Various Sensory Activities For Infants

By Lena Stephenson


As babies grow, they come into contact with various materials and objects. They are required to make use of their different senses to discern between these objects. It is in the child best interest that his parents engage him in sensory activities for infants so as to strengthen these senses and enable him use them to the maximum.

Most parents today will opt the scientifically proven techniques to enhance their children senses. However, prior to engaging in such activities, the parent should check for factors that could be detrimental to the child. These could range from allergies to some of the materials in the play pen to age association and grouping.

Approaches used should be varied by the age of the children. Toddlers should be grouped together and their activities regulated, with enough care and keen observation. A preschool child should have their toys centered on learning, while the bigger children should have theirs focused on actual mental and physical activities.

There exists a myriad of activities which may be arranged at home or at a kids park. Those targeting the sense of sight should teach the child about the importance of sight. This may be achieved by taking away the sight such as by blindfolding them and asking them to carry out certain activities such as walking or drawing. Other useful activities would include demonstration of peripheral vision and memorizing objects position after they are taken away or scrambled up.

The child sense of hearing should be practiced by use of singing games. Singing a song the kid is familiar with instantly grabs their attention and helps them focus. The child motor skills could be improved by incorporating dance into the singing games. A child auditory senses can be tested by trying to recognize two similar sounding toys and coupling them.

Engaging the child in activities that enhance their sense of touch will be of great impact as babies are naturally inclined to hold things and push them around by about four months after birth. This is done by activities such as finger painting, and walking barefoot both indoors and outdoors so as to feel the different elements. A game of guessing the object by only feeling it would also be applicable in this situation.

When approaching the sense of taste, a lot of care has to be taken as some objects used may hurt the baby by swallowing, chocking and placing dangerous items in their mouths. Engaging the child in sensory activities will show them the appropriate things to put into their mouths and those to avoid. Such activities include helping parents and guardians in preparation of simple meals and treats, tasting games, counting using snacks and the like.

A child sense of smell needs to be gradually improved over time with exercises and fun games. Since most toys do not have distinctive smells, most parents and guardians will depend on artificial scents to help the children. Spiced sprinkles are added to finger paint and kids glue to aid in smelling well. Special dough which may have either peppermint, lavender or citrus scents may also be used for smell exercises.




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