Ideally start with the sand and rice in two different containers (either our sorting trays or something you have at home) and then place everything else around and let your little one explore.
Some top tips for open ended sensory play:
Try and be chilled about the mess – the less you can tidy up around them the more opportunities your child has to focus on their play – connecting ideas together without interruption.
If possible get everything out without your child seeing and then leave it somewhere as an ‘invitation to play’. Children are much more likely to get stuck in to something that they have found rather than something they have been instructed to play with.
Try not to interfere (similar to the mess one)- this is the best one, you can sit back with a cup of tea. Let the child lead the play, if they ask you to get involved go for it, but if they don’t sit back and enjoy your cuppa. Another options if it looks like your child is loosing interests is to ask a few open ended questions to provoke ideas. A few examples of open ended questions are “what could happen to the bee next?” or “wow, that’s interesting, how did you think of that?” but only do this if it looks like the little one is loosing interest.
Finally, don’t worry if the little one doesn’t want to play or only plays for a few minutes – leave it out for a bit, change the location of the set up or pack it away and get it out another day. Our children’s interests change frequently and today might not be the day they fancy open ended sensory play.
Most importantly have fun and witness the wonder of independent open ended play.
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