Sensory Play

We know that young children are oriented toward sensory experiences. From birth, children have learned about the world by touching, tasting, smelling, seeing, and hearing. Sensory play also contributes in crucial ways to brain development. Think of it as 'food for the brain'. Stimulating the senses sends signals to children’s brains that help to strengthen neural pathways important for all types of learning. For example, as children explore sensory materials, they develop their sense of touch, which lays the foundation for learning other skills, such as identifying objects by touch, and using fine-motor muscles.
The materials children work with have many sensory attributes - they may be warm or cool, wet or dry, rough or smooth, hard or soft, textured or slimy. Discovering and differentiating these characteristics is a first step in  classification, or sorting - an important part of children's science learning and discovery.
During the week we had a wonderful tub of maize at kindergarten and this term the children have also explored gloop, shaving cream, cloud dough, slime and clay. 

Exploring - talking, sharing, enjoying, being creative, problem-solving
and developing fine motor skills.

How does the maize look and feel?

Great language and discussion...

"I like the way it feels in my hands. It's soft and silky"

"This smells good. It's sweet and slimy" said Emma.

Hannah is busy making discoveries.

Jack made all sorts of patterns with the slime.

Rihannin, Anya and Max exploring the foamy mixture.

Jac, Rihannin and Anya - expressing their creativity.

Kimberly and Heleina are not only exploring, but are learning about sharing and turn-taking.

Daisy uses her sense of smell.

These children made all sorts of shapes with the cloud dough.

Rhys - testing out his ideas.

"This is just like rain" said Daisy.