Thursday 19 July 2012

Texture Time

Using all the senses...


A lot of my friends and family have asked me how I have the energy to do all the different things that me and Dylan do together and the truth is I find it harder not to do them. When we sit idle with only the same toys and no new stimulation we both begin to climb the walls and the clock seems to only go backwards! I find introducing a new activity into the day lifts both of us and we literally lose track of time. Here is an activity which is so easy to set up and is one that we enjoy at least once or twice a week.
In the above photo you can see Dylan with a lint roller tube, a strange one I know but the sticky surface offers an amazing sensory experience for little hands. I have to say this was not intended to be a part of this texture session but once his little eyes saw me rolling it up and down he just had to have it. I ran the tape over my clothes a few times so it wasn't too sticky for him and then let him examine it, I have to say watching him explore the feel of the tape on his hands was really, really amusing and seeing him problem solve when it became stuck to his clothes was just fascinating.





















Now im pretty sure everyone has been given a gift for christmas or a birthday which has included a shower puff (for want of a better word!) and if like me you don't use one then here is a great use for it. The material these are made from has a brilliant texture for sensory play with its rough but tickly feel and not to mention the pretty puff shape is great for squashing and throwing! I first let Dylan have a play himself to get him accustomed to this strange new object and then I softly stroked his arm then his hand and so on while telling him the name of the body part. My personal favourite was cheeks and i'm sure you can guess why from the above photo.





















Now for the easiest texture tool in any stressed parents arsenal, fruit and vegetables. These healthy snacks also double as baby distraction devices and have been a godsend on many a day in my household. They are so easy as you can guarantee on almost any given day to have at least one variety to hand. It's also a great opportunity to discuss colours as well as textures. Although Dylan enjoyed playing with the apple and giving it a good licking he really enjoyed the satsuma when he clamped down on it to be rewarded with sweet orange juice! Those gums really are tougher than you might think! We sadly had to tear the satsuma from his grasp though when we discovered it contained a ridiculously large amount of seeds, one was not impressed.





















The tears quickly dried up though when he was presented with a kiwi fruit, not something he had seen before. After his success with the satsuma he instantly crammed as much of the furry fruit in his mouth as he could without really pausing to thoroughly investigate its texture. I can honestly say I would struggle to recall another occassion when I have laughed so hard! His wee face contorted into a series of ever funnier expressions but he repeatedly chose to explore the fruit with his tongue. By the end of this session my sides ached from laughing and I must have taken a hundred photos, I hope you enjoy my favourite one above!



As the months have passed and Dylan has grown we have progressed our texture play to a more advanced level. His current stage of development means we are able to avoid him ingesting inedible/unsavoury play items thus making the list of possibilitys endless. In the above session we explored cous cous, white rice, arborio rice and porridge oats. Again all items easily found in most kitchens and once the activity is done they can be simply stored away seperate from the kitchen supply ready for another day. We discussed the differences and similarties each item shared including for example "the porridge oats and rice are the same colour but one is soft and one is hard" We also examined each bowl through a magnifying glass and discussed the difference between big and small. 


 

Dylan is a huge dumper. Sounds pretty rude doesn't it but what I mean is he loves nothing more than to dump whatever we're playing with all over the floor, bed, table well you get the idea. When this happens with texture play its great as it means we can get the feet in on it to. He loves kicking his feet and watching the *insert random item here* fly around. Our ultimate favourite though is sprinkling, this is a great developer of that all important pincer movement and its great fun watching your child try to copy you and seeing that look of pride and achievement cross there face as they succeed! One down side to teaching my toddler to sprinkle that I had not anticipated however was the need to then crumble and sprinkle every biscuit, cracker or cake that was placed in front of him!



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