We have a little bit sensory play every day, whether it's with water in the sink, sand in the sand table or mud in the garden. I never realized that the things I have been doing with my children over the last 12 years are considered sensory play!
The thing they like most of course seems to be the water play. There are days I will just let them play the day away in the bathtub with their toys and little bottles of soaps to make "potions" or other imaginary food or drink.
Being comfortable in the water is very important for me to instill in my kids. I want them to feel at home in the water as much as possible, and I have a feeling that all this bathtub play has got my sweet DD, who is almost 5 years old, into swimming in a big way!
She now shows me (and her 2 brothers) how long she can hold her breath underwater and how many bubbles she can blow in the water. Of course she has also learned to squirt water out of her mouth at her little bro, and he is learning to get her right back with his buckets.
On a semi-regular basis we trek to the local YMCA with friends and go swimming in the "big pool" as my sweet DD calls it. She enjoys getting into a pool that she can barely touch the ground in, and has a blast sliding down the small slide set up just for the little kids. I love the family pool at the YMCA because it's just the perfect size to get comfortable in the deeper water.
She loves going to all the splash pads in the summertime and we have now explored 3 different splash pads and 2 different wading pools this summer and already have a list to try out for when the warm weather comes around again.
I can't wait to get her into actual swimming lessons so she can learn to really fly in the water, but for now just getting her in and exposing her is good enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment