Sensory stimulation

 

Every aware parent wants his or her child to develop correctly and as harmoniously as possible, both in body and mind. To make this possible, the child should have the opportunity to freely explore the world, gain a variety of experiences, play freely in a sensory-friendly and safe environment. Play is the basis for the development of every young person and influences intellectual, physical, emotional and social development. Through play, the child develops his or her senses and motor skills, learns his or her abilities and strengthens the bond with his or her carer. 

 

Sensory experiences are an integral part of the child's play experience. After all, the world around us provides us with a multitude of different sensory stimuli. The best sensory stimuli come from nature, but of course there are also a lot of "artificial" sensations produced, for example, by electronic toys. The parent's role is to appropriately "dose" these sensations, as some of them in excess may lead to overstimulation of the still immature nervous system. This is especially true of an excess of visual and auditory stimuli. Opting for simplicity and natural stimulation of the senses is the best solution. Natural teaching aids may not seem like much, but their power to appeal to all the senses (except for taste) lies in their simplicity, their natural fillings and consistent, calm colours which naturally stimulate the senses. 

 

Sensory stimulation is essential for a child's proper development. It is important to activate all the senses, but the most important stimuli we should provide to the child are those that come from movement, pressure and touch. Appropriately selected games and teaching aids can be a kind of prophylaxis in preventing sensory integration disorders.

 

 

Plays influence sensory stimulation 

 

Playing with sensory blocks, puzzles or dominoes and naming their contents is a great way to learn about the world around us, they stimulate creativity and imagination, develop manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination, and the variety of fillings and textures influences the development of tactile sensitivity, the more different sensations, the more connections between neurons in the brain. They improve eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills, thanks to which the child can exercise correct grip, precision of movement and hand-eye coordination. It also teaches to recognise shapes and supports cognitive development. Various textures will arouse curiosity, enrich the knowledge of the surrounding world, as well as develop attention, visual memory and sequencing.

 

A great help and support for the emotional development of the youngest is the Gingerbread Emotions, which thanks to different faces adjusted to the current mood or feeling we want to talk to the child about, will help to name them, building at the same time the relationship with the carer.

 

Touching, stepping and jumping on the different textures of the sensory discs - by applying pressure with the feet and hands - stimulates deep sensation, or proprioception, which helps the child to become more aware of his or her body pattern. 

 

Overcoming an obstacle course made up of sensory discs with different textures provides the child with motoric sensations through vestibular stimulation, thus exercising balance and coordination as well as physical fitness.

 

An important element of development is also supporting the senses of hearing and smell - the sound boxes develop auditory sensitivity and teach the differentiation of sounds, and thanks to the matching sensors they additionally stimulate the sense of touch. The scent tray, on the other hand, will be great fun, training memory and the sense of smell.

 

The teaching aids can be used every day in the form of various games with your children. They are versatile as they develop gross motor skills, motor coordination and balance - walking, jumping, balancing on large and small discs is a fun way to practice balance reactions and learn to plan movement.

 

It is all about contact with nature, which has a soothing effect on the nervous system, calms and relaxes. The use of natural fillings in the aids gives the child the possibility of contact with the surrounding world, even in situations of limited outdoor movement or unfavourable weather for bare feet. 

 

Thanks to them, we will move to forest paths, a seaside beach, a summer meadow and we will look at the blue sky when it is gray outside the window.