Why Are Sensory Toys Good For Child Development?
Sensory toys come in all shapes and sizes, and there’s one out there that will appeal to your child.
Whether they love exploring new textures, listening to music, or watching brightly colored lights dance around them, there’s sure to be a toy that will capture their attention and engage their senses.
Keep reading to learn more about how sensory toys can benefit your child’s development.
What Are Sensory Toys?
Sensory toys are playthings that appeal to the senses. They can help kids develop their senses of touch, sound, sight, and taste, critical for development. There are many kinds of sensory toys. Some tap into more than one sense at a time.
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3 Types of Sensory Toys
There are many different kinds of sensory toys available, but it’s important to make sure that you select one that’s appropriate for your child’s age. Children’s sensory toys can range from simple visual aids such as light projectors or mobile phones with LED flashlights to more advanced items like bubble tubes or weighted blankets.
1. Tactile
Tactile toys appeal to touch. They can be smooth, rough, bumpy, or various textures.
2. Visual
Visual toys appeal to sight. They may have bright colors or patterns, move in interesting ways, or change how light is perceived visually.
3. Auditory
Auditory toys appeal to sound. They can make sounds — squeaks, squawks, bells, or music — and may have different volumes or tones.
What are the Different Kinds of Sensory Toys?
Toys that help develop sensory skills are popular among children with special needs parents. They can be used to award good behavior or help calm kids in stressful situations. Here are some of them.
Stepping Stones
Stepping Stones are made of natural soft rock material, non-toxic, and harmless to a child’s skin. The texture can stimulate their tactile sense, balance, and creativity while helping them to explore. The toy also has bright colors, which attract children’s attention and help them recognize colors.
Colorful Spinning Tops
Colorful spinning tops are the perfect thing to take on a trip. They are small, easily packable, and light. Each one has its own unique color scheme and style. These toys are fun and educational because they help develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
Mini Trampoline
A mini trampoline is a good sensory toy for kids to exercise, and it helps them with their balance and coordination. It will help children improve their gross motor skills, which are the large body movements such as running, jumping, and climbing.
Puzzles
Puzzles can teach toddlers colors, numbers, and shapes while they play. They will be able to identify colors by matching them up as they put the puzzle together. When they put the pieces together in the right order, they exercise their brains and make them stronger.
Fidget Toys
Toys that spin and click are fun because they provide a different tactile experience than squishy toys. They make noise, which is helpful for those who need auditory stimulation.
Why are Sensory Toys Good For Child Development?
Sensory toys benefit your child, including improving gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and sensory development. Here are some of the examples of how your child can benefit from sensory toys.
1. Helps Stimulate and Increase Awareness of the Five Senses
Sensory toys help stimulate the child’s senses through sight, smell, touch, and sound. Some products will provide a stimulus that encourages the child to use their imagination.
Examples are windmills with whirls or shapes that spin when blown by air and bubble blowers that create bubbles when they are blown through a straw.
2. Enhances Your Child’s Early Development and Brain Function
With the use of sensory toys, children will be able to explore new things, which will help stimulate the development of the brain among children. Also, when babies play with toys that make sounds, it helps them recognize and learn to differentiate between different sounds.
When toys are placed in front of the eyes, it helps them recognize different colors, shapes, and sizes, which all help in brain development.
3. Beneficial for Children with ADHD
Children with ADHD and ASD have trouble focusing, and sensory toys can help them focus better. Sensory toys give children an outlet for their extra energy, thus calming down and focusing more easily on learning tasks.
4. Acts as Learning Tools
Sensory toys can be better for children who struggle to learn traditionally. These toys can help children expand their creativity, critical thinking, imagination, and social skills.
5. Helps with Fine Motor Skill Development
Fine motor skills are the small movements performed every day, such as buttoning a shirt or picking up a fork. For children with autism, fine motor skills cannot be developed as easily as they would be for other children. Toys that encourage movement and manipulation of items will help improve fine motor skills.
6. Great Way to Bond with Your Child
Sensory toys are widely known to help children with autism or developmental delays. However, they have also become widely accepted as a great way to bond with your child. It is amazing how they can help with development and learning.
Sensory toys are not just for kids. They are also good for adults. Many adults use sensory toys for stress relief, relaxation, and meditation.
7. Helps Children Learn More About the World
Sensory toys encourage exploration and discovery. As children play with sensory toys, they learn about cause and effect and how different objects react to each other. This helps them to perceive more about the world around them.
Sensory Toys Foster Learning and Development
It is important to continue providing sensory experiences that promote their growth and development as your child grows. By exposing your child to various sensations through tactile, auditory, and visual experiences, you can further open up a whole new world for them to explore.