The Benefits of Sensory Play

Can I just tell you how much I love messy sensory play? Whenever we get our hands dirty at preschool - I mean really, really sticky and gooey - I get to experience the biggest smiles, the best questions, and the most articulate observations from my young scientists.

Plus, in what other point in life do you get the freedom to fully immerse yourself in the exploration of new materials using most of your senses without judgment? (And, in what point in life can you do this without needing to clean up the big mess that you make afterward?!).

Research shows that sensory play - with no preconceived knowledge or expectations - is critical during the early childhood years. As children work together and talk through the process of exploring new materials, cooperative and problem-solving skills are promoted as well as essential opportunities for linguistic development. For example, some children might love the different textures while their friend does not. Or a friend might describe a substance using completely different words or phrases. Oftentimes, we need to take turns or even share materials throughout the process, which requires complex conversational and problem solving skills. As a result, children begin to see that others may have different viewpoints than their own and start to develop a rich vocabulary that can then be transferred to others areas of learning.

When students are encouraged to make authentic observations, their cognitive abilities to make decisions, ask questions, and reflect on their learning are sharpened. Inquiry and evaluation are naturally embedded in the sensory play process. Because of its appeal to 'test the limits' for some children, the self control 'muscle' is also exercised rigorously during sensory play.

Sensory play also encourages fine motor development. Sometimes materials are small and hard to catch. They might have a texture that makes simply picking them up difficult (water beads are amazing). Sometimes materials change from liquid to solid, which requires a considerable amount of hand strength to pull apart (oobleck is tons of fun). Whatever the experience, sensory play is essential in developing the pincer grasp and hand strength necessary for future writing.

For me, the creative aspect of sensory play is what it's truly all about. Process-based activities provide the open-ended learning experiences that children need to gain confidence in the classroom and in life. While I take certain precautions to ensure that students are comfortable (setting out aprons, providing spoons for the reluctant learner), I think it's incredibly important to allow young children to immerse themselves in these sensory experiences with few limitations.

When we restrict play ("Don't get your clothes messy!") or place our own labels on learning experiences ("Yuck! I don't like that stuff!"), we are essentially robbing children of necessary opportunities to develop confidence, autonomy, and self efficacy in all areas of development (cognitive, linguistic, physical, and social/emotional). On the other hand, when we allow children to explore their world with wholehearted enthusiasm (or not), we send the message that exploration and higher thinking is important. We give the child the power to place value on the learning experiences. Those 'little things,' like dirty clothes, aren't that big of a deal.  Establishing a love for learning, play, creativity, and thinking outside the box IS a big deal. That's what I want my students to take away from the sensory experiences that I provide in the classroom.

We made our own 'moon dust' this week. We started with baking soda and described our observations using four of our senses. Someone suggested that moon rocks are grey, so we added some tempera paint. Someone else suggested they sparkle, so in went the glitter. We added water to add some texture to our moon rocks. How about we make them explode? The children were more than happy to oblige by adding vinegar to their tubs of goo. Overheard during the process:

"Whoa! It's hard like concrete!"

"I wish I could take this home!"

"Look! It's alien goo!"

"This kinda reminds me of pudding."

"It's making craters! Like the moon!"𑂽


More reading on the subject of sensory play in early childhood:

Look, Listen, Touch, Feel, Taste: The Importance of Sensory Play

Why is Sensory Play so Important? (this article provides some great home opportunities for sensory play)

Developing and Cultivating Skills Through Sensory Play

Take It to the Page

The early childhood pendulum is currently stuck at quite the extreme. Academics, standardized testing and pressure to conform to developmentally inappropriate 'norms' have challenged our gut feelings to just let kids be kids.

I do, however, have hope that the pendulum is starting to swing back the other way. We have fewer and fewer prospective parents wondering what we're doing academically in our preschool program. Rather, parents are asking about our opportunities for open-ended play and other foundational skills - such as self-regulation, language as a mode of communication, and social/emotional intelligence - as these are the true predictors or success in kindergarten and life.

For young children to thrive, they need social, emotional, and language competence. So what is the most effective way to achieve this? Well, look no further than our school's mission: learning through art and play.

While this may seem pretty simplistic, it is also entirely intentional.

Play

Take a minute to consider this fantastic quote from Mr. Rogers: play is often talked about as it it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.

Play provides a chance for children to make sense of what they're observing in the outside world. It encourages them to practice new concepts over and over and over again as they build confidence and autonomy. Play also offers children a chance to challenge their own thinking. While certain topics of play may seem silly (or downright embarrassing!) to us adults, it often makes perfect sense to a four year old.

Play also offers a fascinating window into where children are developmentally. In our preschool, which serves children ages three to five, we see children playing in a variety of stages but most often in these three:

Symbolic/Solitary Play 

in this stage, the child uses toys for many uses and talks his/her way through this play. For example, a bottle cap is used to keep the liquid in the bottle, but it can also be used as a silly hat or a cup for pretend drinking. Symbolic play, research shows, is one of the most important predictors of language acquisition. Language acquisition is the primary building block for all cognitive and social/emotional development.

Social Play

in this stage, the child begins to play interactively with others. Symbolic play is a prerequisite for this stage because it involves a rudimentary form of back and forth conversational skills and social awareness.

Cooperative Play

in this stage, the child is able to converse back and forth freely with others. Cooperative play requires skills such as the ability to ask/answer questions, act as leader and follower, and extend ones thinking outside of individual ideas and needs. Therefore, a mastery of symbolic and social play is required.

As teachers, we observe children at these different stages to determine what skills they need to move forward on the continuum.

Art

Unfortunately, art is often overlooked as a critical component of childhood development. According to a very well known speech pathologist where we live, art uses the whole brain and, therefore, has the ability to promote critical life skills such as self-regulation, intrinsic motivation, and exploratory imagination.

Not only does art provide a window into a child's development (see previous post on Process and Product), but art provides a positive method for changing undesirable behaviors and uncomfortable emotions.

For the child who is angry or frustrated or sad, providing a chance for them to draw/paint out their emotions can provide a necessary avenue for expression. In other words, let them take it to the page. Depending on where the child is developmentally, this artistic 'release' may be scribbles, symbols, or recognizable shapes or figures. A lot can be learned about a child's feelings by sitting next to them and asking about their drawing - perhaps even scribing his or her words as they talk in order to read back to them later. Some children may also just want to draw in silence and that's okay. Oftentimes, children need these non-verbal means of expression during the busy day.

For the child who shows resistance to drawing, providing an alternative medium - such as clay or play dough - can also provide the same benefits as more traditional forms of art therapy. These alternative forms of artistic therapy can have the same advantages, as well as provide additional fine motor benefits as well.

Art, therefore, provides yet another coping strategy for uncomfortable emotions, while also providing a chance for adults and children to connect without the heavy cognitive load that a one-on-one conversation may require.

See how sitting down and coloring affects your mood! It really is surprisingly calming.

More Reading:
How Process Art Experiences Support Preschoolers

How Art Enhances Childhood Development

Art Therapy for Every Child

Process and Product

"My child used to do this coolest projects at her old school," said a parent during my first year teaching preschool.

"Like what?" I asked.

"At Halloween she made a bat hat that was so cute! I should show you the picture of her class with their bat hats. Oh, and they made this pillow for Mother's Day and she painted I Love My Mom on it. I still have it on my couch."

 At the time, all I could do was smile and nod (and try to hide some hurt feelings because of her implication that our projects were not "cool.").

It's actually taken me a while to fully grasp the reasons and importance behind our school's philosophy about art. And that is...

preschool art is not about the end result, or the product.  It is about the journey, or the process.

When a child is given materials and encouragement (rather than explanations and directions), they are free to create and explore using their own background knowledge and interests. Somewhere along the way they learn to make their own choices. They learn autonomy. They learn persistence and determination and resilience. They learn self-reflection. They learn to be risk takers. They learn that what they create may be different from others and that's okay.

By limiting the amount of adult micromanagement, children learn the value in the process of creating for creation sake. They begin to make their own judgments and require less adult feedback to feel validated and empowered. As our children continue throughout life, this intrinsic motivation and positive self talk is what is going to help them thrive.

Just to be clear, just because we focus on process art at preschool does not mean that I don't have several objectives for each activity in the back of my head. Rather than making sure that children put the appropriate number of legs on their spiders, I focus my attention on individual goals for individual children: For some children, I take note that they came on their own to even try the activity (unfamiliar can be intimidating!). For others, it's a success if they worked longer than one minute. For others, it's can they try it again but using a different technique? This list goes on and on.

As you can see, process art is not lazy or thoughtless. It's actually just the opposite.

Sometime art is messy and all over the place! It's multiple colors - all over each other - until they fill the entire paper and even the clips have to be moved because it just would not be done until every square inch of paper is covered!

Sometimes art is reflective and works to make sense of concepts being learned in the classroom and in life. It requires sitting down. Sometimes we can even see something that we recognize.

Sometimes art shows clear developmental stages, follows patterns, and is "neat." The take away here is this: no matter what art looks like, for preschoolers, it is always purposeful.

Check out this site for helpful ways to talk with your children about their art: http://creativityintherapy.com/2016/07/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-their-art/