The best thing about sensory play is that there is always a way to incorporate learning into it with ease! Most sensory play activities are relatively simple to create and prepare, meaning that adding a learning experience into every activity isn't too difficult either. In this blog post we'll explore some of the ways that you can incorporate a learning experience into every sensory play activity and hopefully inspire you to think of some yourself!

First of all, it is worth mentioning that sensory play can be used at any age to aid learning/development, even as an adult. Engaging in sensory play offers a multitude of benefits, such as concentration, focus, hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and many more. By engaging in sensory play, you are already actively learning how to improve and refine these skills, however there are other ways to incorporate learning in more specific areas. 

- Sensory Bins

Sensory Bins are a great resource that can offer hours of sensory play whilst also actively teaching children about different textures and sounds. Sensory bins are large containers that you can fill with a variety of materials, such as rice, split peas, water beads, packing peanuts, etc, in order to introduce your child to a multitude of new textures whilst having tons of fun! The possibilities are endless with sensory bins, meaning that you can make different bins depending on what it is that you're wanting to aid your child in learning. Perhaps you want to create multiple sensory bins that correlate to different colours or have themed bins, such as a beach theme or a space theme. If you're looking for a helpful guide on how to create your own sensory bin, check out our handy blog post right here!

- Language Development

If you're looking for some more advanced ways to incorporate learning into sensory play, perhaps try expanding on your child's language development. We can easily incorporate this into sensory play by asking your child to describe different textures with descriptive words! This allows them to expand their vocabulary whilst engaging in fun sensory activities. You can also create activities that centre around them identifying objects that all start with the same letter!

- Maths Development 

Development of mathematical skills is something that is almost standard when it comes to sensory play. It could be something as simple as teaching your child about simple shapes. For example, using one of our wonderful sensory putties to mould the shapes themselves! Or, if you're looking for something a little more advanced for older children, try introducing to more challenging activities, such as a paint by numbers activity or a scavenger hunt where they're tasked with finding a certain number of objects!

There are endless possibilities when it comes to learning within sensory play, and each activity allows children to expand on their own creativity and imagination as well as a multitude of other skills. So, next time you're looking for a way to incorporate learning into play time, give some of our methods a try!