Our New Fascination With Sensory Play

We have entered into the world of "sensory" play at our house. What is sensory play? Sensory play is currently seen as one of the key areas of play for babies and young children and a crucial part of their development. Sensory play is play that involves the use of one or more of the five senses, touch, sight, smell, taste and hearing. I don't JUST have young children, however all 5 of our kiddos are really having fun! Today I'll introduce you to a fan favorite - Sensory Balloons.

I had these waiting for the kids one morning to be found as soon as they came up for breakast.

What are these? What's in them? Who's Birthday is it? Those are just a few of the questions they kept asking. I simply told them they were for them to play with. They can match them by color or by feel, or make a pattern with them.

Want to make your own? These are so simple. I got a bag of balloons for $.97 at Walmart and filled them with things I had in the house:
Rice
salt
pom poms
hair jel
water
buttons
beads

What surprised me the most was how my oldest girl responded to them. She loves them!

She pretends they are people, or airplanes, or animals, etc. When she walks into our kitchen (which is where they have been the last few days) she immediately starts looking for the balloons.

She is our child with an autistic spectrum disorder. Autism has a BROAD spectrum. While she is on the "higher functioning" end of the spectrum she still has a lot of delays, quirks, and social issues.

Given her reaction to the balloons. I have been inspired to provide our children with a lot more opportunities for sensory inspired play. Looking forward to sharing our fun with you guys!