Flower Play
Date: July 26, 2022
Time: Sensory Play
Facilitators: Jasmine, Simran J and Sifat
Props used
Flower petals (red, pink and white colored), nine small plastic bowls and trays.
What was the activity?
This activity was highly sensory in nature. It involved touching and sensing the texture of the flower petals, playing with them and finally sorting them into individual bowls in terms of their colors.
Why did we plan this activity?
Sensory Experience: This play stimulated our arthlings' sense of touch, sight, and smell. The kids responded with how soft the petals feel in their hands.
Color recognition: The toddlers were given the prompt to bifurcate red petals from the white and the pink ones and place each color in their respective bowls. This prompted them to identify and learn about differentiating the colors from each other. Differentiating based on colour can help developing cognitive abilities, leading to the development of problem solving and critical thinking skills in children
Fine Motor skills: Our arthlings were shown how to rip the petals apart or pick each petal and put them in the bowls in terms of their colors. This activity will strengthen their finger grip leading to development of pre-writing skills.
Mindfulness: This activity aimed at connecting the kids with the natural world around them. Also, while the kids were swirling the flowers all around, they seemed quite engaged and focussed, stimulating mindfulness.
The Series of Steps engaged in?
Flower petals were already placed in three separate trays. Three mini bowls were placed in each tray for sorting later on. The tray was presented in front of the kids and prompts were given to enhance the sensory exploration.
How did it go? (Finally!)
Mostly, all the kids participated in this sensory play. The colors of the flowers were quite attractive. The kids took their time exploring petals and their colors. Taksh enjoyed putting the mini branch with a flower behind his ears and also tried putting one behind the facilitator's ears. Neyansh tried sorting the petals as per colors for a while. The facilitator rolled the petals over Yuvaan’s face and he was found sitting patiently, absorbed by the sensation of the petals over the skin. By the end of it, Atharv Goyal, Krishay, Yuvaan, Neyansh, Kaira, and Swastik started swirling the petals over each other and one could notice a lot of giggling and colorful smiles across the room. Hriday seemed to be enjoying when one the facilitator poured petals over his head.
