First-hand experiences are fundamental to children's learning and it is through their interactions with the world around them that they begin to make sense of it. Throughout the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage references are made to the importance of providing opportunities for sensory investigation. Nursery Topics - Senses offers a range of activities that focus on using and exploring sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell, across the six areas of learning.
Motivating children to learn
Instilling in children a positive approach to learning at this early stage is crucial in laying the foundation for positive attitudes to education during school and later in life. As practitioners we can inspire their learning and feed their enthusiasm through the environment we create and the activities we plan.
Children are naturally curious and the introduction of an exotic shell to the sand tray, a natural sponge to the water tray or a length of glittering, metallic fabric in the story corner will attract them and lead to further exploration and fascinating discoveries.
A mysterious sound coming from inside a box or a new smell in the dough can be the starting point for discussions, questions, suggestions, explanations and descriptions. Even the sound of a pneumatic drill digging up the road outside can have children flocking to the fence!
As children actively explore their environment, they instinctively turn to their senses to find out about it. We can help to develop their sense of wonder about the world and delight in their learning by providing them with exciting objects and materials to look at and handle, different smells and tastes to discover and distinguish between, and new sounds to make and hear.
Focusing on a sense
Sometimes the isolation of a sense can really help children to focus and increase their sensitivity and awareness. If children are unable to see an object but can feel it, their sense of touch will be developed and they will learn to use this particular sense more actively in future investigations. Similarly, sounds made behind a screen will encourage focused listening -instead of being able to see or touch what is making the sounds, they must use their sense of hearing to identify it.
Learning across the curriculum
With a little imagination, tactile, visual and auditory stimulation can enrich children's learning experiences in all areas of learning. A box of polished stones, for example, will delight children and can provide a wealth of opportunities for learning through sensory exploration - looking at and feeling the shape, size and pattern; using descriptive language, such as shiny, smooth, sparkly; counting by listening to the stones as they are dropped into the box; choosing the shiniest little stones to decorate a crown.
Offering children a range of sensory experiences allows them to explore ideas more fully and deeply - how much more interesting to be able to feel numerals cut from sandpaper or velvet than just seeing them? Or to be able to count beats as you play a drum?
Sensory impairment
When planning a topic on the senses, practitioners will need to take account of the particular needs of children with any sensory impairment, in particular visual or hearing. Some activities will need to be adapted to meet the needs of individual children, but if practitioners are providing a curriculum that places a high emphasis on play and learning through all of the senses, they will find that hearing or visually impaired children will benefit from many of the planned activities. See page 20 for general guidelines on supporting children with a visual or hearing impairment in the nursery setting.
Home learning
There are many ways in which parents and carers can develop children's learning through the senses at home and in the wider environment. In fact, they are probably already offering their children lots of exciting sensory experiences but may not be aware of the potential of everyday events as significant opportunities for learning.
Guidance for parents outlining some of the ways in which they can encourage sensory awareness, and suggesting simple activities, is included on the back of the Nursery Topics poster.
