Sensory Play and Brain Development for Kids
I'm sure you've already figured out that your child's brain is like a little sponge. The way they absorb and repeat information can be impressive and terrifying! All good parents want to promote brain development in their littles. So, I want to teach you how to utilize all of the cognitive benefits of sensory play, also known as messy play! Sensory play and brain development go hand in hand.
It's no secret that kiddos need to SEE and FEEL their world in order to understand it. Children learn best when they actively engage with their environment and use all of their senses to think, explore and figure things out. Facilitating messy play activities is the best way to catalyze your child's development in a few crucial ways, while they also have fun.
The Cognitive Benefits of Sensory Play:
Encouraging Problem Solving
Messy play offers your child a chance to figure things out for themselves! Every time they learn to solve a problem, their brain reinforces that ability. Over time, their confidence grows to solve future, more complex puzzles.
A few ways that you can apply this concept: How can your child blend colors of paint? How can they build the shapes they want out of sand or blocks? How can they fit the most critters on one lily pad? How can they operate an unfamiliar tool? All of these activities reinforce the relationship between sensory play and brain development.
Check out the Butterflies & Bugs Sensory Bin or the Crazy Colors Messy Play Kit, which are both Messy Play™ products that encourage problem solving!
Understanding Cause and Effect
We're not born with an innate understanding of cause and effect. Instead, we develop it through observation and experience. Sensory play offers a fun chance for kids to directly observe the effects of their actions. What happens if they add vinegar to the volcano? What if they drop color onto damp tissue paper versus dry? This new knowledge helps them better understand their world and their own effect on it. Aren’t the cognitive benefits of sensory play awesome?!
Check out the Dinosaur Dig Messy Play Kit or the Jurassic Sensory Bin, both which are Messy Play Kits products that help your kiddo understand cause and effect!
Developing Spatial Awareness
There are a variety of messy play activities, like exploring the physical world, filling and emptying containers, and stacking and rearranging objects, that help small children to develop spatial awareness. Increasing spatial awareness helps your little one better navigate the relationship between their body and other things in their environment. The more they practice these skills, in a variety of hands-on ways, the more they will understand how to move within their surroundings. What fun to encourage the cognitive benefits of sensory play!
Check out the Pirate Play Messy Play Kit and the Forest Sensory Bin, both which are Messy Play™ products that increase spatial awareness!
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Sensory play activities are fun for your kiddo, but they're also valuable ways to promote cognitive development in early childhood! Luckily, our biggest passion here at Messy Play Kits is to support you as a parent in providing activities for your children that include sensory play and brain development.
Remember that adult brains are still developing too! So, as your kiddos are getting smarter while having fun, how can you engage your own brain development through activities that you enjoy?
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The best way to get the most of the cognitive benefits of messy play is to sign up for a monthly subscription and receive a new activity box each month!
