By Priscilla V. Bell.

2 Minute Read.

Did you know that sensory play is fundamental to early childhood development? According to leading health and education experts, it is crucial for children to have opportunities to explore their senses through play. This helps them learn about the world around them and develop their cognitive, motor, and social-emotional skills. In this blog post, I will discuss the importance of sensory play and provide some tips on how to create a Montessori-inspired learning environment at home!

It's no secret that children love to play, but not all toys are created equal. Playing with certain types of toys have the added benefit of aiding children’s development. Sensory toys, meaning toys that can help children learn about all five senses, can promote not only language development, but an understanding of counting, different colours, and a love of science as well.

For example, a child who is given a set of toy blocks to play with will quickly learn how to identify different shapes and sizes. As they grasp and manipulate the blocks, children are actually also working on developing their fine motor skills. This type of play helps them develop their sense of touch, as they feel the different textures of the blocks, and can help them understand concepts of weight and balance as the build. In addition, playing with blocks, can help facilitate their hand-eye coordination as they try to catch and toss them.

Educational toys can also help children with language development. For example, a child who is building a tower can begin to explore the reaches of their imagination as they describe the castle they are making. Even younger toddlers can begin to mimic the sounds they hear adults making to describe the play when together such as – “WOW, I see you built a really TALL tower” or “Boom!” when describing the sound blocks make when they fall. This early exposure to language through sensory play will help them develop their own communication skills more quickly.

Counting, another crucial skill that children have the capacity to learn early on, can be facilitated with the help of the right educational toy. Couloured blocks can be particularly helpful in this regard. As they create, children will quickly learn to count the number of blocks they have, eventually being able to subutize, when they categorize by characteristics such as colour or size. Developing these skills are foundational to the math skills they will learn later on.

Plato's Cubes (by CMY Cubes) are an excellent example of how toys can help children unlock the wonders of science, without even realizing it. As children learn about colours through block play, with Plato’s Cubes, they can begin to categorize, start to understand how colours can be combined to create new colours, and can also begin to explore how light can impact what they see. Colours are important concepts for children to understand and they lay the foundation for later art and science skills. Plato’s Cubes, similar to CMY’s original cubes.

Sensory toys are more than just fun for kids

There are countless benefits associated with educational toys for children, but having one toy that can help children learn about all their senses, develop their language, enhance their counting, and increase their exposure to science is incredible. So, if you’re looking for ways to help your child’s development, Plato’s Cubes are the perfect tool!