Friday Fun: Exploring Sensory Play—Together!

The benefits of sensory play in developing executive functioning skills - no matter your age!

Have you ever noticed how sinking your hands into slime can be strangely calming… while the wrong fabric against your skin can drive you up the wall? Our senses are powerful. They’re not just about experiencing the world—they shape how we feel, how we think, and how we respond.

Today, let’s talk about why sensory play isn’t just a fun pastime, though it absolutely should be fun!

It’s also one of the best ways to help people of all ages regulate their emotions, learn about themselves and others, and build critical executive functioning skills along the way.

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Why Sensory Play Matters

Our sensory systems develop before our higher-level thinking skills even come online. They're the foundation that everything else is built upon. From the the early startle response in babies (i.e. the Moro reflex) to recognizing mom’s face for the first time to beginning to auditorily tracking sounds - sensory systems develop quickly in infancy.

We even see the sensory systems developing before a baby is born - they respond to flashlights against the womb and temperature changes, too.

If that foundation is shaky—overloaded, under-stimulated, or hypersensitive—it impacts everything above it in the brain’s hierarchy.