Fine motor development
Toddlers use their hands and fingers to feel and manipulate sand and shells.
Be Prepared: Select and bury shells in 4–6 inches of sand in the sensory table. Arrange several containers so they are easy for toddlers to reach. Add a little water to the sand if it appears dusty.
Invite 3–4 toddlers to join you at the sensory table. Limiting the number of toddlers in the activity will help you provide individualized attention to their experiences. Explain that we can scoop the sand into the containers and pour it out again. Demonstrate by filling your container and then pouring all the sand out. Encourage toddlers to fill their containers using both hands. Emphasize the concepts of full and empty when playing with a container. Example: “The sand in your container (cup) is all gone. Your container is empty!”
Also encourage toddlers to feel the sand as it moves from their container to the sensory table. Describe the texture of the sand. Repeat and expand on toddlers’ comments about the sand. Demonstrate moving the sand with your hands.
Toddlers will be pleased and excited to discover hidden shells. Encourage toddlers to use both hands to feel for the sea shells. Join in the pleasure of their discovery! Example: “We did not see any shells. We found shells under the sand by digging and feeling with our hands!”
It will be enjoyable for toddlers to hide the shells under the sand again. Some toddlers will enjoy a game of hide and find with you. Some toddlers may wish to take turns playing a game of hide and find with a peer.
Look carefully at toddlers’ facial expressions, the direction of their gaze, and hand movements with the sand and shells. Drawing toddlers’ attention to the different tactile experiences of sand and shells helps toddlers focus on their sense of touch. Invite toddlers to describe what they are feeling with their fingers and hands. Also draw attention to how toddlers are using their fingers and hands to feel the sand and shells. The sensory activity can support hand strength and dexterity.
The activity will take an important turn when toddlers discover the hidden shells. Having control of hiding and finding shells is enjoyable. Knowing an unseen object exists (technically known as object permanence) is fun for toddlers to explore. Toddlers sometimes enjoy covering their own hands under sand and “surprising” you by pulling them out.
Some toddlers may respond to the shell discovery by trying to find as many shells as they can. This is a useful pursuit as long as it does not become a competition among toddlers at the table. It also can be helpful for you to encourage toddlers to feel their shells, and especially compare differences in the textures of shells with their fingers.
More generally, look for opportunities to interact with each child; foster emerging communication and language skills; encourage toddlers’ awareness of what others are doing with the sand and shells; and encourage sharing and cooperation, such as exchanging shells to feel with fingers.
Extra support
Demonstrate how to dig a small hole with your hands to hide a shell.
Enrichment
Ask a toddler to feel in the sand for a big shell and a smaller shell.
Fine motor development
Toddlers use scoops, cups, and their hands to manipulate a dry material, such as sand, in pretend play.
Be Prepared: Put dry sensory material into the sensory table about four inches deep. Your center’s regulations will determine a choice of dry material. Cone shapes may be used instead of cups.
[Invite 3–4 toddlers to join you at the sensory table to scoop and pour. Greet each toddler by name.]
There is one scoop and one cup for each of us to use. We can scoop sand into a cup. If our cup gets full, we can pour it into the table.
These toys remind me of ice cream dishes! I am going to stay with you to see what you like to do with these toys.
[Toddlers may begin scooping as soon as they reach the sensory table. Talk about the use of the scoop and cup even though the children have begun. Encourage toddlers to keep the cups and scoops in the tub. Example: “Our toys stay in the tub. There are lots of ways to use these toys.”
Demonstrate and describe some actions toddlers might try. Examples:
Would you like to pretend our toys are in an ice cream shop?
[Pause for toddlers to respond. Repeat and elaborate upon their responses.]
[Sit or kneel at the sensory table to foster communication. Initiate conversations for toddlers to join. Allow time for toddlers to form ideas into words.
Describe toddlers’ actions. Examples: “Derek, you used your scoop to fill up the ice cream cup.” “Malia I see you are helping Derek. You are being friendly.”
Repeat and extend the toddlers’ words. Example: A child’s comment “pink cream ‘a Mommy” can be restated as “Pink ice cream for Mommy. You are making yummy pink ice cream for your Mommy!”
Describe your actions with the toys. Examples: “One scoop of ice cream is in my cup. It is a small dish for a baby.” “Now I pour ice cream out; my cup is empty.”
If a toddler leave the sensory table, invite another child to join the activity.]
[Briefly describe something about each toddler’s play experience as the activity closes or when a toddler is ready to stop. Example: “You used your hands and your scoop to fill the cup. You told us you eat chocolate ice cream at home.”]
The texture of the dry material may be the most interesting part of this activity for some toddlers to explore. Toddlers may pile and scoop the sensory material with their hands. Describe what you see toddlers doing. Example: “I think you like the feel of the ___ (material) and want to make a pile of it with your hands.”
Anticipate that toddlers may have different ideas about what the material could represent. Examples: food for animals, an item for cooking. There may be an opportunity for you to connect a book (see Optional Reading list) to a child’s interest.
Look for and verbally support instances of toddlers practicing specific movements with their hands. Fine motor activities are important for hand-eye coordination and for making observations about properties of the materials. It is important for each toddler to have opportunities to control and experiment with materials. By scooping the dry material, for example, a toddler directly experiences an empty cup and a cup that is full. The toddlers can also experiment with tipping the cup and observing how the contents spills out.
Playing with sand or related dry material can be a soothing experience for some toddlers. The focus and attention of a toddler may be significantly increased during sensory play.
Extra support
Enrichment
Fine motor development
Toddlers use their hands to manipulate objects and pour water from a bottle to a cup and from a cup to a bottle.
Be Prepared: Select bottles that are slim enough for toddlers to hold with one hand. Set up the sensory table with about four inches of warm water. Use a pad or rug under the table to absorb accidental spills and prevent slipping.
Open the session by inviting several toddlers to practice pouring. Sit or kneel next to the sensory table. Demonstrate how to fill a bottle by holding it under water. Encourage each toddler to fill a water bottle and to pour it back into the water table or into their container. Describe toddlers’ actions with the water and items. Focus on how toddlers are moving their hands to manipulate objects and pour water. Draw attention to faster and slower pouring of water, and to different amounts of water in bottles and containers. Encourage toddlers to describe what they are doing and to look at what other toddlers are doing.
Look for and draw attention to differences in how toddlers manage the bottles and containers, especially their pouring behaviors. Point out how they are using their hands to play with the water. Example: “You used your hand to fill your bottle to the top and then you used your hand to pour all of the water into your container.” Recognize that your descriptions of a child’s actions provide an opportunity for him/her to say more. Look expectantly at a toddler after you offer a comment about his/her actions so the toddler (if looking) has a cue that you are willing to listen if he/she wishes to comment.
Look for opportunities to comment on cause and effect relationships with water pouring. Example: “You turned your hand way over and the water poured out fast.”
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: puffy paints, soft items, glue, silky fabric, look and feel books, cloth bags, natural materials, such as grass, pine cones, bark, flowers, vanilla or lemon extract, water, variety of sound makers
Sensory activities provide beneficial active learning experiences and support toddlers’ development in several domains. As you prepare the environment, consider sensory learning. Provide puffy paints and soft items for toddlers to glue onto sturdy surfaces. Place silky fabric in the building area and observe toddlers’ reactions and building ideas. Display look and feel books. Place toys in cloth bags and encourage toddlers to feel the toy before seeing it. Arrange natural materials, such as tall grasses, pine cones, bark or flowers in the room. Put a few drops of vanilla or lemon extract in the water for play. Another day, display a variety of sound makers.
Materials Needed: rattles, dish tubs, water, tubes, paper towel rolls, glue, texture materials, and toys that are soft and malleable
Provide sensory experiences for infants by offering soft, malleable toys as well as rattles. Talk with children about how play materials feel. Set up sensory bins for preschool-age children. Dish tubs with a few toys and water or a dry sensory material make a good individual activity for an older child. Preschool-age and older children will enjoy the addition of tubes with different-sized openings to pour materials through. Save paper towel rolls for sensory play. Toddlers and preschool children will enjoy using glue and textured material for collage.
© 2024 The Trustees of Purdue University | All Rights Reserved