Why A “Hands-On” Sensory Diet?
Birds gotta sing, fish gotta swim, and kids gotta MOVE and TOUCH. Moving and touching are how children first learn about the environment around them. Feeling a blanket with their skin, touching a flower petal, stretching their arms up toward the ceiling, climbing a jungle gym, and running in great circles are ways that children gain the important information they require to function well. Preschoolers need a variety of active, hands-on experiences, because kids are sensorimotor learners. Sensorimotor means that sensory information comes in, and motor responses go out. For example, the feel of a bunny’s soft fur is a pleasant sensation, and stroking the bunny is the appropriate motor response. Children need many concrete lessons, such as bunny-stroking, before they are developmentally ready to gather abstract information, such as ABCs and math facts. Using many senses leads to healthy sensory integration. Sensory integration is the neurological process of taking in sensory information,
