Improving your child's sense of touch

Tactile discrimination is the ability to differentiate information received through the sense of touch. In other words, it is the ability of your mind to process information gained through the sense of touch.

We use this skill when handling tools such as scissors and pencils or doing fine motor tasks such as doing up buttons.

Children that avoid playing with materials of various textures may not be adequately developing their sense of touch.

Here are some play ideas to build your child's sense of touch:

• Place uncooked rice on a tray, let your child draw pictures in the rice with his fingers and smooth it out again. You can also use sand or finger paint (add rice, sand sago to paint for extra texture).
• Draw numbers, letters, simple objects on your child’s back, let them redraw it on a mirror in front of them using different mediums (shaving foam, finger paint)
• Decorate pictures with macaroni, lentils, sand, rice, crepe paper balls, tearing paper pieces, tin foil, cotton wool, glitter (smearing in with fingers). Dye macoroni and rice with food colouring.
• Find objects hidden in Gelli Baff, rice bowl or lentil bowl
• Get your child to identify common household objects with their eyes closed
• Add rice, bird seeds or sugar to play dough for different textures.
• Mix instant pudding, once it has thickened pour it in a tray and draw pictures in it
• Play with moon sand – make pictures with it, mould it into different shapes.

 Recipe for Moon sand:

               4 cups cornstarch
               3/4 to 1 cup vegetable oil

               Add some glitter to your Moon Sand to make it sparkle

Here are some more fun ideas:
Mouldable Sand
Ocean Sensory Rice Tray
Moon Sand

Compiled by Helen Walker