Lavender Goop - Sensory Play for Children - Montessori Nature Printables

Preschool years lay the foundation for a child’s cognitive, emotional, and physical development. To stimulate their growing minds, educators and parents constantly explore innovative ways to make learning more engaging and fruitful. One such method that has gained immense popularity in recent years is sensory play. Among the wide range of sensory materials available, Lavender Goop stands out as a unique and highly beneficial tool for preschool students. This blog post aims to explore the significance of Lavender Goop sensory play and the numerous benefits it offers to young learners.

Multisensory Development:
Sensory play is a holistic approach that engages multiple senses simultaneously, such as touch, sight, smell, and hearing. Lavender Goop, with its appealing texture and captivating lavender fragrance, provides an enticing sensory experience for preschool children. As they interact with the Goop, they enhance their tactile and spatial skills, improve fine motor skills, and cultivate sensory integration.

Calming Effect:
The aroma of lavender is renowned for its soothing and calming properties, making it an ideal choice for children’s sensory play. The tranquil scent of lavender Goop helps create a calming environment, which is particularly beneficial for children with sensory sensitivities or those experiencing anxiety. Lavender’s calming effect supports emotional regulation, reduces stress levels, and promotes relaxation, allowing students to fully immerse themselves in the learning experience.

Language and Vocabulary Development:
Engaging in sensory play using Lavender Goop introduces children to new language and vocabulary. The sticky, slimy, or squishy sensations encountered while exploring the Goop inspire preschoolers to express their experiences through descriptive language. This exposure to rich vocabulary expands their communication skills and enhances their ability to articulate their thoughts and feelings effectively.

Cognitive Development:
Sensory play stimulates various cognitive processes, including problem-solving, decision-making, and critical thinking. Through Lavender Goop play, preschoolers are encouraged to explore different properties, experiment with cause and effect, and engage in open-ended play. These activities foster creativity, imaginative thinking, and cognitive flexibility, laying the groundwork for future academic success.

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Social and Emotional Development:
Preschoolers learn essential social and emotional skills through sensory play. Sharing the tactile experience of Lavender Goop with peers promotes cooperation, sharing, and turn-taking, enhancing their social interactions. As they engage in sensory exploration, children develop a deeper self-awareness, regulating their emotions and building resilience.

Incorporating Lavender Goop sensory play into the preschool curriculum offers numerous benefits for young learners. It promotes multisensory development, calms their minds, enhances language skills, and fosters cognitive, social, and emotional development. By engaging in Lavender Goop play, educators and parents can captivate preschoolers’ minds, create a positive learning environment, and lay the foundation for a well-rounded and successful life ahead.

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Sensory play makes kids go crazy excited. Pinching, crushing, pressing, grasping, squashing, squeezing – all perfect ways to strengthen their grip and finger muscles. Play-dough, goop, and slime provide kids with hours of calm play and allow them to develop better concentration.

Every childcare worker or parent will appreciate an easy-to-make, inexpensive recipe with just a couple of ingredients. This is a perfect option for a rainy day activity. Making goop together with kids provides an opportunity to teach simple concepts of science and work on motor development. Making goop is a super easy, fun activity that requires only a few components – cornflour, water, bowl.

It is always fun to throw in a few craft objects into the bowl, or small toys/letters/numbers for the “I Spy” game.

Adding extra ingredients, such as essential oils, makes the sensory play even more beneficial for the child’s health and emotional state filling the house with a pleasant aroma. This time we chose to add some dried lavender blooms. Lavender has a calming effect, and lavender-scented goop is perfect for peaceful afternoon play.

It is a great idea also to add some extra color to the goop using watercolour paint powder, food coloring, natural food coloring (for example, beetroot juice), or just acrylic paints.

We usually use a whole package of cornflour and add just a little bit of water at a time to make the desired consistency. Some prefer it to be more liquid; others prefer a more solid version of goop.

And don’t forget to pop on that painting shirt, because it will get messy.
Next time I plan to make an orange-scented goop with a couple of drops of orange essential oil and add orange food coloring to the recipe. For the Christmas Season, choose bright red /green/golden colors, and add Christmas craft parts, and cinnamon scent. Hours of fun are guaranteed.