Our After School-age 1 at RisingOaks Early Learning | St Nicholas, has demonstrated a great interest in sensory exploration over the past month or so, in its various forms.
Water play, being one of them, brings a group of children together to feel, lightly splash, and let their engaging conversations emerge.
“I’m going to make a potion, that will turn you into a frog,” Braya said as she mixed soap and water together, creating the bubble effect. Zach showed curiosity as he saw peers at the water bins. He came up close and we could see his eyes light up with excitement. He first put one hand in, then the other, moving back and forth slowly, observing the ripples the water was creating as he moved his way through the water.
Another occasion, educator Janeth brought corn starch and coloured water. “What are we going to do with this?” Sofiia asked quite intrigued. “Well, we need to mix it and you can tell me what you will do with it,” Janeth replied. Dami, Theodore, and Sofiia began mixing. “I think mine is too dry,” Dami said, “I think I need more water.” Upon his observation, more water was added. The children used cups, sticks or their fingers to mix. Eliette and Olivia came over to investigate what the commotion was about. They quickly got in the mixture and were curious at how it felt. “It’s soft,” said Eliette. Dami began picking up the mixture, and watching how the hard substance turned into liquid. “Look at this,” he said to his peers. Sofiia began experimenting and trying to do the same. Once she got it, she began to show the group. “How is that happening?” Educator Janeth asked to see what their thought process was. “Because it’s science, “Sofiia answered. What a delightful answer. We all agreed and continued exploring.
The next day, we tried using the corn starch but mixing it with dish soap to see what would happen. “Will it be goopy like the last time?” Dami asked. “Let’s fins out, “educator Janeth said. As Praise manipulated it, she observed, “This is harder. Is it supposed to be oobleck?” “I don’t think it is,” Braya answered. They formed the mixture into shapes such as balls. “I am going to make a volcano,” Braya said. Gavin came along and seemed curious. “Would you like to play here?” educator Janeth asked. He thought for a moment, then began poking his finger in the mixture, becoming more and more interested as he manipulated the mixture. “I think I will make a snowman,” he shared with his peers.
All these various sensory experiences, provide the children with opportunities to develop and strengthen cognitive abilities such as problem solving and language as they share and hear each other’s ideas. The use of their fine motor skills enhances as they manipulate the different materials. Sensory play supports emotional regulation and social skills. This type of play helps children manage their emotions, learn about cause and effect, build confidence as the children can concentrate, and make use of the materials in the manner they wish, supporting independence and language development, and relationships continue to strengthen.
As we continue our time together, we continue to provide different sensory experiences to continue supporting learning and relationship building though the expression of their imaginative ideas.
We have provided shaving cream with loose part items that took the children’s imagination in so many directions, it was neat to be a part of hearing all their ideas and conversations. We wonder what other materials we could add to continue to provide more engaging sensory experiences. Stay tuned to our continued learning.
