The sun’s out, and that means there’s a ton of extra space for some sensory activities to get your preschooler’s brain working. Other than taking your little one for a nature walk, there’s a number of activities you can create that will stimulate their senses and have them entertained for hours.
And, by moving the fun outside, you can enjoy the added bonus of sparing your house from some of the more ‘messy’ sensory activities out there!
What are sensory activities?
Sensory play is about more than just physical touch or tactile exercises. Sensory stimulants include anything which sparks any of the five senses (taste, touch, hearing, smell, and sight), as well as both balance and proprioception (the body’s ability to know where it is in space).
The importance of sensory activities for preschoolers
Sensory activities are crucial to a preschooler’s developing brain because they help to build new nerve connections and boost their learning and problem solving abilities.
Some benefits of sensory activities are:
Boosts Learning Ability – New nerve connections are built throughout the brain, helping children to keep learning more complex tasks.
Supports Other Skills– Cognitive learning, fine/gross motor skills, language development, social interaction, and problem solving skills are all strengthened.
Develops Memory – Memory is enhanced as children remember their sensory experiences, and draw from them later on.
Aids Sensory Sorting – Preschoolers learn sensory attributes like warm, cold, sticky, etc., helping them to understand differences between textures.
3 summertime sensory activities for preschoolers
For the preschooler age-group, these three activities will keep your youngster engaged and delighted:
Great for a hot summer day, this DIY ice chalk will have your little one occupied for as long as the ice lasts!
Go even bigger than this video, and fill a water table with water, sand, and seashells, then help your little one search for all the sea treasure they can find!
Whatever your theme, you can choose your materials accordingly to make it as gooey, as fluffy, or as crunchy as you like. Watch your kids try to step their way through all the fun bins you set up for them!
Sensory activities are foundational at Grey Matter Montessori School
By encouraging exploration and curiosity, sensory activities help to get preschooler’s brains active and working, benefiting them not only in their learning abilities but maximizing the fun in the process!
At Grey Matter Montessori School in Northwest Calgary, we incorporate sensory learning in order to create the very best environment for our preschoolers and kindergartners to grow. Call us for more information and to understand the full benefits sensory activities have to offer.
So go ahead, get outside and get messy with your preschooler! You’ll have just as much fun as they will as they’re gliding ice chalk across the sidewalk, splashing and searching for seashells, and giggling as they step through those sensory bins.
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