Water balloons

Sensory play with the water balloons is a great opportunity for children to explore and use descriptive words, describing their senses and what they were feeling; slippery, slimy, soft, squishy and heavy. It doesnt need to be during bath time, you could simply use a bowl of water to fill your balloons, then allow your children to start squeezing them, twisting them into other shapes and sliding them through their hands. 

A few quick facts about the benefits of sensory water play:

- Sensory play encourages children to manipulate and mold materials, building up their fine motor skills and coordination.

- Sensory play uses all 5 senses, but the sense of touch is often the most frequent. Toddlers and children process information through our five senses. 

- It is process-driven, not product-oriented; it is the purest sense of exploratory learning

- Self-esteem: sensory play offers children the opportunity for self-expression because there is no right answer and children feel safe to change or experiment with what they are doing.

- Creates opportunities for language development and learning new words