If parenting was an actual job, it would probably be one of the most difficult jobs in the world but yet can be the most rewarding. Children can consume so much of our time and energy that we sometimes resort to digital screens to keep them occupied during times when honestly, we just want to be left alone.
Your ‘me’ time is precious, but with present evidence indicating that excessive screen time can be detrimental to your child’s development, you might be concerned about how else your child can be occupied without affecting your precious ‘me’ time.
Well, a thoughtfully constructed sensory play set-up can engage your child well and leave you to enjoy that deserved cuppa. Read on to know more about sensory play and its benefits.
So how do we get create the best sensory play experience for our child with a limited amount of time? Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
- Pick a theme that your child is currently interested in
Your child may display interest in particular concepts and ideas. As his/her interest change over time, knowing his/her current interest is a strong first step that can help ensure your child is well-engaged with the sensory activity that you’re setting up.
Adhering to a theme also makes it easier for you to decide what items or activities to include in the setup for your child. At the same time, this gives you an idea of how to accessorise your play tray later on (see step 4)
- Grab ‘em old containers or trays
The container or tray will contain the entire sensory play set-up so be sure to have something that is large enough for your child to play with comfortably.
- Fill it with some fun and colourful bases
Bases are what we call the stuff that we put in the tray as a base layer. For example, beans, pasta and rice are some example of taste-safe bases. To elevate the aesthetic appeal of your sensory activity, feel free to take the extra step to colour your bases.
- Accessorise your play tray with interesting materials
Once you have decided on the theme of your play activity, include theme-related items into your tray. For example, if your child’s current interest is in vehicles, you may choose to set up a vehicles-themed sensory bin with his favourite cars or trucks. Complete the look with peripheral items such as houses, people and trees.
- Establish a play routine
Sensory play is most beneficial when incorporated into your child’s regular playtime, such as having a weekly or fortnightly sensory play session. This inculcates a habit of learning and exploration in your child. However, sensory play does require a certain amount of research and prep work beforehand, this can be a challenge to keep up in the long run amongst the millions of errands parents have to juggle.
There! 5 simple steps to optimising your child’s sensory playtime so you can have more ‘me’ time. And should you still feel that this is just way too much work for you, remember that My Messy Box is here for cater to all your sensory play needs with our themed sensory boxes and sensory play accessories. We even do customisation work for events and corporate clients. Plus, we ship worldwide!