Sight, sound, smell, taste and touch: The development of the five senses is vital to every growing young child. Not only does it enrich a child’s experience of life, but it also maximizes daily functioning, affects social, intellectual and emotional development, and gets a child’s mind and body ready for learning. With a few ideas for sensory development activities, you can stimulate all your child’s senses in a fun way to help him to experience and learn more about the world around him.
Smell Tests
Getting your child to take part in smell tests will develop his sense of smell and help him to identify unfamiliar and different smells.
Take your child around different rooms in the house and have him identify which objects have distinct smells. Allow him to smell a variety of objects such as food and lotions, so that he can become accustomed to lots of various smells. Accompany your child outside and give him the opportunity to get used to and identify different outside smells such as flowers and freshly cut grass.
Sound Play
A sound test is a fun activity to play with your child. This activity will help to develop his sense of sound perception.
Blindfold your child and have him sit down on a chair. Gather together an array of objects that make different sounds such as a bell, rattle, squeaky toy and music box. Make a noise with each of the objects and see if your child can identify which object is making each sound.
Taste Tests
A taste test is a simple activity for your child to participate in. This activity will not only develop her sense of taste, but also improve her sense of smell and touch as she tries to identify each food.
Blindfold your child and have her sit down on a chair. Collect a variety of different foods that are familiar to your child, such as a small cookie, piece of cheese and carrot stick. Give each piece of food to your child to hold. Encourage her to experience the food by smelling and touching it before tasting it and trying to guess what each food item is.
Touch Development
Taking your young child on a texture walk is an exciting way to develop his sense of touch and visual awareness.
Go outdoors and lead your child on a walk around a park or countryside. Have him look for and touch natural forms with different textures such as hard rocks and soft dirt. Let him discover and experience all the different sights, colors and textures and encourage discussion.
Play Tunnels
There are lots of activities to use with play tunnels that will help improve your child’s sensory development.
Having your child crawl through them will improve her motor and coordination skills. Place objects with varying textures as obstacles in the tunnel for a more sensory experience and to help develop her sense of touch. Shake the tunnel around as an ‘earthquake’ while she is in it to help improve her sensory reactions.
Sensory development is a vital part of every child’s development. Maintaining constant stimulation of the senses helps your child fully enjoy the experiences the world has to offer.
Sources:
SavvySource.com: Sensory Development Activities
MomsWhoThink.com: The Five Senses - Activities For Kids
