Why Sensory Play is Critical at the Preschool Age

All the way from birth to early childhood, children play and explore the world through their senses. They use their senses as a way of learning about the world through tasting, touching, smelling, moving, seeing and hearing. Whether it's children or adults, both learn the most and retain the information better when they have engaged the senses. Many of our favorite memories are encoded with an experience relating to our human senses.

Crucial to Brain Development

Giving children the opportunity to actively use their senses as they explore the world through "sensory play" will be essential to the development of the brain as it builds nerve connections and pathways in the brain. Over time, the child learns how to do more complex learning tasks that expand the mind, gross motor skills, language development, problem-solving skills and social interaction.

What are the Five Senses?

When talking about the five senses, they include taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing. You also have two other types of senses called body awareness and balance. Body awareness could also be called proprioception where the feedback from the brain goes back to the muscles and the pressure receptors. Meanwhile, balance uses the stimulation of the vestibular system within the inner ear, which tells us how our body relates to the position of gravity.

Why Sensory Play?

Through sensory play, you explore and encourage children to look at the scientific process as they play, investigate and explore the world around them. The different sensory information will also create a stronger connection within the brain.

Children will learn to adapt over time to the experience of sensory play, and it also helps them to build a stronger, healthier brain in the process. The key takeaway behind sensory play is how it helps children to learn about their environments.