Rainbow Sensory Play

This was my daughter’s first time playing with rainbow-colored rice so she was super excited when she saw all the colors.

She tried to carefully keep them separated on the wooden rainbow board as she was doing it. At the end I told her it was ok to mix it all however she wanted and she loved that too!

Sensory setups like these are not typical in Montessori but they work really well for us. My daughter loves the sensory input from different textures and colors, all of which sensory play setups like this offer. It keeps her engaged for longer periods of time, which really works to increase concentration, has a very calming effect on her, enabling us to have great conversations about different topics. I’m always surprised by how much she is able to absorb during these moments.

Sensory play offers a number of other benefits too. It helps strengthen fine and gross motor skills, problem-solving skills and helps support cognitive growth and language development. Research shows it helps build important connections in the brain’s pathways, which will enable the child to complete more complex learning tasks later on.

Cleaning up is part of the learning process, so make sure to encourage your child to tidy up after they finish playing. Model how to do it until your child feels confident enough to initiate the tidying up process independently.