At the start of the year I wrote my blog ‘Using everyday items to develop eye and hand control in toddlers’ and in the weeks since, I can see how Daisy’s eye and hand control skills have flourished (she recently hit her 16 month eye and hand control milestone), particularly as now, as well as the various household packaging items, Daisy has a set of sensory tubes to use too.
We decided to purchase a set of these tubes from Learning Resources when we realised that Daisy would now be able to enjoy using them in her play.
Daisy has now become independent, determined and quite competent at filling and emptying these Perspex tubes. I watched Daisy sat on her blue builder’s tray and playing with some different coloured lentils and some Mothercare Happyland figures.
She isn’t just dropping items into the tubes, now she’s tracking the items as they drop from her fingers and she’s watching how she’s filling up the space inside the tube. There’s still plenty of repetition with emptying and refilling her tubes with a variety of objects. And when Daisy is ready, she’s placing the lids on top of the tubes.
With a variety of toys nearby, Daisy’s able to discover what items will fit into the tubes and what items are just too large. She’s developing sensory skills, particularly touch and sight as she investigates holes and spaces and she’ll continue to practise these skills with other toys like shape sorters, alongside the sensory tubes.
I’m looking forward to seeing the different ways that Daisy chooses to continue to play with the sensory tubes.
We want Daisy to practise her skills and we know that she can pick up the small lentils. Always match the dried food contents that you select for the sensory tubes to your child/grandchild’s pincer grasp so that they don’t become frustrated during this kind of play because they can’t easily pick up the dried food.
Granny Smith's Diary 