Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/art-and-sensory-activities-in-defense-of-messing-around/5014654/
Why do we bother doing messy art and sensory activities with infants and toddlers? The child isn't interested in the final product, and sometimes doesn't even seem to look at the paper while the paint or crayon moves across it. The parents give you a dubious look when you hand them the scribbled piece of paper and say that it helped develop their child's fine motor skills. Really?? Admit it. If a child is never exposed to crayons, paint, sand, or playdough before the age of three, will fine motor skills, or other academic learning be delayed? Probably not. But we persist. We see pleasure on the child's face, or concentration. We enjoy exposing the child to new materials and sensations. Somehow, we know it is important. We believe in play.Our profession designates several types of play that emerge at different stages of development. The earliest type of play is object play, or exploratory play, which is closely linked to motor play. Watch what an infant does when you hand him a new object. He seems to be asking himself, "I wonder what I can do with this thing?" Then he proceeds to mouth it, hit it against other objects, ...