Early Childhood Teaching Solutions – Helping Teachers Find Answers to their Teaching Challenges

Infant and Toddler Sensory Exploration

December 5, 2018

Dear Professors,

I am an infant and toddler teacher in a local child care center. I have eight children aged 6 months (sometimes younger) to 16 months in my room.

In my center, staff practices the Continuity of Care approach. This approach is designed to keep children with the same educator for at least 16 months, before they move to a toddler room, at the age of 18 months. This approach is good because it builds strong attachment between educators, each child and their family. However, Continuity of Care can create teaching challenges for me because of the wide age-range of children in my room which can range from very young infants of 6 weeks, to 16 month toddlers.

My director has been encouraging me to include more sensory experiences with the children beyond exploring with finger paint.

I already put finger paint on infants’ high chair trays and for toddlers, I use a low table. I paint on the toddlers’ feet and let them walk around on long rolls of paper. To help children explore touch I make up sensory bags that contain a small amount of water. I also stick materials to the windows or on the floor to enable the children to touch and explore.

I have just attended a professional development workshop in which sensory activities for infants and toddlers were covered. It was good and gave me a few more ideas. However, I need more experiences that include fine and large motor sensory activities beyond what I am doing. Can you please help me?

Thank you,

Marlo

Dear Marlo

Thank you for your letter describing how you already provide some good sensory experiences that enable infants and toddlers in your room to use their sense of touch. We understand your teaching challenges and we suggest ways to help you overcome them.

We have some suggestions and ideas for you in response to your letter:

You have some understanding of sensory needs for infants and toddlers in your room.
The wide age-range of children in your room makes it difficult for you to provide appropriate sensory experiences for them.
Your director wants you to provide more sensory experiences for children.
Too few and too narrow a range of sensory experiences are provided.
Not enough fine and large motor opportunities exist in the sensory provision.

We encourage you and the other educators in your room to read the following articles together. Working in a team will enable all educators to learn about strategies to implement in your room that tackle the teaching challenges you are concerned about.

To help children explore touch…..and beyond

Your letter indicates that you already provide children with some appropriate activities that enable them to explore materials by using their sense of touch.

To help you develop a fuller understanding of the scope and importance of sensory experiences to infants and toddlers please read two short articles:

The Importance of Sensory Experience for Learning: Jean Piaget’s Theory of Intellectual Development http://www2.ca.uky.edu/hes/fcs/keys/The_Importance_of_Sensory_Experience.pdf

In this article three crucial points are given:

From birth infants and toddlers are wired to use their senses to learn about their environment.
Developmentally appropriate sensory exploration must provide opportunities for infants and toddlers to use their senses of touch, vision, hearing, touch and smell throughout the daily routine.
Infants and toddlers use their senses together at the same time.

A Handful of Fun: Why Sensory Play is important for Preschoolers by Amanda Morgan

https://notjustcute.com/2010/03/24/a-handful-of-fun-why-sensory-play-is-important-for-preschoolers/

Two important factors concerned with what educators must do during sensory play and exploration are:

Interact and talk about sensory play with infants and toddlers to grow their learning and understanding about their world.
The sensory table is often misunderstood as the place for sensory play. Instead, integrate sensory play opportunities throughout the room and during all play and caring routines.

The wide age-range of children in my room, from very young infants of 6 weeks, to older toddlers of 16 months, create teaching challenges for me.

As a team read and use these three resources to help you provide sensory experiences that take account of the wide age-range of infants and toddlers in your room:

Healthy Minds: Nurturing Your Child’s Development

https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/series/healthy-minds-nurturing-your-child-s-development

In this online resource three ways are given to help you and your team provide for the wide age range of infants and toddlers in your room. Explore the resources for nurturing children’s development from ages birth-18 months. Each resource has Charting Your Child’s Healthy Development.

As you know, age is not the only indicator of each child’s development. Use also your own child observations to accurately indicate each child’s individual needs across linked or separate social, emotional, intellectual, language and motor areas of development.

Sensory Development for Infants and Toddlers: Early Care and Education best practices.

https://www.collabforchildren.org/sites/default/files/downloads/bestpracticessensory.pdf

Four ways are given to help you provide developmentally-appropriate sensory experiences for both infants and for toddlers:

Create partitioned areas in your room that keep infants who are not yet mobile safe. Also create separate spaces for toddlers who are moving around.
Organize the sensory materials so both infants and toddlers can, when they choose to, reach for them and freely explore them.
Organize varied planned activities that your observations indicate infants and toddlers are currently interested in.

Infants and Toddlers: How Children Develop Sensory Awareness: Alice Sterling Honig

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/infants-toddlers-how-children-develop-sensory-awareness/

Here are three ways to develop your sensory provision so that children of all ages will benefit:

Educators’ proximity to infants and toddlers changes over time. Infants need educators to lovingly cradle them and stay close to them. Toddlers though are happy for educators to be slightly further away. Some distance provides toddlers with beginning independence to safely explore supervised indoor and outdoor environments.
Use food times to explore and talk with infants and toddlers about taste smell and texture.
Varied speech tones helps infants discriminate between sounds. Singing rhymes to toddlers builds their sense of rhythm and their understanding of vocabulary.

My director has been encouraging me to include more sensory experiences with the children beyond just exploring with finger paint

Setting up a Sensory Environment for Infants and Toddlers: Teacher’s Corner

http://www.imagineeducation.com.au/files/CHCECE018022/11.pdf

Two ways are given to help educators provide more and more varied sensory experiences for infants and toddlers.

Create varied sensory experiences by giving infants and toddlers access to a wide range of materials that are made available to them throughout the day and also continue to provide educator-led sensory opportunities that are available at certain times of the day.
Provide a wide range of open-ended materials that allow infants and toddlers to explore and use in their own ways. See the list of ideas.

I need more experiences that include fine and large motor sensory activities beyond what I am doing.

Please read these two articles that will help you include more fine and large motor activities into your sensory provision.

Infants learn through their senses – YWCA

https://www.ywcanwil.org/infants-learn-through-their-senses/

Learn three ways to incorporate more fine and large movement opportunities into sensory experiences by:

Get down to infants’ and toddlers’ levels to understand what their world looks like. Locate sensory resources at levels and in containers that encourage them to move and reach for them.
Offer infants and toddlers different indoor and outdoor surfaces to play on to support the development of their balance and coordination.
Support infants’ and toddlers’ motor skills by placing them in different positions that help them develop muscle control.

Infants and Toddlers: The Power of Sensory Experiences

https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/242-babies-and-their-senses

Another strategy to support fine motor development is:

Provide infants and toddlers with a range of safe tools that enable them to manipulate sensory resources.

To help keep babies active and exploring their world read this short article:

Science Experiences for toddlers

https://handsonaswegrow.com/science-activities-toddlers/

Container Baby Syndrome

https://lifespantherapies.com/container-baby-syndrome/

For continued and consistent exploration with their world, infants & toddlers explore more when lying or sitting directly on the floor or in an adult’s lap

We hope these articles help you and your team develop a rich sensory environment that overcomes the teaching challenges in your room. Please write to us and tell us how you get on.

We wish you every success,

Heather, Lorraine and Tricia

www.flickr.com/photos/nadia.phaneuf/3816549496

Nadia’s Letter: Children rarely use the sensory table

June 30, 2018

I don’t understand why children in my classroom are not interested in playing at the sensory table.

Dear Professors,

I need help with a teaching challenge I do not know what to do about. I don’t understand why children in my classroom are not interested in playing at the sensory table. I think the sensory table is an important learning center because it gives children opportunities to use their initiative to explore new materials and find out what they can do with them. It connects so well to STEAM. I need help with new ideas to draw children to the sensory table and to hold their attention there.

The sensory water table is the least used play area in the classroom and on some days, no one plays there at all even though four children have space to play. It is open for 45 minutes during “work time”, giving children an extended period of play. Despite my best efforts, the sensory table is uninteresting to children.

They prefer to play in other play centers, e.g. the house, blocks, listening area and lately the art center.

I observe that when materials are placed in the sensory table, children often play with them for a short time and then leave. Even though a varied range of materials exist in the sensory table, children’s interest is short-lived. The materials are regularly changed in the hope that children’s interest will increase. It seems that children enjoy playing with anything that is wet and messy.

sunflower seed https://www.flickr.com/photos/overduebook

The same challenges persist even when I use a variety of sensory materials

Even though water, dirt, sand, snow, bird seed, popcorn, beads, feathers and table top toys have all been used, the same challenges persist.

A wide range of tools is made available for children to use at the sensory table, including spoons, pitchers, funnels, fishing poles with magnets, and containers with lids that open in different ways. However, these tools do not hold children’s interest for long.

Please help me understand what is going wrong and what I can do to improve this aspect of my teaching?

Thank you,

Nadia

Dear Nadia,

Thank you for writing to us and describing many very good examples of sensory area provision you already make in your classroom. We understand the teaching challenges you face concerning children’s lack of sustained play at the sensory table. We offer you suggestions to help you overcome them.

We have made a plan that responds to each of your three teaching challenges you face concerning:

Children’s underuse of the sensory table
Understanding how children learn at the sensory table
Setting up and resourcing the sensory table

The goal is to improve both the quality and quantity of children’s play at the sensory table so that opportunities for learning and development are increased.

Despite my best efforts, the sensory table is uninteresting to children.

We encourage you to read the following articles that introduce you to strategies that address your teaching challenges at the sensory table.

Morgan, Amanda (2010) A Handful of Fun: Why Sensory Play is Important for Preschoolers. http://www.notjustcute.com

In this article three ways are given to help educators sustain all children’s play at the sensory table:

Provide children with plenty of free and structured play opportunities during the daily routine to explore sensory materials at the sensory table. This experience will support children’s intellectual development and help them engage and sustain their play for longer.
Foster talk between educators and children during sensory play that will support children’s language and vocabulary development. When educators take turns and carefully listen to children’s conversation, they enable children to ask and answer questions that develop their thinking. Children then learn to express language that describe their actions and make up stories that sustain their play.
Provide children with a range of tools in the sensory area that enable children to act on and combine materials together. These actions support children’s manipulative, creative and problem solving skills and so help to sustain their play.

We believe the sensory area gives children opportunities to use their initiative to explore new materials and find out what they can do with them.

To more fully understand how children learn at the sensory table please read these two articles:

Debra Hunter (2008) What happens when a Child Plays at the Sensory Table? https://henslerclass.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/9/3/10934575/whathappenswhenchildplayssensorytableycnov0863677-79.pdf

George Szekely (2003) Water Artists Note: We regret the journal, Arts and Activities, didn’t respond to our request for permission, if you would like a copy of the article you will need to purchase it here for 2.00: https://artsandactivities.com/store-2/products/june-2003-article-orders/

Archived number and title: A060342 Children’s Art Diary: Water Artists, George Szekely June 2003, Water art and play

These articles explain how the sensory area supports all areas of children’s learning at the same time. It explains why the sensory table is such an important learning center in the preschool classroom:

All learning domains, including social, physical, language, intellectual, creative and emotional are simultaneously supported during children’s play at the sensory table. Integration across the domains results in very rich opportunities for play that promote children’s learning and development.
Children are able to create meaningful scenarios that enable their memories, relationships and experiences to be replayed and further developed.
When educators observe, ask questions, provide new materials and plan ongoing activities, Educators have crucial opportunities that support and sustain children’s play at the sensory table.

Even though a varied range of materials exist in the sensory table, children’s interest is short-lived.

Read this article to learn how to set up an effective sensory area:

Arranging and Equipping the Sand and Water Area http://www.communityplaythings.com

Locate the sensory area in a calm area of the classroom that is not affected by through traffic.
Locate shelving in the sensory area adjacent to the sensory table. Sort, label and organize a wide range of sensory and open-ended materials that are easily accessible to children
Ensure the sensory table is empty at the start of each session. This allows children to use their initiative, plan their own ideas for play and choose relevant materials to play out their ideas.

We hope these ideas will help you improve your teaching in the sensory area with the result that children’s learning opportunities are improved and sustained.

We wish you the best,

Heather, Lorraine and Tricia

https://www.flickr.com/photos/31865767@N02/4133491123/

Note: We regret the journal, Arts and Activities, didn’t respond to our request for permission, if you would like a copy of the article you will need to purchase it here for 2.00: https://artsandactivities.com/store-2/products/june-2003-article-orders/

Archived number and title: A060342 Children’s Art Diary: Water Artists, George Szekely June 2003, Water art and play

Zoe’s Letter-High Energy Boy

October 22, 2017

Zoe’s Letter

Hi,

I’m a preschool teacher in a child care center and I have a concern about a four-year old boy, Robby. He’s high energy! I don’t want to label him but I am at my whit’s end. He is impulsive and incapable of controlling his own body. He often uses his whole body inappropriately to communicate and participate in play. He flails round and round in circles, uses karate chops, kicks his feet and throws toys around the room. He will “flop ” around at circle time and at lunch time.

During these active movements, he accidentally collides with other children. He is sorry when accidents happened.

Robby will sleeps between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM. But When he lies down, his body collapses beneath him, and as he falls asleep, he yells out and flops around like a like a fish out of water.

Coping with Robby’s uncontrolled movements is exhausting. It’s a challenge for the other children to play with him. I try and take him and the class outside as early as possible after everyone arrives but I can’t do that every day.

He is a lovable whirlwind constantly on the move and unable to remain still. I don’t want to label him with ADHD or have him evaluated yet.

There are moments of calm. He can be well mannered and respectful to others especially when he plays with trains and looks at books. Robby is already reading at a 1^st grade level.

I am concerned about the safety of the other children. They can easily get hurt when Robby is out of control.

Your help will be much appreciated,

Zoe

Coping with Robby’s uncontrolled movements is exhausting.

Our Response

Dear Zoe

Thank you for your letter. In general, four-year-olds are very active as they seek independence. We understand the challenges you face and hope to support you, Robby and the other children in your care.

The scope of the teaching challenges tells us:

You are teaching in a childcare center in which Robby is likely to spend long periods of time during the day;

Robby is a highly energetic boy who is not yet able to control his own physical movement;
Robby energetic physical movement requires close supervision. This puts a strain on the educators;
Robby creates a safety risk to himself, to educators and to the other children in the classroom;
Robby is an able child who already reads at a 1^st grade level.

We are suggesting that you introduce a number of strategies into your classroom that will help overcome the challenges Robby, the other children and the educators face.

He is a lovable whirlwind constantly on the move and unable to remain still.

Provide Robby with physical play opportunities that require him to use his physical skills in a purposeful and controlled way.

A wonderful, quick read is the article, Building an encouraging classroom with boys in mind by King M. with Gartrell, D. It gives suggestions to set up a fitness center in a well-organized classroom in which Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) is used. Depending on your classroom space, it is easy to modify the fitness center to fit your classroom.

https://drjuliejg.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/2-build-enc-env-boys.pdf

The fitness center will help you overcome your teaching challenges by enabling:

Robby to use his physical energy appropriately and so develop more control over his movement;
Educators to effectively supervise Robby’s physical play and so reduce the stress levels they currently work under;
Robby to engage in purposeful physical play and so reduce safety risks in the classroom.

Overview of information on Developmentally Appropriate Practice:

http://www.naeyc.org/DAP

The encouraging classroom for boys will also empower girls. It will open areas of interest that may not otherwise be explored by all the children in your classroom.

I don’t want to label him but I am at my whit’s end.

2. Organize the daily routine into long unbroken periods of play in centers.

Read page 34 and 35 in the article: Rethinking Environments and Activities:

https://drjuliejg.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/2-build-enc-env-boys.pdf

The fitness center will help you overcome your teaching challenges by:

Creating a permanent physical play area in your classroom that is available for Robby to choose to play in throughout the day;
Replacing Robby’s unsafe physical play with engaged physical play that will reduce conflict with other children

We also suggest you read this short article, The importance of physical environment in child care, that will help aspects of your teaching challenges:

Well designed physical areas allow children to make strong relationships by developing a sense of security and by safely exploring spaces;
Make sure the physical area, the equipment used and the supervision levels are safe.

http://www.troyrecord.com/article/TR/20110224/NEWS/302249961

Robby is already reading at a 1^st grade level.

To support Robby’s safe play and reading abilities, we suggest you:

Ensure a wide range of books are made available to him in the book area that will reduce his overly physical movement and extend his concentration;
Ask your local public librarians to help you find books that reflect Robby’s interests and support his current reading level;

This website has good suggestions for first-grade level reading books that may interest Robby:

https://www.greatschools.org/gk/book-lists/favorite-books-for-first-graders/

We appreciate your thoughtfulness about not labeling Robby and also your awareness of the times he is calm. We wish you the best.

Sincerely,

Heather, Lorraine and Tricia