At Sonas, In Feathers, Fur or Fins Play Lab, children explored a range of sensory and creative activities:
• Feeding My Furry Friends – children engaged in pretend play, “feeding” them with food, fostering empathy and role-play skills.
• Playdough – Children squeezed, rolled, and shaped dough, strengthening fine motor muscles and exploring textures.
• Ocean Goop Play – Blue-tinted cornflour goop provided a sensory experience, encouraging investigation of liquid and solid properties.
• Rice and Ducks – A tuff tray of coloured rice with small duck toys invited scooping, pouring, and imaginative water-themed play.
• Colouring Masks – Children used pencil colours and markers to decorate animal masks, developing creativity and pencil grip.
• Glueing Feathers to Peacock – Using glue sticks, children added feathers to peacock cutouts, practicing coordination and design choice-making.
Children moved freely between activities, often combining materials (e.g., adding feathers to the rice play). They interacted socially, shared tools, and demonstrated curiosity through touching, smelling, and verbalising observations.
Analysis
The variety of activities supported multiple areas of early childhood development:
• Sensory Exploration: Goop, rice, feathers, and playdough provided rich tactile experiences, promoting cognitive development and sensory integration.
• Fine Motor Skills: Squeezing playdough, using glue, colouring, and scooping rice enhanced hand strength, dexterity, and coordination.
• Creativity and Expression: Mask colouring and peacock feathering encouraged artistic expression and decision-making.
• Language and Social Skills: Pretend feeding animals and shared play in sensory trays prompted turn-taking, new vocabulary, and cooperative problem-solving.
• STEM Foundations: Children observed cause-and-effect (e.g., goop changing consistency), explored volume (rice scooping), and categorised by colour and texture.
Overall, the session successfully engaged children through play-based learning, allowing them to explore at their own pace while building key developmental skills.