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Children are naturally curious and explore the world around them using their senses. From birth and right on through early childhood, children use their senses to explore and make sense of the world around them. If you’ve ever played with a baby and watched them put EVERYTHING in their mouth, or a toddler that can’t keep their hands off anything they see, you’ve seen this curiosity in action!
Sensory Development in Toddlers
We are all familiar with the five senses of touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound. However, as an Occupation Therapist, I often say there are eight senses. These include proprioception (body awareness), vestibular (balance) and interoception (internal cues like hunger and needing to go to the bathroom). For today’s topic, I’m going to focus on only two of these additional senses: proprioception and vestibular, using their more basic names:
Body Awareness
In simple terms, body awareness is when your brain receives feedback from your muscles and joints and gains a sense of where your body is “in space.”
Balance
Balance is achieved when the vestibular system in your inner ear sends a message to your brain about your body position in relation to gravity.
Children do naturally use their senses as they play and explore, which is wonderful because the activities and experiences that stimulate their senses are crucial to brain development. These Sensory Motor Activities for Your Toddler will help in their development in the following ways:
- Support language development
- Assist in building nerve connections in the brain
- Strengthen the development of motor skills
- Encourage problem-solving skills
So even though children often gravitate towards these experiences on their own, giving them a little nudge in the right direction can’t hurt! Providing activities that you know will stimulate these senses can be easy and fun.
5 Sensory Motor Activities For Toddlers
Here are my top 5 Sensory Motor Activities For Toddlers:
Sand Play
I know plenty of parents who cringe at the thought of sand, but it is SUCH a wonderful tool for sensory-motor play. Even if you don’t have space for a full blown sandbox, even setting up a 40-quart tote like this one filled with sand in your driveway can allow your child to reap the benefits of sand play! Try adding various scoops and containers, as well as additional natural materials like sticks or rocks. You could even try scented or colored sand! For an extra sensory-motor experience, try taking your child to a park with a larger sandbox or even a sand volleyball court. Walking through sand in bare feet is a fun sensory experience and a challenge for the balance! Plus, kids love it!!
Taking a Texture Walk
This is a fun activity that can be done inside or outside! Encourage your child to find things with different textures (smooth, rough, bumpy, etc). Ask him to sort the objects by how they feel. In addition to the sensory experience, this activity helps with visual tracking as your child looks for objects.
Jumping
Most toddlers LOVE jumping. Try allowing them to jump on various surfaces- we used to love using a little indoor trampoline like this one for indoor jumping. Or, you could set up an area where you toddler can jump safely from the couch to pillows on the floor.
Cooking
Getting kids into the kitchen is a great way to expose them to different textures, smells, and colors. This also helps them use their various motor skills. One fun (and delicious) activity would be to bake cookies or make protein balls. Feeling cookie dough to make balls or adding sprinkles are great sensory experiences. Alternatively, giving your child some scented playdough and tools can provide a great sensory-motor experience. I love this set of high-quality baking tools from Melissa and Doug!
Playing Catch
Getting outside and playing catch with a variety of items is a great sensory-motor experience. Think outside of the “ball” and try playing catch with a stuffed animal, an orange, or even a water balloon! One way to incorporate this into your daily “getting dressed” routine is by throwing your child each item of clothing and having them catch!
I hope that you give one of these five sensory motor activities for toddlers a try! As always, if you have concerns about your child’s development and would like to set up a free consultation to discuss your concerns, please reach out! As an Occupational Therapist, I find great joy in helping children in this area. I would love to help you determine your child’s individual needs. For more ideas and support, please join us in our FREE Facebook community. We are here to support you as you help your child blossom!
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