Our PreSchool Blog

Sensory play is extremely important for children to engage in!  It allows them to learn and explore in a way that allows them to be successful.  There are many things in life, especially at school where children can do things in a “right way” and a “wrong way.”  Sensory play can be whatever a child wants it to be, and they can just be creative and have fun!  Sensory play is also a great way to engage in learning and allows children to engage in multiple senses.  When this occurs, children are able to learn more!  Playdoh is a great resource and one that we use frequently in preschool.  We mold it into shapes, letters and numbers and while we do this we are feeling the material, seeing the material become something specific and learning while having fun.  We can squish it, roll it, squeeze it, and flatten it which helps us work our hand muscles.

What a fun literacy day we had with our “Big Pumpkin” book!

First, we read the story and reenacted it using picture cards.  We then were able to open up a real pumpkin and explore what was inside. Following the pumpkin exploration, we did a pumpkin art project and had a pumpkin snack!

For the month of November, we will be focusing on the use of our five senses: touch, taste, sight, smell, and sound. Early education focuses a lot of learning through sensory play and active learning because our senses are some of our most useful learning tools! It is important for toddlers to continue to develop their different senses, as well as to learn the use of their senses, because that is their means of processing the world around them. Use of the five senses can help children link their senses to recalling memories, which helps with overall cognitive development.

With our toddlers, we made pumpkin muffins as a class, and we used our senses to explore what we were making along the way. Here goes some multi-sensory learning!

Ms. Kristen had some already made muffins in the Mystery Can, and our friends listened to the sound it made in the can. We then started making our muffins, by adding each ingredient in a big plastic bag, one step at a time. Our friends got to smell each ingredient we were adding (yum, cinnamon!) throughout the process.

After adding all of our ingredients, it was time to mix the batter together. Each of our friends got to take a turn (yay, sharing!) mixing our muffin batter in the bag. They loved how squishy and soft it felt!

After putting the batter into the pan, our friends got to add their own chocolate chips on top–we always love to sneak in some fine motor skills 😉

They used their sense of taste at snack time, when they got to enjoy what they helped make!