Exploring texture is an important part of a child's sensory development. Children learn about the properties of different materials in their world by feeling their textures. It is normal for children to use their hands, feet and mouths for textural exploration.
The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) asks children to experiment and investigate (4.2) natural materials and processed materials.
Learning experiences
Make a touchy-feely book
Make a texture book by gluing different textures on the pages of a book. Write a story or label the textures. Try these flat materials: bubble wrap, corrugated cardboard, fabric scraps, fake fur, feathers, felt, foil, leather scraps, pom poms, sand, sandpaper, sequins, and ribbon.
Explore texture through cooking
Follow recipes that involve making textured food. Encourage children to increase their vocabulary and use descriptive words:
Crunchy, crispy, chewy, creamy, flaky, fluffy, frothy, gritty, juicy, lumpy, rough, smooth, soft, sticky, watery.
Be artistic
- Make crayon rubbings of everyday objects. Place a piece of paper over the object and rub the paper with a crayon, so the texture of the object shows within the drawing.
- Use tools and materials such as paint brushes, sponges or rollers to create different textures on paper.
Play with textured materials
Make sensory bins or bags that contain items with different surface textures:
- Dry food: beans, legumes, grains, pasta, noodles, corn kernels, split peas, flour.
- Wet food: cooked and coloured spaghetti, cooked and coloured tapioca balls.
- Natural materials: sand, bark, dirt, gravel, mud, seed pods, leaves, hay, twigs, sawdust, feathers, coconut fibres (coir), pine needles, pebbles, rocks, flowers, sea sponges, seaweed.
- Craft materials: beads, buttons, foam shapes, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, cork pieces, foil, water beads.
- Fabric pieces: corduroy, denim, fake fur, leather, mesh, hessian, satin, silk, velvet, wool.
- Toys: textured balls, blocks, other small toys.
Play with dough
Early childhood educators often try to make perfect playdough, which has a smooth, glossy texture. Try new textures by varying the quantities of ingredients in your recipe. It is perfectly fine if your dough turns out sticky, crumbly, granulated or oily. These are all textures that young children benefit from.
Observe how children's use of playdough changes when it has different textures. Allow children to use it in unconventional ways. They may be inspired by the new texture.
Also add textured materials to play dough: glitter, small beads, gravel, confetti, feathers, rice, sequins, shredded paper, and sand.
Inspect texture
Use a magnifying glass to examine different textures in nature such as leaves, rocks or tree bark. Describe the texture as you feel it with your fingers and look at it up close. Draw the pattern of the texture on paper using a fine, black pen.
Make an obstacle course
Add textures to an obstacle course, like bubble wrap taped on the bottom of a tunnel that children will crawl through. Hang a textured curtain for children to walk through. Add a section of mud for children to wade through.