SPRING SENSORY GAMES WATER TEXTURE FUN!

On the first warm spring day, get your tot set up with one of these games that aid development.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

■ A large bucket or paddling pool with a small amount of water in it.

■ Different textured water toys – a sponge, face cloth, plastic pot scourer, a soft nail brush and plastic textured toys.

WHAT TO DO

■ Sit your baby in the water, or if he is too small to sit, sit in the water with him and hold him.

■ Gently stroke his body with all the different textures – for the rougher textures like the pot scourer and nail brush, only touch his hands, so you’re not hurting his skin.

■ Allow him to feel the different textures and play with them.

■ Shake them, pat them, poke and prod them.

■ Splash water all over his body.

■ If you’re in the water with him, put more in so that he can feel the volume of his whole body in the water.

WHY?

■ To promote the sense of touch. The more “feely” experiences your baby receives, the better he is able to interpret and understand touch.

■ Water provides a different touch experience to other touch.

BEACH BALL FUN!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

■ A beach ball

WHAT TO DO

■ Roll the ball across your baby’s visual field, and get him to crawl after it.

■ Pat the ball and listen to the sounds it makes.

■ Lie your baby over the ball on his tummy, and rock him back and forth.

■ Tie the ball onto some fishing gut or string, and hang it from the doorway. Make sure it’s low enough for your baby to hit with his hands while he is sitting.

■ For extra fun, put the ball into your baby’s paddle pool while you play together.

WHY?

■ To strengthen the eye muscles as he watches the ball come close or move further away.

■ To practise visual tracking skills as he follows the moving ball from one side to the other.

■ To promote his auditory sense when he listens to the sounds you make.

■ To promote balance as he rocks back and forth on the ball.

TIP While it’s not necessary to stimulate your baby every moment of the day, it’s important that, as he begins to interact with you, you’re able to provide the stimulation that’s appropriate for his age and developmental stage.

COLOURED ICE BLOCKS

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

■ Paddle pool or a plastic toddler’s table

■ Food colouring

■ Ice tray and a freezer

WHAT TO DO

■ Mix some food colouring with water in a jug.

■ Pour the coloured water into ice trays.

■ Freeze the water.

■ Once frozen, put the ice onto a tiny table for your toddler to play with or put it into the bath or paddle pool, so he can watch it melt and try to catch it.

WHY?

■ To promote the sense of touch.

■ To stimulate the sense of touch, we need to provide a variety of ways for our children to experience it. We need to look at texture, temperature, shape, size and weight. Playing with ice includes all of these.

■ Do not leave your toddler alone with ice, as he might try to swallow it! ■