Ready to trade perfectly clean floors for giggles, gooey hands, and a surprising boost in your child’s language? Dive into the wonderful, slightly messy world of sensory play with me! I’m always looking for engaging and effective ways to help children develop their communication skills. While structured activities and targeted exercises are part of the process, some of the most magical language learning happens when children are freely exploring and interacting with the world around them. This is where the magic of sensory play comes in!

You might have heard the term “sensory play” before, or perhaps you’ve seen pictures of children happily digging their hands into bins filled with rice or water. But what exactly is it, why is it so valuable, and how can you easily incorporate it into your routine at home to give your child’s speech and language development a significant boost? Let’s explore the wonderful world of sensory discovery!

What Exactly is Sensory Play?

At its core, sensory play is any activity that engages one or more of your child’s senses: touch, sight, sound, smell, taste, movement (vestibular), and body awareness (proprioception). It’s about providing opportunities for children to explore different textures, temperatures, smells, sounds, and visual inputs through hands-on interaction.

Think about playing in a sandbox, splashing in the bathtub, squishing Play-Doh, or feeling the cool smoothness of a river stone. These are all forms of sensory play! It doesn’t require fancy or expensive materials; often, everyday items from around your house or nature can be transformed into exciting sensory experiences.

More Than Just Fun: Why Sensory Play is So Important

Sensory play is far from just keeping a child busy. It’s a critical component of healthy development with wide-ranging benefits, including significant links to language growth:

Brain Development: Sensory experiences build nerve connections in the brain’s pathways, especially in the areas related to learning, memory, and language. The more diverse sensory input a child receives, the more robust these connections become.
Fine Motor Skills: Many sensory activities involve manipulating small objects or materials (scooping, pouring, squeezing), which strengthens the small muscles in the hands and fingers. Stronger fine motor skills are surprisingly linked to articulation development, as both require precise muscle control.
Cognitive Skills: As children explore sensory materials, they are also developing problem-solving skills, learning about cause and effect, experimenting with scientific concepts (like volume and gravity), and building pre-math skills (sorting, comparing).
Creating Language Opportunities: Now, let’s talk about the communication magic! Sensory play is where language truly catches fire. The moment tiny hands touch something new, or they make a surprising splash, their world bursts open with things to talk about. These real, hands-on experiences are the ultimate invitation to introduce tons of new vocabulary and sentence ideas, because your child is genuinely eager to share their amazing discoveries – what they’re doing, seeing, feeling, and finding

By engaging your child in sensory play, you’re not just providing a fun activity; you’re actively supporting their cognitive development, fine motor skills, and laying a rich foundation for language to flourish.

Getting Started with Sensory Play at Home

You don’t need a dedicated sensory room or a teaching degree to do sensory play. Here are some simple tips for getting started:

Find a Container: A plastic bin, a large bowl, a bathtub, or even a designated area on the floor can serve as your sensory play space.
Choose Your Filler: Start with simple, easy-to-find materials like dry rice, dry beans, water, sand, or even torn paper.
Add Tools and Toys: Include scoops, cups, funnels, spoons, small toys, or natural objects (like acorns or smooth stones) to encourage interaction.
Embrace the Mess (and Plan for It): Sensory play can get messy! Put down a towel or sheet, play outside, or do it in an easy-to-clean area like the kitchen floor. Focus on the learning and fun over keeping everything perfectly tidy.
Follow Your Child’s Lead: Observe how your child interacts with the materials and follow their interests. Do they want to scoop, pour, bury things, or just feel the texture? Let them explore at their own pace.
Join In! Your participation is key to maximizing the language benefits. Get your hands in the bin too, model actions, and talk about what you’re doing and experiencing.

Sensory Play Activity Examples: Hands-On Language Fun

Here are a few simple sensory play ideas with specific language-building tips and scripts:

Activity 1: The Classic Rice or Bean Bin

This is a staple for a reason! The dry, pourable nature of rice or beans provides endless opportunities for scooping, filling, and dumping.

Materials:

A plastic bin or large container
Dry rice or dry beans (kidney beans, lentils, or a mix)
Cups, scoops, funnels, bowls
Small toys to bury (e.g., toy animals, cars, blocks)

Why it’s great for language:

Vocabulary: Naming materials (“rice,” “beans,” “scoop,” “cup,” “funnel”), actions (“scoop,” “pour,” “fill,” “empty,” “dump,” “bury,” “find”), and descriptive words (“dry,” “hard,” “full,” “empty”).
Prepositions: “In,” “out,” “on,” “under.”
Following Directions: “Scoop the beans,” “Pour the rice into the cup.”
Requesting: Asking for tools (“scoop, please!”), asking for “more rice.”
Commenting: Describing actions (“I’m scooping!”), describing findings (“Look what I found!”).

How to play and build language:

Set out the bin with the rice or beans and the tools.
Start playing alongside your child, narrating your actions.
- You say: “Wow, look at all the rice!”
- You say: “I have a scoop! My turn to scoop!”
- You say: (Scooping) “Scoop, scoop, scoop!”
Introduce pouring.
- You say: “Let’s pour the rice into the cup. Pour, pour, pour!”
- You say: “Now the cup is full!”
- You say: “Dump it out! Empty!”
Bury small toys and “find” them.
- You say: “Let’s hide the little car! Bury the car in the rice.”
- You say: “Where did it go? Let’s find it! Dig, dig, dig!”
- You say: “I found it! The car was under the rice!”
Encourage your child to request tools or more materials.
- You say: “Do you want the scoop? Say ‘scoop, please‘.”
- You say: “Want more rice in your cup? Say ‘more‘.”

Activity 2: Wonderful Water Play

Simple water play is incredibly versatile and provides a different sensory experience – wet, splashing, floating.

Materials:

A bin, sink, or bathtub
Water
Cups, bowls, sponges, colanders, squeeze bottles
Toys that float and sink (e.g., rubber duck, small block, stone)

Why it’s great for language:

Vocabulary: Naming materials (“water,” “cup,” “sponge”), actions (“pour,” “scoop,” “splash,” “squeeze,” “wash,” “stir”), and concepts/descriptive words (“wet,” “dry,” “full,” “empty,” “float,” “sink,” “hot,” “cold”).
Following Directions: “Pour the water into the red cup,” “Squeeze the sponge.”
Requesting: Asking for tools (“cup, please!”), asking for “more water.”
Commenting: Describing actions (“I’m splashing!”), describing properties (“The water is warm.”).
Predicting: “Do you think the boat will float or sink?”

How to play and build language:

Fill the container with water. Add toys and tools.
Get your hands wet and play alongside your child, narrating your actions and describing the water.
- You say: “Splash, splash! The water is wet!”
- You say: “This water feels warm.” (or “cold”)
- You say: “I have a cup! My turn to pour!”
- You say: (Pouring) “Pour, pour, pour!”
Introduce floating and sinking.
- You say: “Look at the duck! It floats on top!”
- You say: “Here’s a stone. Do you think it will float or sink?”
- You say: (Dropping the stone) “It sank to the bottom!”
Use squeeze bottles or sponges to work on action verbs.
- You say: (Squeezing a sponge) “Squeeze the water out!”
- You say: (Using a squeeze bottle) “Squeeze the bottle! Squirt!”
Engage in simple pretend play like washing toys.
- You say: “Let’s wash the car! Scrub, scrub, scrub!”
- You say: “Now the car is clean!”

Activity 3: Squishy, Sticky, Smooth: Exploring Textures

Materials with unique textures, like shaving cream or edible goop (cornstarch and water), are wonderful for introducing descriptive vocabulary.

Materials:

A tray or shallow bin
Shaving cream (supervision needed, avoid if child is likely to eat it) OR Cornstarch and water (mix until it’s thick but also liquidy – Oobleck!) OR Pudding or yogurt (for edible options)
Spoons, spreaders, toy cars (to make tracks)
Food coloring (optional)

Why it’s great for language:

Descriptive Vocabulary: Focusing on words like “squishy,” “smooth,” “slippery,” “sticky,” “cold,” “wet,” “messy,” “thick,” “runny.”
Action Verbs: “Squish,” “spread,” “mix,” “stir,” “draw,” “write,” “make tracks.”
Commenting: Describing the sensory experience (“It feels funny!”, “This is messy!”).
Requesting: Asking for more material or tools.

How to play and build language (using shaving cream or goop):

Put a dollop of the material on the tray. Let your child approach it at their own comfort level. Some may dive in, others may just touch with one finger at first.
Model touching and describing the texture.
- You say: “Wow, this is squishy!”
- You say: “It feels so smooth.”
- You say: “Ooh, it’s a little slippery!”
Model actions you can do with the material.
- You say: “Let’s spread it out!” (Use hands or a spreader) “Spread, spread, spread!”
- You say: “Can you squish it in your hands?”
- You say: (Drawing in it with a finger) “I can draw a circle!”
Encourage your child to describe what they are feeling or doing.
- You say: “How does it feel on your hands?”
- You say: “What are you making?”
Add tools like toy cars to make tracks.
- You say: “Let’s make car tracks in the cream! Vroom!”
- You say: “The tracks look bumpy!”

Activity 4: Natural Treasures Bin

Gathering items from nature provides a variety of textures, smells, and shapes for exploration.

Materials:

A bin or basket
Items from nature: leaves (different kinds), sticks, rocks (various sizes/textures), acorns, pinecones, smooth stones, flowers, grass clippings.
Magnifying glass (optional)
Cups or containers for sorting (optional)

Why it’s great for language:

Vocabulary: Naming natural items (“leaf,” “stick,” “rock,” “pinecone”), colors, shapes, sizes.
Descriptive Words: Describing textures (“rough,” “smooth,” “pointy,” “soft,” “crinkly”), colors, sizes, and smells.
Categorizing: Sorting items by type, color, or size (“Put all the leaves together”).
Comparing and Contrasting: Talking about how two items are the same or different.
Following Directions: “Find a smooth rock,” “Put the big leaf in the basket.”

How to play and build language:

Go on a nature walk together to collect items, talking about what you see and find.
- You say: “Look! A big brown leaf!”
- You say: “Let’s find some pointy sticks.”
Bring the items home and put them in a bin for exploration.
Touch and describe the items with your child.
- You say: “Feel this rock. It’s very smooth.”
- You say: “This pinecone is rough and bumpy.”
- You say: “Listen to the leaves crinkle!”
Introduce sorting activities.
- You say: “Let’s put all the leaves in this bowl.”
- You say: “Can you find all the small rocks?”
Compare different items.
- You say: “How are this leaf and this stick different?” (One is flat, one is long)
- You say: “How are these two rocks the same?” (They are both smooth)

Linking Sensory Play to Speech and Language Goals

As you can see from these examples, sensory play provides natural opportunities to target a wide range of speech and language goals:

Expanding Vocabulary: Children learn new nouns (the names of the materials and tools), verbs (the actions they perform), and adjectives (describing the sensory input).
Using Descriptive Language: Sensory experiences are perfect for practicing adjectives related to touch, sight, sound, and even smell.
Following Directions: You can give simple to multi-step directions related to manipulating the materials or tools.
Requesting and Commenting: Children are motivated to ask for more or comment on their discoveries and actions.
Understanding Concepts: Concepts like “full/empty,” “on/off,” “in/out,” “under,” “big/small,” “float/sink,” “hot/cold,” and descriptive concepts like textures are easily taught and practiced.
Speech Sound Practice: You can embed words containing your child’s target speech sounds into your narration and encourage them to imitate.

Tips for Maximizing Language During Sensory Play

To get the most language benefit from sensory play, remember these key strategies:

Narrate What Your Child is Attending to: Talk about what you are doing, what your child is doing, and what is happening with the materials. Use simple, clear sentences.
Model Language: Introduce new words and sentence structures slightly above your child’s current level.
Pause and Wait: Give your child time to process your language and respond or initiate communication.
Ask Open-Ended Questions: Encourage more than a one-word answer (e.g., “How does that feel?” instead of “Is it wet?”).
Follow Their Lead (and Language): Listen to what your child says or attempts to say and respond to it. Expand on their utterances. If they say “Wet!”, you can say, “Yes! The water is very wet!”
Repeat, Repeat, Repeat: Children need to hear words and phrases multiple times in context to learn them. Don’t be afraid to say the same words over and over during the activity.

Sensory play is a powerful, engaging, and natural way to support your child’s development, especially their speech and language skills. It provides a rich, hands-on context for learning new words, practicing communication functions, and building the brain connections necessary for language. You don’t need to overcomplicate it – grab a bin, find some interesting materials, and join your child in exploring with their senses. Be present, be playful, and use the opportunity to talk, describe, and discover together. Every scoop, squish, and splash is a chance to help your child’s language truly flourish!

For more information check out these resource:

MDS: Top Educational Apps for Kids: Boost Speech & Language Development by Age

First Words Bright Futures Facebook Page

First Words Bright Futures Instagram Page

Disclaimer: This article provides general information and suggestions for educational purposes. It is not a substitute for professional diagnosis or treatment from a certified Speech-Language Pathologist. Please consult with a qualified professional if you have specific concerns about your child’s speech and language development.