In the early years, your baby’s brain is constantly developing, absorbing and learning vast amounts of information from their environment.
Sensory play that stimulates your babies’ senses (touch, sound, smell, taste and smell) doesn’t just engage your little one – it lays the foundations for cognitive, social and physical development. In this blog, we’ll explore the importance of sensory play for babies, and why it’s key to incorporate this in those crucial early years.
Brain Development
Multi-sensory experiences boost’s cognitive growth by engaging babies in activities that surround different experiences such as feeling different textures, seeing colours, looking at moving objects or hearing sounds. Helping your child understand what certain things represent or are called supports critical thinking, problem solving and language skills by making the brain process information and associate sounds, objects or textures with specific descriptions or words. Sensory play also develops their emotional and social skills through curiosity and interaction, starting their journey to understanding the world around them.
Motor Skills
As your baby begins to develop their fine and gross motor skills, sensory play can come in handy especially as they begin to improve their grasp, pinch, crawling, reaching, and stretching functions. Each time a baby squeezes a toy, shakes a rattle or splashes in water their dexterity gets better, which helps with their strength as they begin to grow older. They’ll also develop hand-eye coordination, which will come in handy as they start making bigger developmental strides in their movement, allowing them to balance themselves more efficiently when grabbing onto objects to keep them upright when they begin standing and walking. Motor skills are also important for independence and confidence as they navigate their environment throughout infancy and into childhood.
Emotional and Social Development
As mentioned, emotional and social development is benefitted by sensory play. This kind of play can be done with other children or with caregivers, and helps them to learn about sharing, empathy, cooperation and social cues whilst also building strong relationships with those around them. Emotions and reactions can be explored when babies are supported with their self-discovery through play, as they learn how different objects, sounds and textures make them feel, whether that’s frustrated, upset, happy, calm or makes them laugh. Different sensations or sounds can also regulate emotional responses – for example, soft items like blankets and teddies may be associated with a more calming feeling , reducing stress and letting your chid self-soothe when they get upset or tired.
Creativity
Sensory Play encourages your baby to use their imaginations, as they create and explore different ways to interact with their surroundings. Mixing different colours to make new ones, discovering how water reacts with sand, stacking blocks and learning on baby toys that allow them to make music are all ways that nurture their creativity and develop problem-solving skills that will come in handy in the future.
The importance of sensory play is enriching and essential for babies, and helps to set them up for life beyond those early years. Make sure you keep sensory play safe by aiding your baby as they start to develop their skills and personalities through their new experiences.