I received a new book this week called Sensory Play. I ordered this book as a cheat sheet to help me build even better circle times. (I’ll write more about why circle time is so important in another post.)
What happens during circle time?
- looking out the windows to peer at the animals and weather in the environment, trying to find clues to what season we’re in and what weather we can expect for the day,
- talking about the month, date, day of the week, and year,
- a song, finger play, or rhyme,
- a story or poem of the day, and
- a sensory or manipulative activity.
Sensory bins can be great at increasing attentiveness and persistence because they are engaging multiple senses. (Some suggest that attentiveness and persistence are really important for future academic success.) With sensory bins, children are using fine motor skills (especially with tweezers like our Gator Grabbers), they are seeking and making decisions with objects, they are learning new words, they are feeling different sensations with their hands, they are smelling different smells, they’re working together with each other, they’re learning how to follow directions and rules, and so much more.
Children engaged in the cooperative bean race in the bean bin on February 18, 2016.
According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), it is important to keep in mind that some children may not enjoy sensory bins – for example, they may become overstimulated. At Two Wishes Child Care, we strive to pay attention to children’s sensory processing responses and help them navigate however is most comfortable for them. If you’d like more information on how to support children by using sensory processing knowledge, I recommend this article by Dr. Winnie Dunn published in Infants & Young Children.
Children playing in the lavender-scented rice bin on February 17, 2016.
Sensory Play is very helpful because it splits sensory play ideas into different categories and then each topic within the category lists a pertinent quote, books to read, what to put in the sensory bin, supplemental activities, YouTube videos to watch, and snacks to eat. You can read more about the book at my review over at From Gutter to Gilt. As always, you are also welcome to look through our resource library whenever you would like.
If you’d like to know more about past circle time activities, you can go to the activities calendar and use the sort option to only see the circle time activities. Let me know if you need any help using this tool!