Our youngest one (AG, 7 months) is finally getting around a little bit more and spending more time awake during the day. And it is so fun to watch him, as his sister says, “learn how to play.” The discoveries he makes each day are so fun! And this portion of his growing up is so fleeting – I feel the need to soak it all up! Today we were playing with him and I just quickly decided to throw in a little sensory fun into the mix. And it was so simple and added up to so much fun for all of us!
All we added to the mix was some colorful tissue paper!
This is such a great early sensory experience for AG because he is getting so much sensory input:
- the wrinkling of the tissue paper provides something new to touch
- the crinkling of the tissue paper provides something new to hear
- the color of the tissue paper provides something new to see, and
- the movement of the paper provides something new to wonder at
To create your own sensory play for baby, here are some ideas for introducing tissue paper play:
Create a Space for Sensory Play for Baby
We set up AG in his pack n’ play. I previously have never used the pack n’ play during wake times with my babies because they were both so young at the same time, I could keep my eyes on them and keep them relatively contained. This time around I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old running around. To make sure AG is as safe as possible, I am giving him some time each day to play in his Pack n’ Play.
I will also be working on introducing a blanket play space to him (again, something I didn’t diligently do with the girls). The point is, I want him to have a space to play and I would like for it to have boundaries.
Toss in the Tissue Paper
I already had AG in his play space when I placed the tissue paper around him. I chose only 3 colors of paper, green, yellow, and blue and only a couple of sheets of each. Before I really interacted with him and the paper, I gave him time to discover and explore the paper himself. Since he is an independent sitter now (!), he spent some time picking up and shaking the paper with one hand, to maintain the balance he has fought so hard to gain. This gave him time to get comfortable with this new item in his space.
Teach Him to Play
The fun part of sensory play for babies is that they get lots of interaction with mom and dad and siblings. Once AG seemed comfortable with the tissue paper, we started talking to him about the paper, crinkling it ourselves as we did it. To encourage sensory connections we talked about the colors and the sounds using descriptive words. And his sisters couldn’t resist tossing it in the air and watching it slowly drift down – doing this over and over for his enjoyment! Another favorite for AG and us was Peek-a-Boo!
Sing a Song
Our favorite Peek-a Boo song is: (sung to the tune of “Frere Jacques”)
Peek-a-Boo! Peek-a-Boo!
I see you! I see you!
I see your button nose!
And your little toes!
Peek-a-Boo!
I see you!
He LOVES this song! He lights up every time we sing it with him!
We all enjoyed playing with AG and watching him play with the tissue paper. These little play discoveries he makes now will help him develop and grow – and it is so FUN!
