Why Sensory Play?
Children, particularly from 6 months, absolutely delight in exploring their world through their senses. Sensory play - play that stimulates a child’s senses (including movement /vestibular, touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight and proprioception; perception of where you are in space) builds cognitive skills and influences how your child learns about their world.
It is beneficial that a child is exposed to as many different sensory stimuli and the best way to do so is through play and having fun!
Occupational Therapist recommends
Sensory Garden!
"As an Occupational Therapist, I look at the way people interact with the world to develop (how they occupy their time each day). Children's this primary “occupation” is PLAY!
The term “sensory integration” was developed to identify how children perceive the world through their senses. Each person may have different sensory preferences- they may avoid some things and prefer the safety of others. Sensory play is important as children are partaking in more sedentary activities (particularly following the pandemic) and we are seeing gross and fine motor development, as well as social and imaginative play reduce.
By engaging in sensory play at from a young age (like at Sensory Garden), children start to better develop their posture, cognitive, social and thinking skills, which ultimately leads to improvements in sleep and long-term learning and social engagement."
Jessica Raynal
Occupational Therapist (Bachelor of Applied Science- OT)
Jessica recommends Sensory Garden for your child!
How does Sensory Garden fit into this?
Sensory Garden provides sensory stimuli for children at every session and our sessions are designed to allow children to explore their senses in a fun and safe environment, whilst using their imagination.
The “play space” incorporates a playground and sandpit, which are more familiar environments, and provide options for “movers and shakers” as well as for smaller babies.
The sensory activities, such as messy play areas, are lovingly curated to promote exploration of sensations. By having some familiar/ similar activities each week (such as playdough, potions, mud kitchen and sensory trays) children have the opportunity to play and grow with every session, which is why it is amazing to commit to a full term, if you can.
Occupational Therapy Assessment of
Sensory Garden activities
