The sensory system begins to develop before birth and continues to rapidly grow during early childhood. Throughout early childhood and beyond, the body is exposed to various tactile, visual, auditory, and other sensory stimuli from the environment. Impressions of the outside world are gathered through the senses (touch, sight, hearing, smell, taste…), so optimal development requires stimuli from the environment in which the child lives. Lack of adequate stimuli from the external environment can have lasting consequences on a child’s development, like problems with perception, speech, learning, and behavior. The application of early integrated programs in a natural environment—such as stimulating children during their stay in kindergarten—is very important for healthy and continuous development.
Early stimulation of the child
Therefore, our preschool institution places emphasis on creating an environment that supports children’s play and learning. Early stimulation applied by our educators in their daily work with children is reflected in the following activities:
- Encouraging the development of tactile, visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and vestibular systems through various games using natural materials from the surrounding environment
- Providing conditions for free and unhindered exploration of the environment (both inside the classrooms and in the kindergarten yard)
- Supporting children’s needs, abilities, and interests in exploration.
In addition to existing didactic tools (balls of various textures, sizes, and colors, mirrors, musical instruments, climbing structures, and other toys) natural materials that stimulate all senses are also used in working with children. Daily observation of children’s activities shows that they are attracted to materials that produce strong sounds, have a wide range of colors, and possess high contrasts in texture, size, and weight, as well as unusual smells and pleasant tastes. But most importantly, it is essential to allow children to independently manipulate objects, explore, and learn from their own experience. Adults are there to encourage, guide, and follow their interests.
That is why educators and other professional associates are always ready to give parents useful advice on how to stimulate their child so that they develop in the best and healthiest way possible. We would like to share some of these tips with you: let children jump on the bed, allow them to play in sand and mud, kitchen utensils make excellent musical instruments, bath time can turn into a play session, trust your child that in the park where you might think there is nothing because there are no modern playground structures, there are actually many useful “toys.”
Everything a child develops during the preschool period will have a huge impact on their entire life.
Marija Milošević
Special education teacher – educator Trešnjober Preschool