Nowadays, a Virtual platform is an option for virtual learning as the outbreak of covid 19. With this, the small kids are affecting the most. They really need some play-based learning. That is hard to manage on a virtual platform. Here, I want to emphasize and encourage sensory play-based learning. What is tactile play? Whenever a child’s senses are involved, such as sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing; They think, wonder, and discover new things. Ultimately they learn. We are here to discuss the list of tactile sensory activities with their benefits as well.
In The New World
Because of this virtual platform of learning, we have observed an increase in :
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Impulsive nature
- Behavior problems
in children. The best way to overcome all such troubles is by enabling more play into their beautiful lives. Play-based learning is magical today and always. It is how a kid manages stress and emotions. So they need frequent breaks from monotonous seating and doing the same task for a long period. Some of the physical activities which can be done at home to have a fun break are:
- Running in the backyard
- Hopping around the room
- Jumping jacks in the playroom
- Walking around with your favorite toy
- Playing catch on the catch with the softball
- Play some board games
- Playing cards.
Examples Of Tactile Sensory Activities
Some of the common tactile sensory activities which we can try with our children to learn and explore are as follows:
1. Clay Dough Tactile Sensory Activities
This is one of the best sensory plays that kids love to have fun with. They are fascinated by the colors and texture. With the help of clay, they can mold clay into various shapes and objects. My kids love to make a variety of colorful shape cakes and cookies. Clay dough modeling encourages creativity and imagination. Kids learn to have multiple aspects. Like a single thing can be done in multiple ways. When they use stencils to make cookies in different sizes and shapes, they learn to know multiple points of answers.
2. Finger Painting
In this activity, we use our fingers to feel and sense. Kids can have close contact with the colors. And they learn the sense o pressure. This art, with the help of pressure and colors, leads to beautiful art. Children learn about the colors, i.e., primary and secondary colors. In this art, They learn to develop hand-eye coordination. Fine motor skills are developed. Muscle-strengthening of fingers and hands happens in sensory finger painting. Cognitive development takes place when a child is involved in painting. In the above video, children tried their fingers and thumb to do a beautiful finger painting with bright and vibrant colors.
3. Playing With Slime – Tactile Sensory Activites
Slime play is an innovative play nowadays. Kids love to play and make a variety of homemade slimes. I have also tried making with my kids. I Will definitely share it with you all soon. It is a very soothing kind of play as kids can sense the touch. Slime is the best thing to introduce small kids to know the world and the concept of flow,semi-solids, and viscosity shortly.
When we are making slime, they learn to balance the ingredients and proportions, which is correlated with numeracy. Slime playing helps in balancing emotions. When you play with slime, you simultaneously learn problem-solving skills like when slime sticks to your hand, your kid tries a way to take it out. Or for example, It’s hard to give a shape to a slime; children will learn to give multiple trials to form a particular shape. Like my 4-year-old is trying to make a shape of the heart, as shown in the video above.
4. Pretend-Play With Oats, Rice, And So on
This activity you can consider tactile activities for preschoolers. My children love to pretend-play with the kitchen set. They love to do cooking with their objects. You can check out the video above. I gave some real things to have a tactile experience, such as :
- With rice, they can feel the shape and color.
- I gave some pulses to have a sense of How it feels? What is the color?
- Oats are a wonderful thing to learn as when we start mixing water, it starts to smooth and turns into semisolid paste kind of which children love to explore.
- Here, My kids correlated with the clay play. They made slices of bread out of clay. As when they made bread, they used pressure to make it flay and circle in shape.
- I encouraged the real water experience to make some juice and tea to have water play simultaneously.
5. Water As a Tactile Sensory Play
This is one of the best examples of tactile stimulation activities. Tactile play is important for children. Water play is one of the easy tactile experiences. It can be done in daily life as when we bathe our kids. Kids can have some water play to learn about water. They learn the concept of volumes and measurements when they pour or look. They can feel the temperature of the water is cold or warm. So, it correlated with science. As water is free-flowing, Kids learn to focus and concentrate. They try to focus like when they are pouring water from one vessel to another. Or, they are performing some mixing science experiments.
Merits Of Sensory Play
Some of the common benefits which I experience with my kids are:
- Sensory play is the best way to reset and restart.
- Children feel relaxed and calm when they do sensory play.
- They get a break from a monotonous setting.
- Screen time is a big concern nowadays. Sensory-based learning can work a long way to discover and learn.
- The multi-sensory way is one of the most considered approaches for children.
- It is the best play-based learning in which kids find themselves enjoying and living the moment.
- As kids sense and play, stress and anxiety issues vanish when they do so.
- I am a big supporter of messy play. And I let my children mess around, explore, and learn freely.
Sense Of Touch
The tactile activity focuses on the sense of touch. Here, We would like to focus on a sensory play based on the senses of touch. Tactile sensory play is related to the play where you sense with touch. The types of sensation felt:
- Hard
- Soft
- Rough
- Smooth
- Pain
- Pressure
- Heat or cool.
In the early years, a child starts to feel the sense of touch in the following manner:
- He can feel the hard stones and walls of the house.
- Clay or slime feels soft to touch and smooth texture.
- Sitting on a chair or bench feels hard as it is made out of rock or wood.
- The pencil has a sharp nip.
Fun Learning With Tactile Sensory Play
So, these are the fun hands-on activities I love to do with my children. Please feel free to share your ideas and reviews in the comment box below. I would love to add more activities to my children’s do to list. Can you say some more examples of sensory seeking activities,Do let us know in the comment box below.
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