What is Sensory Play?
In essence, sensory play includes play that engages any of your child’s senses. This includes touch, smell, sight, sound and taste. But it also covers movement, balance, and spatial awareness. When a child is born, their senses aren’t fully developed. They only mature over time as babies, toddlers, and preschoolers explore the sensory world around them. Each new experience they have with a different sense builds nerve connections that grow the architecture of their brain.
Sensory play encourages learning through exploration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity. It helps to build nerve connections in the brain and encourages the development of language and motor skills. There are many benefits that may go unnoticed, such as the development of abilities to focus and block out distractions.
Sensory play is an important part of childhood and, within reason, there are really no limits to what you can use in sensory activities. Nature can often be your best friend when it comes to sensory play!
Many people think sensory activities are only for children or only necessary for early brain development. But people can benefit from sensory activities in every stage of life.
Teenagers
Through sensory activities, teens can improve their cognitive, motor and social skills in an accessible, non-threatening environment. These activities complement the skills they are learning at school or in therapy, especially those in speech or occupational therapy. They can also help teens manage anxiety and overstimulation. Most importantly, sensory play is fun, something teens desperately need to prevent burnout from busy, overbooked lifestyles.
Adults
Sensory activities can give adults a great deal of joy and motivation, no matter their lifestyles or circumstances. Engaging the five senses triggers many positive reactions in adults, helping them manage anxiety and anger, enhance memory and cope with physical health conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes.
Older adults
Sensory activities can help older adults improve their overall quality of life. For those living with dementia, sensory activities can ease feelings of agitation or anxiety. For seniors living alone, this kind of stimulation can be a comfort during times of deep sadness or loneliness. For healthy older adults who want to stay that way, sensory activities can boost cognition, improve physical health and provide healthy ways to cope with emotions.
Why our sensory toys?
Floridians, according to NAMI, are also five times more likely to be forced out of network for mental health care than for primary health care. This can make mental health care less affordable. NAMI says 49.7% of adults in Florida did not get mental health care because they couldn’t afford it. All proceeds go towards funding mental health services for individuals who are uninsured or cannot afford services.
