
Birthday Party games
Birthday parties can be expensive and they can also get out of control very easily! Should you let them play freely? Or should you organise games? Should you book a playcentre? Or do it at home? Well, with our experience...
SENSORY: through the senses (you can touch it, smell it, see it, hear it or taste it)
PLAY: a fun activity that you want to do because you like it and it’s interesting to you
SENSORY PLAY: a fun activity that you enjoy doing that stimulates one or more of your senses to explore and interact with the materials provided. The sense of TOUCH is the most common one during sensory play activities. This means kids will have fun exploring different textures, shapes and patterns.
The senses are the connection between the child and the world. We perceive everything around us through our five senses. When we are older, we can understand things just by reading or listening to specific information, but a child needs to touch everything so he can figure out how things work. We can tell them something a million times, but it is only through experience (and through the senses) that they will make that information their own.
As parents, teachers, minders or carers, our job is to guide our kids through this journey exploring the world and to provide as many sensory and hands-on experiences as possible so they can gather all the information to develop skills and become more independent as they play.
When a child learns something new, he brings that new information into his play. When he plays, he practices that new knowledge. During play he will also acquire new knowledge as he figures things out through trial and error. For example, a child sees that you pour water from the bottle into a cup. You can tell him how to do it but that’s not going to teach him. He needs to try to do that himself, and he will probably spill most of that water but that’s ok! He will then spill it on purpose to prove his theory. He will then try to pour it into the cup. He will try many times and that’s where you can provide containers and tools of different sizes, coloured water, etc. to extend this practice and make it richer and fun. The child will eventually learn how to coordinate his movements, so he doesn’t spill the water. But, in order to learn this, it is very important that you provide a safe environment (outdoors, or on a tuff tray, or in the sink…) where your child can spill the water many times without feeling guilty or not capable. He will be “just playing”. That is where messy play comes in!
Messy play is the king of the sensory play activities. It means hands get messy, clothes get messy, and floor probably gets messy too, but the learning is so powerful. Through messy play children will develop many basic life skills, such as problem-solving, fine motor skills (control of their hands), coordination, communication, and also concepts such as cold, hot, soft, hard, long, short, heavy, light, first, second, last, pouring, splashing, grabbing, picking, squeezing, and so much more. You can provide free messy play or prepared messy play, where you carefully select tools and materials that you know will help your child with specific skills and learning.
Birthday parties can be expensive and they can also get out of control very easily! Should you let them play freely? Or should you organise games? Should you book a playcentre? Or do it at home? Well, with our experience...
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By Catherine Guilfoyle. Catherine is a mum of 3 (which automatically turns you into a play expert!). She is passionate about play and learns so much from observing her children and following their interests. She has a degree Early Childhood...
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