need to
label these experiences.
“Can you feel the grass with your hands? Is it a bit prickly? Does it
tickle you?”
“Can you feel the soft sand between your toes? Is it warm? Does it move when you wiggle your toes?”
“It’s a metal table, it’s cold and hard, isn’t it?”
“Can you feel the soft sand between your toes? Is it warm? Does it move when you wiggle your toes?”
“It’s a metal table, it’s cold and hard, isn’t it?”
Take it to the next level:
Play with texture blocks, create a treasure basket, create a sensory board
Play with texture blocks, create a treasure basket, create a sensory board
2.
Stop and
listen
Take time when you’re out walking with your baby to just stop and
listen. As soon as your baby was born they’ve been able to distinguish your
voice from those around them, and from just a few days old they’ve been able to
separate the sounds of human voices from other ambient noises. Watch your baby
and when you see their head or eyes move towards a certain sound, explain it to
them, your baby doesn’t yet have the words and labels for everything yet so
they rely on you to describe and label these experiences.
“Can you hear the bird? It’s singing. It’s lovely, isn’t it?”
“What was that noise? Was it a car? Did it go brrmm?”
“What was that noise? Was it a car? Did it go brrmm?”
Take it to the next level:
Make a baby sound basket, play with discovery bottles, create a rain stick
Make a baby sound basket, play with discovery bottles, create a rain stick
3. If it’s
safe, let them taste
Ever wondered why babies always put everything in their mouths? It’s
simple really-from birth your baby’s mouth has been their primary sensory
organ. Your baby has more taste buds than you do and from birth has been able
to distinguish between sweet and sour. Next time your baby goes to explore a
leaf by putting it in their mouth or discover a new toy by licking it-first ask
yourself if it’s safe (is the leaf poisonous? Is the toy sharp? Etc) if it is,
then try and take a step back and let them explore it, their way, with their
mouth. (BTW apparently, eucalyptus leaves like the one Bubbles’ was tasting in
the picture-NOT safe. :/ We live and learn.)
Take it to the next level:
Explore
raspberry spaghetti, paint with
natural dye finger paint, taste and play
with baby safe cloud dough
4. Smell the
roses
Your baby’s sense of smell is always in gear, try and engage it by providing your baby with an aromatic environment. The sense of smell is an amazing thing-it can help us remember certain memories from our childhood and even invoke in us emotional feelings which we’re not conscious of. Engaging your baby’s sense smell can be as simple as inviting your baby to smell a flower or going for a walk just before or after it rains and talking to them about what you can smell. Again, remember, it’s important to talk to your baby even if they don’t appear to be engaging with what you’re saying yet. Your baby doesn’t yet have the words and labels for everything but by you verbalising them, they are learning-even if you can’t yet tell.
Your baby’s sense of smell is always in gear, try and engage it by providing your baby with an aromatic environment. The sense of smell is an amazing thing-it can help us remember certain memories from our childhood and even invoke in us emotional feelings which we’re not conscious of. Engaging your baby’s sense smell can be as simple as inviting your baby to smell a flower or going for a walk just before or after it rains and talking to them about what you can smell. Again, remember, it’s important to talk to your baby even if they don’t appear to be engaging with what you’re saying yet. Your baby doesn’t yet have the words and labels for everything but by you verbalising them, they are learning-even if you can’t yet tell.
Take it to the next level:
(Photography by Sam Milne)
5. Get in
close
Your baby has been able to distinguish colour from black and white since they were born. They prefer to look at patterns rather than straight lines and can’t see anything over a meter away. Your baby sees things best at a distance of 30cm away so make sure when you want to engage your baby, when you’re talking to them and playing with them that you get in close-get up and personal. Just by bonding with your baby like this, you’re engaging their sense of vision. Let them explore your face by drawing it close and touching it, the same with your hand-show them their hands and feet in the same way and again talk about what they can see-give them the words to describe and understand what it is they’re experiencing.
Your baby has been able to distinguish colour from black and white since they were born. They prefer to look at patterns rather than straight lines and can’t see anything over a meter away. Your baby sees things best at a distance of 30cm away so make sure when you want to engage your baby, when you’re talking to them and playing with them that you get in close-get up and personal. Just by bonding with your baby like this, you’re engaging their sense of vision. Let them explore your face by drawing it close and touching it, the same with your hand-show them their hands and feet in the same way and again talk about what they can see-give them the words to describe and understand what it is they’re experiencing.
Take it to the next level:
Explore a set of rainbow discovery bottles, watch Christmas lights in awe, be mesmerised by bubbles
Explore a set of rainbow discovery bottles, watch Christmas lights in awe, be mesmerised by bubbles
Well, that’s all I have for you today. What are your favourite ways of engaging your baby’s senses? Have you used any of these? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Please always supervise your infant/child at play. Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended. You know you're infant/child best, use your own judgement-considering your infant/child's temperament, habits, behaviour and development before you play with a new play medium.
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