Childhood and playtime are often synonymous with most people. When people think of the fond memories of playtime when they were kids, they appreciate how they could play the whole day without worrying about any responsibilities.
Playing forms a vital part of the cognitive and physical development of children. During this developmental stage, kids are supposed to be given various toys, including sensory toys. The type of toys that you give your child influences his or her learning experiences. That’s why you need to create a sensory environment and give them sensory toys at the beginning of their lives to let them explore smell, touch, hearing, and taste.
Here are some advantages to letting your child play with sensory toys.
- It Improves Cognitive Development
Most parents regard sensory play as only play without realizing the full potential that such activities have. Sensory play can significantly impact the development of your child’s brain. Babies are born with brains full of neurons. When their senses are engaged through various activities and playing, their brains develop pathways between neurons.
The higher the number of activities you engage your child in, the stronger the pathways become. Unfortunately, if those pathways aren’t used well, they may disappear altogether. That’s why you need to buy for your child sensory toys to help her build the nerve connections in her brain pathways to enable her complete and solve more complex learning tasks as she continues to grow and develop.
- It Makes Meal Times Exciting
If you have a child who’s a picky eater, you need to turn food into toys to help him, or her discover other meals. For a child to eat or tolerate new foods, she needs to touch it first. Most children who are picky-eaters have stress trying out foods they aren’t used to, but if you allow them to play with the food, they’ll familiarize themselves with the different food types, colors, textures, and even end up eating that them.
You can help your child explore different types of foods by forming games from food. Allow your child to paint, feed puppets, or build houses with their food. Making mealtimes exciting will not only lessen your child’s stress, but it will also make her more willing to come to the table. Playing with food can also save you from subjecting your child to feeding therapy, which is actually a marathon.
- It Teaches Children Sensory Attributes
Every time your child touches something sticky, wet, or cold, she increases her understanding of various objects and their characteristics. Sensory play helps kids to know objects that share similar characteristics and those that have different attributes. Sensory toys may also teach them how to say how they feel and help them learn opposites.
If you’re more creative, you could even infuse themes into your child’s playtime. You can teach them about nature by collecting items such as twigs, leaves, pine cones, and rocks and use them to create a sensory bin.
The Bottom-line
Several toys and objects can be used in the current day and age to encourage sensory development and stimulation. Playing with these toys can help your child learn the prevalent textures, sounds, and colors to help her grow and develop every day. It’s essential to introduce the right sensory toys into your kid’s playtime to help them grow their senses.
