Play Engages the senses
Through sensory play, play engages the senses and children discover their world and how to be successful in it. They develop behaviors based on what they touch, see, hear, taste, smell, and how they move and position their body in space. Sensory-rich playgrounds allow children to integrate and develop their senses and the more they play, the more they develop skills necessary to engage, change and impact the world around them.
the senses at play
TACTILE: How the world feels
VISUAL: How the world looks
AUDITORY: How the world sounds
VESTIBULAR: How you balance within the world
PROPRIOCEPTION: Awareness of how your body is positioned within the world
MOTOR PLANNING: How you move through the world
Motor skill development that helps children attain mastery, self-esteem and physical competence.
SOCIAL/IMAGINATIVE: How you engage with the world
This is a byproduct of the senses at play. Successful integration of sensory information from the world allows children to develop healthy social and imaginative skills, leading to healthy engagement with the world around them.
VISUAL: How the world looks
AUDITORY: How the world sounds
VESTIBULAR: How you balance within the world
PROPRIOCEPTION: Awareness of how your body is positioned within the world
MOTOR PLANNING: How you move through the world
Motor skill development that helps children attain mastery, self-esteem and physical competence.
SOCIAL/IMAGINATIVE: How you engage with the world
This is a byproduct of the senses at play. Successful integration of sensory information from the world allows children to develop healthy social and imaginative skills, leading to healthy engagement with the world around them.
how play engages the senses
|
Sliding:
Sliding provides kids with a rich sensory experience that stimulates their visual, vestibular, tactile and proprioceptive systems. This sensory input helps children develop a better sense of balance and motor planning to accurately move throughout space. |
|
|
Spinning:
Spinning is one of the core movements that engage the vestibular system. When a child spins they receive valuable equilibrium information, which connects with inputs from their muscles and joints to help them maintain their body posture and balance. |
|
|
Swinging:
Swinging back and forth is more than it seems. This simple motion fuels the nervous system with visual, vestibular and proprioceptive information. Children learn how their body moves through space, the speed of movements they like, and the motor planning necessary to resist or increase active movement. |
|
|
Climbing:
All children desire to climb, which stimulates the tactile, proprioception, vestibular and visual senses. Each system learns about textures, muscle activation needed to pull against gravity, and integrates with what the child sees while climbing. This allows kids to effectively relate to objects and navigate in the world. |
|
|
Social:
When children play together, they develop in ways that they couldn’t alone. Social imaginative play lets children mix previous sensory knowledge with new experiences to expand their understanding of the world. Through playful interaction, children turn make-believe ideas into real ones. |
|
|
Tactile:
Children touch everything because it’s the most dependable sensory system, and it’s the first to develop. Play experiences that provide children a variety of tactile inputs are necessary to help the nervous system organize all the sensory information from around them. |
|
