Do you ever look at your baby and wonder what they are learning and taking in? Why they are putting things in their mouths yet again, or sticking their fingers in their ears? In fact, just how do babies learn? Infants and toddlers primarily use their senses to learn about the world around them, which means it is incredibly important to stimulate their senses in a variety of ways to help them understand, explore and learn about their environment and the people around them.
According to research from University of Missouri, babies are born with an innate sense of physics. “In the MU Developmental Cognition Lab, we study infant knowledge of the world by measuring a child’s gaze when presented with different scenarios,” said Kristy vanMarle, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences in the College of Arts and Science. “We believe that infants are born with expectations about the objects around them, even though that knowledge is a skill that’s never been taught. As the child develops, this knowledge is refined and eventually leads to the abilities we use as adults.” Sensory stimulation is connected to emotional, cognitive and physical development and sensory play a major role in stimulating their senses. In today’s post, we look at some of the benefits of sensory play:

STIMULATES DEVELOPMENT
Sensory play includes any activity that stimulates your child's senses: touch, smell, taste, movement, balance, sight and hearing. Research today shows that sensory play is crucial to brain development as it builds nerve connections in the brain’s pathways that supports cognitive growth, language development, gross motor skills, social interaction and problem solving skills. Sensory activities enable exploration and naturally encourage children to use different processes while they investigate, explore and play. Importantly, sensory play is crucial for brain development. In the first few years of life for example, more than one million new neural connections are formed every second. This process is driven by the interaction of genes and the child’s experiences, and these early connections are the ones which build the brain architecture upon which all future learning depends.
HAS A CALMING EFFECT
Different types of sensory play have different effects. For example, perhaps you’ve noticed that your toddler seems much calmer after jumping or horsing around for 20 minutes or after a warm bath before bed. This type of sensory play has a calming effect, soothing or grounding children who may have internal discomfort (whether boredom, agitation or restlessness).
BUILDS FINE MOTOR SKILLS
It can also help build motor skills. There are two types of motor skills that your little ones are developing. Gross motor, which incorporates the large muscle movements, such as crawling, walking, running and jumping. Sensory play involving these types of muscles may include crawling in paint or foam and splashing about in water. Fine motor requires the use of small muscle groups and are important for writing, shoe-tying, buttoning, and zipping, amongst other things. This type of sensory play often involves using and building fine motor skills by using pinching, pouring, and lacing movements to explore things.
ENABLES LANGUAGE & INTERACTION
Sensory play is intrinsically linked to language and communication. Exploring different textures, tastes, and objects helps your child build new ways of talking about the world. Suddenly, a tree is more than a tree, it's a sapling with rough or smooth bark and a sharp pine scent. Water isn't just wet, it can be rough (waves) or smooth, calm, flat, slippery with bubbles, or cold and translucent when frozen. Tastes, too, can build your child's language base. No longer do they want rice for dinner, but instead want something tangy or salty or sweet, but certainly not bland or bitter. Not only are they are learning the language to communicate with others, but they are being introduced to the concepts of art, science, maths and physical development as they build their vocabulary. In addition to this, being in an environment surrounded by others enables your child to learn social interaction.
Interested in sensory classes for your little one? Our sensory baby classes have been developed for babies of 8 months upwards. Our unique programme is designed to engage and stimulate all 5 senses in a fun, integrated and interactive way, enabling babies to reach their developmental potential. Our 60-minute, bi-lingual classes are small and intimate with sizes of 8 babies and parents to have fun in sensory experience. Sign up for a free trial class now at:
Address: Shop 3, G/F, 44A Belcher's Street, Kennedy Town
Call: +852 2806 8383 for more details.
Sign up at: https://www.mightyoaks.edu.hk/eng/admission/playgroup