One of my most favorite speech activities for toddlers is sensory play. It is a relatively new term in the world of child development. As children, my generation (I'm in my mid 30's) often played outside for hours on a regular basis. I can remember playing in the neighborhood with my sister all day long and hearing my mom yell for us to tell us it was time to come home. Unfortunately those days are few and far between. Our children's generation doesn't get that opportunity like we did. Thanks to television, technology, video games, and even crime and violence rates, children don't play outside like they should. So, we've got to come up with other ways to bring those sensory experiences to them.
But, what is sensory play? It allows a toddler to use one or more of the five senses (touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing) to learn more about his or her environment. By stimulating the senses you are helping your toddler improve language and basic motor skills. It also helps toddlers develop cognitively, linguistically, socially and emotionally, physically and creatively. Some parents may refer to sensory play as messy play, but you can make it as messy or less messy as you would like!
To improve toddler language development through sensory play let your toddler touch and feel various textures such as soft, rough, and wet. Include as many textures as you can. Examples of these textures include putting your toddler’s hands in a bowl of dry rice, sand, and water. You can also have your toddler paint with finger paints and shaving cream or search for small toys in a bowl of water or rice. Talk about the textures and what you’re toddler is doing with them. For example when playing in a sand box you can say, “The sand is rough and wet. Oh look, you're pouring the sand into the bucket.”
Here is a list of several sensory activities for babies and toddlers. Don't forget that you can use these activities to build toddler speech and language skills!
5 Sensory Play Ideas For Toddlers
9 Simple Sensory Play Ideas
Activities for toddlers: sensory play
15 Quick Sensory Activities from Hands on Moms
56 Sensory Play Activities for Babies
To learn more speech and language tips to help your toddler talk and communicate faster, be sure to check out my book on Amazon Kindle, Talking With Toddlers - 52 Tips to Boost Speech and Language Skills.
But, what is sensory play? It allows a toddler to use one or more of the five senses (touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing) to learn more about his or her environment. By stimulating the senses you are helping your toddler improve language and basic motor skills. It also helps toddlers develop cognitively, linguistically, socially and emotionally, physically and creatively. Some parents may refer to sensory play as messy play, but you can make it as messy or less messy as you would like!
To improve toddler language development through sensory play let your toddler touch and feel various textures such as soft, rough, and wet. Include as many textures as you can. Examples of these textures include putting your toddler’s hands in a bowl of dry rice, sand, and water. You can also have your toddler paint with finger paints and shaving cream or search for small toys in a bowl of water or rice. Talk about the textures and what you’re toddler is doing with them. For example when playing in a sand box you can say, “The sand is rough and wet. Oh look, you're pouring the sand into the bucket.”
Here is a list of several sensory activities for babies and toddlers. Don't forget that you can use these activities to build toddler speech and language skills!
5 Sensory Play Ideas For Toddlers
9 Simple Sensory Play Ideas
Activities for toddlers: sensory play
15 Quick Sensory Activities from Hands on Moms
56 Sensory Play Activities for Babies
To learn more speech and language tips to help your toddler talk and communicate faster, be sure to check out my book on Amazon Kindle, Talking With Toddlers - 52 Tips to Boost Speech and Language Skills.
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