Eli, Jasmine and Rylee got their hands into the paint today. Having time to explore paint and fingerpaint is an important part of the programme at HECC. As the children explore sensory materials with their hands, fingers and on their skin, they are using their sense of touch. This lays the foundation for learning other skills, such as identifying objects by touch, and using fine-motor muscles. The addition of colourful beads added other dimensions – sight and sound – to their play, as the children rattled and pulled the beads through the paint. Eli was quick to get the paint up to his mouth, engaging his sense of taste and smell.
Stimulating the senses sends signals to the child’s brain, that help to strengthen nerve pathways, important for all types of learning – and it is FUN!
In this photo Rylee is painting with her fingers.
In this photo Eli is painting with his fingers.
- In this photo Jasmine is holding a string of beads in both of her hands. The beads are covered in paint.
Here is an extract from the Texas School for the Blind about the tactile sensory system;
“The tactile system processes touch experiences felt through the skin as light touch, firm touch or pressure, static touch, moving touch, temperature, pain, and comfort. There are two primary functions of the tactile system. One is protection and the other is discrimination.
The protective touch function is neurologically bound to the limbic system of the brain. This system is described as the emotional control center with direct connections to the primal flight or fight responses. The protective function of the skin is reflexive and primarily unconscious with touch sensations automatically categorized into calming, soothing, familiar sensations, or into danger reactions.
The discrimination functions of the skin are conscious, cognitive tasks that are learned through experience. These include touch localization, recognition, and stereognosis. Localization refers to knowing where on the body one is being touched. Tactile recognition is required to learn characteristics of objects such as size, shape, texture, and the weight of items. Stereognosis is object recognition through touch.”
We engage the children in a variety of tactile experiences so they have opportunities to participate and develop their sense of touch.
Click here for a link to the article quoted above by Lisa Ricketts, Texas School for the Blind.