Sensory development of young children through play

Studying the world around them, children actively use their senses. The baby feels a new toy, carefully examines it, tastes it, sniffs it, shakes it, knocks it on other objects. The first knowledge is obtained experimentally, on the basis of which the baby makes logical conclusions, learns to think. Feeling is the basis for the mental education of the baby. Therefore, it is so important to deal with the sensory development of young children.

What it is?

Sensory development is the formation in a child of ideas about the various properties of objects through their examination, comparison with each other. We study such concepts as size, shape, weight, color, taste, sound, position in space, the smell of an object.

All sensory sensations can be divided into:

• visual (vision);
• auditory;
• tactile;
• flavoring;
• olfactory.

The sensual experience of the peanut, obtained by him until the age of three, is key to the development of cognitive abilities. Thinking, remembering, imagination require mental manipulations with images formed in the process of perception of various objects, phenomena. The task of adults is to create conditions for kids to study the basic properties of the world.

A feature of the sensory development of young children is the fact that voluntary attention is not developed in them. A child can only focus on activities that interest him. Therefore, all classes should be carried out in the form of a fun game, be short-lived.

The perception of babies is unstable. They pay attention to only one, the most striking sign of the subject. Properties for them are inseparable from things. Therefore, it is important that the children manipulate different objects, toys with the same sign (for example, color). The result of the sensory development of young children should be the accumulation of a variety of sensory perceptions, on the basis of which a system of standards will begin to form.

Touch standards

Exploring the world around us, we compare objects among themselves. In this case, special “measurements” or generally accepted samples of various external properties and qualities of objects are used as a guideline. They are usually called "sensory standards."

Children from 1 to 3 years old get acquainted with the following concepts:

• Color. Gradually 9 primary colors are introduced.
• Shape (square, oval, circle, triangle, rectangle).
• Size (small, medium, large).
• Sounds of the native language.
• Notes.
• Taste (sour, salty, bitter, sweet).
• Smell (sweet, heavy, bitter, light, fresh).
• Temperature (cold, warm).

The sensory development of children of early and preschool age suggests that it will be easy to operate with all the standards by the age of 5. However, a two year old child should:

• know and classify items according to 3-4 primary colors;
• navigate in size, be able to assemble a nesting doll, a pyramid of 4-6 rings;
• correlate volumetric figures with flat ones, be able to insert a sorter part into the corresponding hole;
• find a light and heavy object, a cup of cold and hot water;
• be able to draw various lines on paper: horizontal and vertical, long and short.

With the development of sensory abilities of young children, it should be borne in mind that in 2-3 years all channels of perception are improved in an accelerated mode. If you deal with the baby correctly, then by the age of 4 he will be able to:

• name and select items in 6-9 colors;
• arrange toys in a row in size, collect a pyramid of 8 rings;
• Compare two objects by length, width, height;
• put a puzzle or cut picture from 6 parts;
• group items based on a common attribute;
• distinguish between volumetric and flat geometric shapes;
• draw lines of different lengths in any directions.

Sensory development of young children in preschool

Preschool pedagogy pays great attention to enriching the sensory experience of pupils. In nursery groups, a sensory area is organized, where there are:

• sets of sticks, bars, geometric shapes in different colors, shapes, sizes;
• didactic toys (nesting dolls, pyramids, mushrooms, collapsible eggs, balls, inserts);
• natural material (cones, walnuts, shells, peels from an orange, bags stuffed with coffee grains, aromatic herbs, cereals);
• books made of fabric and paper of different textures;
• convex numbers and letters;
• musical instruments, whistles, rustlers;
• cassettes with classical music, sounds of nature;
• toys with light effects;
• volumetric pictures, hatching;
• lacing;
• mosaics and puzzles.

Children can use materials for independent subject play, studying them spontaneously. The teacher systematizes the experience gained while doing this, organizes group and individual lessons, focusing on the approved program.

The sensory development of young children according to GEF covers the following educational areas:

1. Socio-communicative. During the game, kids communicate with the teacher and peers.
2. Cognitive. Children learn to classify objects by color, shape, quantity, taste, size, etc.
3. Speech. Children learn new words, try to use them correctly.
4. Artistic and aesthetic. The teacher suggests listening to music or a rhyme, drawing a picture, making a plasticine figurine, dancing.
5. Physical. By manipulating various objects with toys, children improve fine and large motor skills.

Using special technologies

The sensory-cognitive development of young children in a nursery or kindergarten is more successful if the teaching staff uses modern methods, techniques and teaching aids. The following technologies are widely used:

• Montessori system. It involves the free play of kids in a specially created subject-developing environment. The room is divided into zones. In one of them, children master practical skills (dressing, buttoning, transfusion of water, etc.), in others they develop sensory organs, get ideas about the number of objects, numbers, letters, the world around them. Maria Montessori carefully designed special didactic games: The Pink Tower, in-molds, The Brown Stairs, rough letters. But there is a place here and ordinary things: basins, sponges, napkins, cereals, water. The role of the teacher is to stimulate the independent play of children, taking into account their individual characteristics.
• Using Lego Dacta constructors. This technology of sensory development of young children includes various games for modeling, reproducing a given sample, working with schemes. The basis of the designer are familiar cubes, wheels, figures of people, as well as special details for studying numbers and letters. At the same time, Lego Dacta is distinguished by its multifunctionality. Kids will be able to create thousands of models, getting acquainted with the colors, shapes, sizes, spatial ratio of objects, developing fine motor skills.

• Sensory rooms. They are multifunctional rooms where the psychologist provides preventive and corrective work with babies using color therapy, music therapy, game therapy, and fairy tale therapy. There are a dry pool and shower, soft modules, tactile and musical panels, sensory tracks, sandboxes, fitballs. Sounds beautiful music. The room may have a dimmed area where children like to relax. At the same time, children not only enrich their sensory perceptions, but also get rid of stress and cope with fears.

Features of the sensory development of young children at home

Not all children 1-3 years old attend kindergarten. In this case, the task of sensory development of crumbs falls on the shoulders of the parents. Unfortunately, some mothers and fathers do not understand the importance of such work. It seems to them that if the baby hears, sees, smells and tastes, then he will gain the necessary experience. However, experiments showed that without the active participation of an adult, the impressions received remain superficial and inferior. The child still does not know how to highlight the main thing, is lost in the abundance of sensations.

Another mistake of modern mothers and fathers is the desire to quickly plant small children in textbooks, teach them how to read, write, recognize fruits in pictures and list the planets of the solar system from memory. Such parents forget that for the development of the brain the same type of intellectual information is not enough. Intensive sensory stimulation is needed at an early age. It is she who makes all parts of the brain work, ensures the correct interaction between them.

Parents should consider self-education on the sensory development of young children. A properly organized environment, special games will save the baby from many problems with behavior, training, coordination of movements and development of speech.

How to organize homework?

In an ordinary apartment there is no such abundance of means of sensory development of young children, which are available in kindergarten. However, with the right approach, parents can create an interior for their child aimed at activating sensory sensations. Texture wallpapers, various lighting options, a night lamp with a projector, rustling curtains, massage mats, pillows stuffed with cereals and aromatic herbs - and now the home version of the sensory room is ready.

Of course, during the classes you will need didactic toys: pyramids, nesting dolls, mosaics, constructors, puzzles and laces. However, many games for developing the sensory abilities of young children can be made with their own hands from improvised materials. Children like to use buttons instead of the usual mosaic, bottle caps. Geometric shapes can be cut out of cardboard. Having poured different types of cereals into balloons, we get a tactile simulator.

The sensory development technique for young children involves the use of playful learning. Consider the main ones:

• Assignment Games. They suggest that the child performs interesting tasks of an adult. Any kid will agree to catch balls from the net with water or dig a mink in the sand for a toy mouse.
• Hide and seek games. Children like it when an item appears and disappears. Show the baby a double matryoshka, rattle it. Create an intrigue: what's inside? The discovery of a small nesting doll will cause a storm of excitement in the child, and he will be happy to hide and find it again, while studying the size.
• Puzzle games. The unknown is always attractive. Blindfold the baby and ask them to guess the item by touch, fruit to taste, musical instrument by sound.
• Modeling games, when using cubes, mosaics, designers, the kid reproduces images of real objects.

We develop all types of perception

Visual methods are widely used for the sensory development of young children. Didactic games for the most part involve the involvement of the visual channel. Other forms of perception are not given much attention. How to fix this state of affairs?

Consider the different channels of perception, as well as games that will help their development in babies. So, children receive information about the world through:

• Vestibular sensations. The child’s ability to maintain balance and control his body depends on their development. It is very important that the baby ride on carousels and swings, jump on a trampoline, climb the Swedish wall, run, tumble.
• Tactile sensations. For their development, games with water, sand and grains, drawing, modeling from plasticine or dough are excellent. Do not forbid the baby to touch everything that is possible: water in a puddle, grass, pebbles, tree bark. More often embrace, stroke the child, play "a bunch of mala" and finger games.

• Sense of smell. For a walk, invite your baby to smell flowers, grass, tree bark. Guess the smell of objects, products, learn to classify them as edible and inedible. Light the incense stick, move it and ask the baby with his eyes closed to determine where it smells. Create a collection of food flavors by arranging the spices in jars. Look for the same.
• Auditory perception. Kids should listen to classical music, the sounds of nature (birds singing, the sound of the wind, the murmur of water). Thundering jars of cereal and a bottle orchestra are all extremely useful for the sensory development of young children. Through the game, teach the children to distinguish sounds. Organize a “guessing game” by identifying a musical instrument or object hit with a blindfold.
• Taste sensations. Cook a variety of dishes. Ask the child to close his eyes and to taste to guess the fruit, vegetables, the composition of today's menu. Put spices in jars: vanillin, salt, citric acid, sugar. Ask to find a sweet or sour taste, pick up a pair, remove excess.

Games for children from 1 year to 2 years

At this age, kids are actively exploring the world, mastering space, studying the functions of objects. They are easy enough to interest in a new occupation, but the peanuts are not enough perseverance. You can offer the following games for the sensory development of young children:

• "What's in the bucket?" Put toys of 3-4 colors in a children's bucket, close the lid and call the baby. Pull out one object together, violently rejoicing to everyone: “Look, this is a red machine! What a beautiful one! And this is a blue cube! Is it really wonderful?” Arrange all objects in a row, hold them in your hands, admire and hide them back.
• "Who's howl." Find audio recordings of animal sounds and pictures of them. Invite your baby to listen to the tape and show who was screaming right now.
• "Catch the beast." The child closes her eyes, mom holds a soft toy on any part of his body. The kid must guess where the animal ran.
• The magic bag. In a fabric bag, put three objects familiar to the child. For example, a book, a ball, a cube. Take them out, consider, fold them back. Ask the baby to touch the item you named.
• "Hill". Fold the cardboard in half. The result was a slide. Roll balls from it, cars, little baby dolls. Put a cube in front of the slide, watch a toy car crash into it.
• "Boxes". Take a few boxes with different lids. Let them unscrew, rise, move away at the opening. Hide small toys, beads, balls inside. Invite the baby to find a surprise inside the boxes.
• The shout. Roll the cone out of cardboard. Make different sounds through it.

Games for kids 2-4 years old

The third year of life is the most favorable period for improving the channels of perception of the child. The list of games for sensory development is expanding significantly. The following activities can be offered to young children:

• "Find a couple." Pour different fillings into balloons: sugar, buckwheat, flour, peas, beans. Let the baby pick up the pairs that are the same to the touch.
• "Dress the doll." Pairs of socks or gloves are mixed, the child must find the same in color and pattern.
• "I feel my back." An adult draws geometric figures on the back of a toddler that need to be guessed.
• "Close the windows." 4 colors houses with windows of different geometric shapes are made of cardboard. They must be closed with the correct shutters.
• "Where is the music?" A sounding toy is hidden in the room, a melody is started, and the child searches for it.
• "Zhmurki". The child is blindfolded, put on mittens and invited to the touch to recognize a person or piece of furniture.
• "Fragrant bags." Cloth bags are filled with dried herbs. Give the child to smell one of them, for example, with lavender. Now blindfold you need to find the same smell.
• "Taste it." Let the kid with closed eyes taste the products and guess: this fruit or vegetable, raw or boiled, a bun or bread.

Diagnostics

Tests designed to assess the level of sensory development of young children do not cover all areas of work. As a rule, they reveal how concepts such as "shape", "color", "size", "part and whole" are formed in babies. You can check your child by taking the tasks from the table as a basis.

Based on the results of the diagnosis of sensory development of young children, conclusions are drawn. Perhaps your baby:

• Develops ahead of schedule. Such children carry out tasks with interest, act accurately, they themselves notice and correct the mistakes made. With minimal help, adults cope with exercises for the older age group.
• Develops in accordance with age norms. The child is interested, completed at least 4 tasks, finds errors with the help of an adult. With his help, he coped with exercises for older children, making small inaccuracies.
• A little behind peers. Such kids are not interested in getting the result, they don’t want to correct the mistakes, the tasks are performed inaccurately. At the same time, they can do exercises for younger children.
• He is far behind in development. The child does not understand the essence of the tasks, randomly plays with objects, cannot complete exercises for the younger age group.

The sensory development of young children is the key to their happy future. Accumulating sensory experience, the child prepares the ground for successful intellectual development, opens his own talents, develops speech and learns to interact with people around him.