1. Sensory
Development
Sensory Development
HCISD Pre-K

2. Developing and Cultivating Skills Through Sensory Play
Cognitive
Linguistic
Social/Emotional
Physical
Creative
Discovering
Touch
Sight
Hearing
Smell
Taste

3. Creative “Sensory experiences,” explains Angie Dorrell, “provide open-ended opportunities where the process is more important than the product; how children use materials is much more important than what they make with them.” Prompting your child to think creatively in order to solve problems or engage in make-believe helps them express their creativity and build self-esteem.

4. Discovering Our World Through Sensory Play
Exposing children to sensory play helps them develop and refine the use of their senses. Sensory play can be divided into five classifications that, as you may have guessed, correspond to the senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste.

5. Touch
Play games or engage in activities that require the use of muscles: Make use of stimulating textures or objects around your school. For example, in the kitchen, hammer ice cubes in a plastic bag, play with whipped cream or cookie dough, go on a texture scavenger hunt. Partake in sensory activities that don’t require any objects: have a parade or march around the house.

6. Sight
Experiment with light around your home: play by candlelight, play flashlight tag, make shadow puppets and wear sunglasses.
Explore with colors: Add food coloring : playing catch with a balloon, completing mazes or dot-to-dot puzzles, tracing your body or hands, playing “I Spy,” peek-a-boo or a variation of hide-and-seek.

7. Hearing
Engage your students’musical side: play or listen to an instrument or sing songs. Play different listening games: sit very quietly and try to guess the sounds you hear, make a chart of things you hear outside, talk about different animal sounds you’ve heard, play musical chairs. Experiment with volume: play with the stereo dial to investigate loud and soft sounds.

8. Smell
Utilize your kitchen: cook with strong-smelling scents, i.e., garlic, ginger, cocoa, lemon, vinegar, vanilla, mint, lavender; match scents while blindfolded (in opaque containers).Make use of the great outdoors: go on a “smelly walk” (wet grass, fertilizer, bakery), plant flowers. Read scratch-and-sniff books.

9. Taste
Experiment with opposites: try frozen foods versus hot foods, salty versus sweet, crunchy versus soft, etc.Try foods that require a sipping or sucking motion to help calm children, as well as crunchy and chewy foods that increase alertness..

10. Make and Take
shaving cream, rice, Nutella, soil, hair gel, Finger Paint, cookie sheets ( I have enough for you to model), laminated letters (one letter per page, uppercase and lowercase), Alphabet cereal, Alphabet pretzels, ziplock bags quart and gallon, paper towels, baby wipes, different kinds of pastas for letter formations

11. https://youtu.be/XrfnuDlzBjc

12. Websites http://www.learning4kids.net/list-of-sensory-play-ideas/