Shape Hunt Sensory Play

When A was around 18 months old she had some wooden shapes she enjoyed playing with so I decided to create a shape hunt sensory bin with some colored rice. She has always loved sensory play and even though it is not traditionally Montessori, it is nonetheless enjoyable and can be quite beneficial for young children.

I provided her with  some scoops, a little spoon and a bowl for the pieces and just let her explore as she wished. It was the first time I had prepared an invitation to play using rice as a sensory base so she really took her time at the beginning to manipulate and feel the texture of the rice between her fingers. It was so nice to watch!

I thought she would search for the pieces with her hands (she hadn’t shown much interest in using scoops up until this point) but she also started using the scoops to empty the bin as she searched – problem-solving at its finest – so I gave her a muffin tin to pour into.

This type of activity is great for developing and strengthening fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, practical life skills (scooping, pouring), spatial awareness, vocabulary, concentration, and of course sensory play can also be a calming and mindful activity for younger children.

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.

Bringing play to life:

• How about going on a shape hunt around the house?
• You can add an extra challenge in sensory bin and ask your child, blindfolded, to see if they can guess what shape they have in their hands.