This month, we have offered a lot of sensory experiences to our school-age group. We noticed how busy the sand pit was every time we went outside, that the children were bringing in fidget toys, and that any opportunity to use water, glue, paint, etc. was well received, so we knew the children were looking for those messy, hands-on play experiences.
We started with sand art, giving the children the opportunity to make a design on construction paper with white glue, then sprinkling or pouring colourful sand onto it. We saw different methods of adding the sand - sprinkling with fingers, pouring sand gently onto each part, or pouring a lot then tilting the paper around until all the glue was covered. We loved the creativity, of course, but more so how intrigued everyone was by the movement of the sand and glue, and how the different colours of sand blended together in spots. Later, we got out some paint brushes and ‘painted’ in the leftover sand that had fallen into the bin.
Later in the month, we brought a bin of oobleck outside with us. Not only were the children excited about the goop, but it was also drizzling rain outside. Everyone’s walk turned into a skip as they felt the rain on them; giggles and cheers all around. Once at the field, the children swarmed the bin of goop. They enjoyed how it squished into a solid but then melted into a liquid. They let it drip from hand to hand. They squeezed it hard into a ball then watched it ooze down flat in their hands. They played with it until it had all slowly been lost to the grass.
These experiences were an important reminder for us that the ‘big kids’ need messy play just as much as the little ones do. Sensory play offers a chance to calm our bodies down and just get lost in the feeling and movement of whatever we are playing with. It keeps us focused and lets our minds quiet down. It’s important to let them get messy!
We are looking forward to more sensory play - maybe some water fun will be in our near future!
