Explore

Below you will find a selection of experiences suitable for children aged 0-2 that you can carry out to support the development of their senses.

Listen for the birds

Encourage your child to listen to natural environment sounds, developing their senses.

Safety First

Ensure your child is dressed for the weather outdoors. Role model and encourage your child to effectively wash their hands after exploring the natural resources.

What to do

Explain to your child that you are going to sing “Two little blue birds”. Sing the rhyme to your child, you could complete the actions and encourage your child to copy you.

Following this, head outdoors with your child and encourage them to listen for birds. Role model to your child what you can hear, such as “I can hear a bird saying tweet, tweet!” Encourage your child to listen to sounds they can hear.

Point out birds for your child to see; “Look, this bird is sat on a branch in the tree”. Use single words related to the birds such as ‘trees’, ‘nest’, ‘feathers’, ‘wings’ and ‘fly’ developing your child's vocabulary.

Invite your child to join in with singing the rhyme again, as they listen and watch the birds in the outdoor environment.

Two Little Blue Birds Lyrics

Two little blue birds, sitting on the wall,
(hold up your index finger on each hand)

One named Peter,
(wave your left index finger)

One named Paul,
(wave your right index finger)

Fly away Peter,
(put your left finger behind your back)

Fly away Paul,
(put your right finger behind your back)

Come back Peter,
(bring your left finger back and wave it)

Come back Paul.
(bring your left finger back and wave it)

More Information

Children begin to use their senses to explore the environment that surrounds them. This develops their physical skills, exploration skills, and generates spatial awareness.

Discovery bottles

Support your baby's sensory awareness with this experience.

Safety First

Never leave your baby unsupervised with the discovery bottles in case the lid comes off and the items become unsecured. Check the lids are secure, before, during and after playtime.

What to do

Prior to the experience prepare the sensory bottle by cleaning out some clear plastic drinks bottles and placing some items inside. For example you could place dried pasta tubes in one, glittered water in another and some shredded paper in another. Secure the lid with sellotape, or better still, use the cleaned lid from a medicine bottle.

Place the bottles out for your baby to explore. Show them how they can shake the bottles and how the objects move inside. Encourage your baby to explore how each of the bottles are different.

Comment to your baby on what they can see inside or what sound the contents make.

More Information

Sensory play such as this experience also supports your baby's motor skills as they manipulate the bottle to cause a reaction.

Ribbon tunnel

Support your child's spacial awareness in this sensory experience.

Safety First

Ensure that ribbon is no longer than 22cm as this may cause a strangulation hazard. Ensure the ribbons are very well secured and check this before, during and after the experience.

What to do

Find a large cardboard box and open it at one end. Collect together pieces of ribbon or fabric and secure these at the top of the box with some very strong tape so that they hang down.

Invite your baby to explore the box, feeling their way through the ribbon tunnel you have created!

Use key words to support your baby's understanding such as "in" and "under".

More Information

Sensory experiences help to develop children's spatial awareness.