Squelch

Children cannot resist touching things. Finding out how things feel is one of the ways in which they begin to make sense of their world. As children explore with their hands, they discover not only new and pleasurable sensations, but also some they dislike. When planning such experiences, remember to consider any allergies children might have before presenting them with any new materials.

Finer feelings

* Encourage children to focus on the sense of touch, by hiding objects with interesting textures in feely boxes or bags. Invite them to take turns to put a hand inside and try to describe what the object feels like. Extend their vocabulary by suggesting new words to support their descriptions.

Introduce topic-related experiences, such as feeling a soft furry toy animal and contrasting it with a hard plastic one, or identifying hidden fruits or vegetables by touch.

* Go for a 'feely' walk, pausing to run fingers over different textures, such as tree bark, brick walls or a smooth leaf.

* Create a 'feely' display board at child height, by attaching small squares of contrasting materials to the surface.

* Buy and make 'feely' books for the book corner and include them in displays. Introduce books in Braille and talk about the importance of touch to the visually impaired.

Ways with trays

* Provide an array of interesting materials in trays. Suggest that the children feel the contents with their eyes closed, so they can focus on touch.

* Mix cornflour and water. Children will be fascinated with the way the mixture will drip and run yet leave the fingers dry.

* Mix soapflakes and water, and enjoy moulding mountains and valleys.

* Spread a thick layer of compost in an empty water tray and invite the children to run their hands through it. Add jugs of water and have fun making a thick muddy mixture. Discuss how the texture changes. Extend the activity by making mud pies with soil outdoors.

* Add blocks of ice to the water tray. Talk about how the blocks feel before adding warm water, and then discuss changes in texture and temperature as they slowly melt.

* Place cooked spaghetti of various colours in a tray for the children to feel.

* Enhance water play by adding blue colouring, green spaghetti 'sea snakes'

and plastic sea creatures.

* Hide natural materials, such as shells or conkers, in a tray of wet or dry sand, and ask the children to shut their eyes and try to find them by touch.

* Invite children to handle a variety of natural textures, such as rice, leaves, pea pods and wood shavings, presented in shallow trays.

Tabletop fun

* Tip some jelly on to a clean washable surface for the children to squeeze and swirl around. Does the jelly feel sticky, runny, soft or hard? Explain to the children why they should not eat it.

* Squirt shaving foam on to a washable tabletop and make finger patterns on the surface or mould it into shapes.

* Invite the children to feel a lump of clay before rubbing water over the surface to make it shiny and wet.

* Add oats, seeds, grains or glitter to playdough to create different textures.

Sticky feeling

* Invite the children to spread a little honey on the palm of their hands and rub it between the thumb and finger. How does it feel? Now pull the finger and thumb apart. What happens to the sticky substance? Do the same with syrup, PVA glue and a cornflour and water mixture and talk about the children's observations.

* Ask the children to feel a closed strip of Velcro and then pull it apart.

What do the surfaces feel like? Which is rougher?

In contrast

* Sort items according to whether they have a rough or smooth surface, for example, sandpaper and cellophane.

* Contrast rigid and flexible objects, such as a log and plastic tubing.

* Compare stretchy and stiff materials, such as an elastic band and a pencil.

* Discuss whether surfaces feel warm or cold, for example, wool and metal.

* Talk about how parts of some objects feel different, for instance, a hairbrush with a rough head and a smooth handle.