How do children grow their sense-making as they mature? Understanding sensory development helps parents, caregivers, and educators navigate important aspects of children’s well-being. Sensory development is one of the most basic ways that children interact with the world, yet their early experiences using their senses are the building blocks for cognitive, emotional, and physical development. With their five senses — sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste — little ones filter and orient their attention like busy sponges. Covering the basics of why sensory development matters, the stages of sensory growth, and guiding principles for encouraging sensory growth provides some grounding for adults as they care for children in important and thriving ways during this initial stage of life.
What is Sensory Development?
Sensory development refers to how children develop and refine their senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. It occurs in the first few years. The perception of the senses is how the child interacts with the environment. For instance, a baby learns about texture by touch and hears a distinction between two sounds.
The Stages of Sensory Development
1. Infancy (0-12 Months)
- Newborns: The sense of touch is well-developed at birth, as is the sense of taste. Newborns can discriminate between warmth and cold, and they can respond to different textures and pain. The sense of smell also works well at birth, since babies can pick up the mother’s scent hours after birth. Babies explore their surroundings by touching and tasting them.
- 3-6 Months: Babies begin at this stage to focus on visual objects. They follow objects with their eyes. They start grasping and manipulating toys. They begin to differentiate between sounds. They learn to recognize familiar voices.
- 12-24 Months: Sensory growth progresses rapidly as babies become mobile, crawling and groping about. Sensory stimulation intensifies. Babies become more skilled at differentiating sounds and visual patterns; they develop their curiosity about textures in orality, gastrointestinal development, muscular development (that familiar crumbling of marbles in the ‘kanakas’), and even tasting. 24 Months: They begin experimenting with solid food as weaning commences.
2. Toddler Years (1-3 Years)
- 12-18 Months: Exploration is a toddler’s calling, and they particularly enjoy sensory activities involving pouring, squeezing, and dumping. Toddlers’ fine motor skills improve, enabling more accurate control of objects. Toddlers begin to have food preferences and develop particular tastes for textures and tastes.
- 18-24 Months: Development at this age is centered around finer-tuning sensory processing. Children engage in exposure to new materials with which to play. The production of new categories of sensory experience becomes more and more complex.
- 2-3 Years: By this stage, toddlers have more coordination and are beginning to engage with fantasy play. They’re still exploring their sensory experiences through things such as art, and playing with water and in the sand. Yet they are becoming better at integrating their sensory experiences, which helps them to solve problems and regulate their emotions.
3. Preschool Years (3-6 Years)
- 3-4 Years: Sensory integration is becoming a bit more sophisticated. Preschoolers can manage more multisensory tasks; for example, they can play with a mixture of textures and join in group activities. Their body awareness is maturing, and they can take note of where different parts of their body are in space – this helps with controlling their emerging motor skills and balance.
- 4-6 Years: With the approach of the school years, sensory processing is honed to a fine edge. Children can sit and concentrate on a drawing or craft task and utilize their senses to problem-solve, for example, making conjectures about what will happen next in a story.
The Importance of Sensory Development
Sensory development is crucial because it impacts several areas of a child’s growth:
- Development of Cognitive Abilities: Experiences of the senses stimulate the development of the brain. Tactile experiences, for example, enable children to distinguish between the physical properties of an object – such as its heaviness or texture. Color, shape, size, and other visual properties of objects are evident through sight and hearing. Auditory stimuli develop language and memory.
- Motor Skills: Sensations serve to hone gross and fine motor skills, such as crawling, grasping, and balancing.
- Emotional and Social Development: Sensory experiences affect the brain-body regulation of emotions. Good sensory interactions support comfort and security; adverse sensory experiences can help children develop resilience and coping strategies.
- Learning and Behavior: Because sensory processing affects your child’s ability to process information and learn, difficulties with attention, coordination, and relationships can arise. A child’s sensory profile affects his ability to learn and behave appropriately.
Encouraging Sensory Development
There are many ways a person can support sensory development in children. Here are some useful tips:
1. Create a Sensory-Rich Environment
Offer plenty of opportunities to explore things sensory – use sand, water, playdough, yogurt, cornflour, textured fabrics, etc; create sensory tubs and trays filled with an array of items the children can pour, scoop, and manipulate.
2. Incorporate Sensory Activities into Daily Routines
Include sensory elements whenever possible for day-to-day activities. Let children assist in cooking or baking to evoke different textures and odors. Use toys and different temperatures of water for sensory play while bathing.
3. Offer a Variety of Textures and Materials
Allow children to experience different textures and materials with activities such as finger painting, feathers and sponges, and fabric swatches; building with blocks; and a sensory scavenger hunt.
4. Encourage Outdoor Play
Another reason that outdoor play is so beneficial is that there are many more sensory experiences offered than indoors. Outdoor activities such as digging in the sandbox, jumping in the rain or puddles, or even just walking in the backyard can help children develop their sensory systems. While indoors there may be a few things to touch or see, outside there is almost infinite sensory stimulation, such as the texture of grass between toes or the sounds of the birds singing.
5. Engage in Music and Movement
Children also develop their auditory and vestibular senses through music and movement activities. Sing songs, play musical instruments, and do rhythmic activities; dancing and moving to music will also enhance their coordination and balance.
6. Read Together
Reading together is an excellent skill-builder for sensory and cognitive development. Interactive books with textures or flaps are a great place to start, as is discussing the pictures and sounds of the tale.
7. Practice Mindfulness and Relaxation
Teach your children mindfulness and relaxation strategies to better self-regulate Reinforce those strategies by having her engage in simple sniffing, stretching, and other basic mindfulness or more involved sensory-based relaxation strategies to self-regulate when sensory overload hits.
Understanding Sensory Processing Issues
The child may struggle with sensory processing challenges, where how the child processes sensory input can vary, and one can perceive this as either hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity. They might seem sensitive to touch or pain, clothing, noises, movement, and so on, or some children can appear under-responsive and struggle with interaction with the environment. Another example of this is that some children might be a little less cautious with fireworks than others. The common signs include:
- Hypersensitivity: Reacting to loud noises, bright light, or the feel of clothes in an exaggerated way. A child might refuse to join in some activities or become distressed at even minor everyday challenges.
- Hyposensitivity: Desperately seeking high sensory levels of input, fighting for superior input (wanting to touch more coins), excessive touching, biting, or crashing into objects. Children may not register some sensory information properly and require more intense input to increase the odds they will respond.
If you suspect sensory processing issues in your child, an occupational therapist who specializes in sensory integration might be able to help, to assist your child and determine interventions for the challenges the child faces.
Sensory development is one of the most important factors influencing your child’s physical health, cognitive development, emotional well-being, and overall wellness. Learning about the different stages of sensory development and providing your child with a diversity of sensory experiences can help his or her cognitive, emotional, and physical growth. How to promote healthy sensory development? At home or in rich environments, incorporate sensory activities into daily routines, and be aware of sensory processing disorders.
Your child will learn to love these sensory journeys, and the joy of discovery will infuse many experiences in her future. Sensory development enriches your child’s early life and also forms the groundwork for a lifetime of learning and growth.
