Why? sensory and messy play?

Take a look at these photos below, do they intrigue you?

 

Kids need to get messy. Kids need to explore, get their hands covered in goo, and play. They need to play to learn, they need to learn through play. There have been studies done that show if a child is set in a classroom and made to be a strict student from an early age, they have no upper hand advantage over a child that was allowed to be a child and play to gain their knowledge. When you hear the term "learning through play", don't think of a kid sitting there rolling around a car and compare it to a kid sitting at a desk being drilled by flash cards and worksheets. That is not what learning through play is. Learning through play is taking normal learning concepts and making them fun, interesting, expressive, artistic, in depth, creative, hands on, customized, and nurturing. The children are still learning all of the important basics that they need to know, just in a way that is better for them, their heart, mind, body, and soul. Have you ever heard of or read an article, or maybe saw a movie about an overworked child that stresses so much over academics because they are pushed so hard and then desire to work so hard that it starts to have lasting effects on them and their sanity?  What is positive about that? What is positive about forced learning, or forced therapy for a child with a disability, like Autism? If a child is miserable, feeling overwhelmed, upset, angry, or frustrated, are they really learning more than a child who is allowed to learn through play at a pace that works for that individual child?

Have you ever heard of:

1. Montessori Education
2. Waldorf Education
3. Reggio Emelia approach to education
4. A book called Einstein never used flashcards

If not, I deeply encourage you to check all of that out. It is well worth having the knowledge.

There is a world of knowledge out there, put to life through the inspiring and enlightening blogs of hundreds of dedicated and intelligent parents. You can find thousands of links to these wonderful blogs on Pinterest.com 

There is a really great article on Not just cute about how sensory play is science to children.  The article states that children explore their world through the use of the Scientific Method, or Scientific Inquiry.  Not just cute also explains how sensory play is so important to preschoolers here.   

You can find dozens of wonderful Montessori inspired sensory, learning, and play experiences on Living Montessori Now.

Learning through play has a lot to do with the materials and toys that you provide to your child as well. You can read a little about that here and you can see many examples of great materials and toys here.  These are not your average toys.  I had to search high and low and do a lot of research to be put into the right direction to find them. I hope you enjoy checking them out.

I made a list of really great blogs, check it out here. I plan to expand this list very soon. In fact if you know of a blog that should be on this list, please do email me at twinsrock@cfl.rr.com with that information. I will be more than happy to check out the blog and more than likely add it to my list.

Now I would like to show you examples of wonderful messy, sensory play, learning through play, a little Montessori, a little Waldorf, a little Reggio Emelia, and a LOT of fun!!  I only hope that you will take a few moments to review the links I am about to present to you. I only hope that you will learn something from reading this blog post. I only hope that this blog post and all of the links I have presented in it to my blog and others, will inspire you to have some awesome messy fun with your children.  Thank you for reading, and thank you for looking at the links.

These are just a few examples: 

Messy, sensory play
A splash of this, a dab of that
Trampo-swing and Tarzan swing
Everything must glow
Waterbeads and flowers
Flower sensory
Firefly jar and bloopy gloopy blacklight paint
Oooey gooey black light sensory bottles
Ice ice baby
Squishy, sprinkly, smushy, fun
Sprinkle bubble, pour, squish and more
building, creating, exploring
May the force be with you
Roads, trees, and light
Glow and play
Totally awesome fun
Glow and flow
Space monsters
Light table worksheets
Pouring, building, playing, creating
Color and light
rainbow volcano
Super messy fun playdate