You may not have realized it, but much of the “poor” behavior you discipline your toddler over could just be her attempt to learn. Cause and effect learning like understanding what happens when she throws her toys or uses a Sharpie on the wall could be less about disobedience and more about understanding the surrounding world. Although it can be destructive and frustrating, it’s also a vital part of development. What is a parent to do? Provide guided and controlled situations for kids to explore their surroundings physically and actively.
These explorations are what developmental experts call sensory play, which is simply a type of physical play using both gross and fine motor skills. It can be anything from bouncing in a bounce house or wrestling on the floor to stacking blocks or digging in the dirt. Sensory play is a part of development that helps build strong connections in your child’s brain. Much like adults remember a name or fact better when they associate it with a song, smell or situation, a child playing with her food before she eats it builds a connection in her brain about texture and color, as well as taste.
In her article “Why Sensory Play is Important,” Amanda Morrin says, “Sensory exploration is a child’s way of examining, discovering, categorizing, and making sense of the world.”
And there are incredible benefits for your child that come from this sort of active play, including developing language skills, overcoming picky eating, and encouraging critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Teacher and early childhood educator Katie Barnes says she has always given opportunities for sensory play in her classrooms and has seen it overcome numerous behaviors. “I’ve had some kids who don’t like the way some things feel, and it helps them to explore the different textures of things,” she says. “If someone doesn’t like getting dirty outside, playing with mud or slime gets them used to texture and teaches them it’s okay to be messy.”
Barnes feels so strongly about this type of play that she’s created sensory bin tables (@lovekatiejo) to provide a contained, controlled space to allow for regular play and exploration.
It’s been a great success in helping occupy her own 2-year old as she’s getting dinner ready or performing some other chore. The tables are a simple construction allowing for four bins or tubs to be used for sensory play. She puts items like rice and cars, kinetic sand, pom-poms and plastic Easter eggs into the bins. Her son can move around the child-sized table, play with what interests him and usually stays busy for 20-40 minutes.
She says that it does take a little patience, and you need to establish some rules because a toddler’s first instinct is to throw, but if you’re willing to put in a little effort, it can have a big impact. “Just find out what works for your family. Get used to it. It might take me five minutes to set it up, but if he plays for 20, it’s worth it.”
Other options are to put a tray on the table with beads, a cup and a spoon, or you can give little ones play dough or cookie dough and plastic cookie cutters. The point is to allow kids to feel, explore, create, get messy and learn. Sandboxes, water tables or simply an opportunity to dig in the dirt and mud are also great for multisensory exploration.
This works well with older kids as well. As most parents know, older kids may be able to control their behavior better, but the energy level is still there. Having a constructive outlet helps keep boredom from turning to misbehavior. Letting kids conduct science experiments, like giving them a tub and letting them mix vinegar and baking soda, engages their sense of smell and allows them to see a great chemical reaction. Water and food coloring is fun to play with and teaches about color and combining. Freezing toys into large blocks of ice and letting kids chip away encourages a natural sense of exploration. You can even let them “bake” by giving them flour, sugar, salt and water.
Simple play is a childhood necessity, but in sensory play, a great deal of learning takes place—and kids aren’t even aware. Barnes gives the example of playing with a Barbie. “If you’re playing with a Barbie, you’re only going to use so many senses. But If you put it on a table and give Barbie sand or water, and the kids start acting out scenes, you are helping to build nerve connections in the brain, increase fine and gross motor skills, and even word development if the kids are describing what they’re doing.”
We all learn about the world around us through our senses—what we can see, hear, taste, touch and smell. We learn what we like and dislike, what gives us joy or makes us uncomfortable. Children do the same thing, although their actions and reactions aren’t as tempered as an adult’s. Giving outlets and opportunities for kids to move, make a mess, touch, feel and explore their surroundings gives incredible developmental benefits. It allows them to balance the boredom, anxiety, energy or restlessness they are feeling on the inside with an action they can perform on the outside.
Sensory Play and Helping Behavior
Autism: Sensory play has been shown to help acclimate children with autism to the sometimes harsh realities of their world. Barnes says, “Autistic kids thrive with sensory play. They have a very unique makeup and sets of behavior. Sensory activities help to desensitize them and get them used to things they might experience in the real world like textures, smells and sounds.”
ADHD: For children who are easily distracted, have trouble concentrating or can’t concentrate, sensory activities allow them to harness their attention because it engages more of their senses. Kids playing in a sandbox are seeing the sand, feeling it on their fingertips, possibly speaking with friends about how it feels or what they are making. A fuller engagement in the process allows kids to bring the activity into focus.
Overly Excited: If your child is prone to overexcitement or has trouble coming down from high energy activities, certain activities have been shown to help the calming process. Allowing kids to run their hands through water, play with sand or play dough, take a bath or even take a ride on a swing for 10 minutes, has proven to be very soothing to many kids. The repetitive motion is calming, allowing the kids to relax slowly and naturally.
Christian Barnes lives in Kansas City with her husband and two nearly grown sons. She’s fascinated by how children think and learn and enjoys sharing any information that she’s gathered with others.