Sensory sensations

Sight. Touch. Hearing. Taste. Smell.

Every learning experience is through at least one of these senses.  Young children are naturally curious about the world around them and often use their senses to explore and learn. Here at Footsteps Farnborough we give children the opportunity to play, learn and discover in a way that is exciting, hands-on and developmentally appropriate! We pride ourselves on the creativity of our team to provide these experiences – and draw upon natural resources wherever possible.

So what have we been up to recently?

One of our favourite books is Going on a Bear Hunt – and not only is it a classic – but it is fantastic for sensory play! We had long swishy grass which tickled our toes.  We had some oozy mud to walk through which made our bare feet dirty.  We splish splashed through the cold river to clean them off. We balanced on logs but didn’t stumble and trip through the forest.  We then found the bear (luckily he was very friendly) so we gave him a big hug! The children loved this so much they asked us to do it again the next day.

In Forest School we made scented tea using fruits, herbs and flowers.  As well as smelling beautiful, we developed our co-ordination with lots of pouring and stirring.  We have bathed dolls in the sunshine, had a miniature car wash, set up a garage for MOTS on the outside vehicles, painted with our feet, did art in sand trays with flowers, planted our sunflowers and have held and released the butterflies that emerged from our chrysalis station. It has been an absolute senses sensation and we can’t wait for some more sensory fun in the sun!

Manager Claire said “Sensory play is a key element at Footsteps Farnborough and we love to see our children use them to explore and learn in such a tactile way.  Every child learns and appreciates things differently, so by appealing to all the senses in our planning and activities we can really get the best, and give the most to every child”.