It's been a while since I posted about sensory play - mostly because the weather has been so great we have just been splashing in the paddling pool and lounging outside!Last year, I posted all about Isabelle's treasure basket, and the different bits and bobs in it. I continued to add things to it for a few months, and one of those items was a set of hair curlers which I picked up on a whim at the local chemist one day. I got a large set of 4, and a smaller set of 6, and I think the price came to about £3.
Since I got them, Isabelle has really enjoyed them. She doesn't play with her treasure basket much anymore, however I have noticed recently that she has started taking the curlers out and playing with them quite often.
These curlers are a great little sensory toy - their 'sticky' feel, the way they stick together, the different sizes, the way the roll if put on the long side, or stand up if put on the short, the sound they make when she bashes them on the table...there is so much that these simple little items offer to Isabelle.
Today, she just took them out, and set them on their ends on the table. Then, one at a time, she picked them up and moved them to a different part of the table. Over and over again. It doesn't sound very exciting, stimulating, or important - but it obviously was for her as she played for around 15 minutes doing it! Little activities like this really help her work on her fine motor skills too, as setting the curlers on end is fiddly for her. She also likes to put the smaller rollers inside the larger ones, and try and stack them together, and she enjoyed being able to give them to daddy today while she played. She also got one of the tubes from her ball drop out, and popped the smaller curlers down it - but couldn't fit the larger ones down which helps her understand the concepts of size.The concentration she shows when she is playing with them is unbelievable - everything is focused on what she is doing with these little blue and green cylinders.
I'm sure lots of you have these hiding in the bottom of a bathroom drawer, or if not you can pick them up so cheaply in a chemist. I know they seem like such a weird thing to give to a child to play with, but Isabelle really does love playing with these, and the concentration she displays lets me know that they really are a worthwhile addition to our sensory play basket.
So, the humble hair curler - your time has come!
