You may have heard someone promoting “sensory play” for children. We are one of those people who say “sensory play” every time a parent asks, what activities will my baby or toddler do at Choo Choo Train. Children learn about the world they live in by seeing, touching, hearing, smelling, and tasting the 3D objects they find or are given. You may not relate because for you it’s common and expected, but for children, it’s a constant experiment. This paper bag makes an interesting noise when I touch them! Another tissue pops up when I pull a tissue out of its box! What adults find ordinary, children find extraordinary.

As early childhood educators, we need to provide learning opportunities to the children under our care. We need to give them the foundational knowledge before we can give them more complex tasks. Take Mathematics for an example. Before they can understand addition and subtraction, they need to learn what big and small are, and what more and less are. We build this foundation through sensory play. Cloud dough, sensory goop, slime, shaving cream, kinetic sand, playdough, bubble foam, water beads, coloured rice, and bubble wrap, are some sensory play materials we prepare for children to explore these characteristics.

Sensory plays can be messy and we are willing to go through the trouble to set them up and clean them up. Creating sensory tables, bins, or stations becomes our daily routine here at Choo Choo Train. While the sensory play is usually messy, it’s not always the case. A simple 3D object like a ball helps children to understand the intangible world aka the representative world. By playing with a ball, children can relate this to the circle drawing of a ball in a book. It helps them to develop their imagination. Do you want this for your children?

Sensory play also helps children with other skills:

Understanding how to cooperate and share

Trying uncomfortable or new textures, to overcome their fears or find out their dislikes

Developing ideas and storytelling techniques

Problem-solving

Scientific thought and hypothesis testing

Sensory play is amazing for the development of children. As we watch children grow and play alongside them, we begin to appreciate the little things in life and it’s a wonderful feeling. We hope you catch a glimpse of it from this article. And we’re always around if you think of sending your little one to Choo Choo Train (if we are not full house)!