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Why are the five senses important in young children's learning?

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Why are the five senses important in young children's learning?

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Teaching students about the five senses provides them with a foundational framework for understanding and intreating with the world around them (West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, 2017). By exploring how we use sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell to gather information, children gain a deeper awareness of their environment and how it shapes their experiences. This knowledge not only enhances their ability to communicate about the world but also strengthens their observational skills and encourages curiosity. As children make connections between sensory input and their understanding of people, places, and objects, they develop a richer vocabulary, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities, which are essential for their cognitive and emotional growth.

West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. (2017). Teaching students about the five senses. Retrieved from www.wvdhhr.org

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How do creative play experiences help children's sensory development?

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How do creative play experiences help children's sensory development?

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Sensory play is a very important part of childhood it encourages learning through exploration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity. As children engage with different texture, sounds, and materials, they stimulate connections in the brain, which supports cognitive and sensory processing (Out of School Hours Care, n.d.). These activities not only foster the development of language skills by encouraging communication and vocabulary growth, but also enhance motor abilities, as children manipulate objects, build, and experiment with their environment. The best part of sensory play lies in its limitless potential; virtually any material or activity can become a tool for sensory exploration, from sand and water to everyday household items, promoting endless opportunities for imaginative and development growth. By engaging these senses. children can strengthen their cognitive, emotional, and physical development, setting the foundation for a lifetime of learning.

Out of School Hours Care. (n.d.). Sensory play and its benefits. Retrieved from Only About Children

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Toddlers absolutely delight in exploring their world through their senses. Sensory play - play that stimulates any of a child's senses - builds cognitive skills and influences how your child learns about their world.

Squish, squelch, spin, splash, squeeze, bang, run, scoop, shake, drop, smear, toss, spray, and ooze - toddlers absolutely delight in exploring their world through their senses. It sounds (and can be!) messy, so you may often be inclined to cut this type of play short. But in fact, sensory play - play that stimulates any of a child's senses - has an important role in a child's health and development. Through it, your child builds cognitive skills and learns about their world.

What is Sensory Play?

In essence, sensory play includes play that engages any of your child's senses. This includes touch, smell, sight, sound and taste. But it also covers movement, balance, and spatial awareness. When a child is born, their senses aren't fully developed. They only mature over time as babies, toddlers, and preschoolers explore the sensory world around them. Each new experience they have with a different sense builds nerve connections that grow the architecture of their brain.

Benefits of Sensory Play for Babies

Babies learn and develop new connections in their brain through play. Sensory play also helps babies to learn more about the world around them and supports language development as they learn to respond to different stimuli. Babies can enjoy simple sensory play such as touching different objects and surfaces and hearing how different materials create varied sounds.

Benefits of Sensory Play for Toddlers

Toddlers are usually developing their thinking abilities and will start trying to do things for themselves. They are learning about concepts, like time and opposites, so activities that compare light and dark, and sorting colours, will encourage toddlers in their exploration.

Benefits of Sensory Play for Preschoolers

Preschoolers will often be exploring more independently and further developing language. Playing with musical instruments, and creating and building different shapes with various objects and materials, will further encourage these developments.

Overall Benefits of Sensory Play

Sensory play encourages learning through exploration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity. It helps to build nerve connections in the brain and encourages the development of language and motor skills. There are many benefits that may go unnoticed, such as the development of abilities to focus and block out distractions.
Sensory play is an important part of childhood and, within reason, there are really no limits to what you can use in sensory activities. Nature can often be your best friend when it comes to sensory play!

What are the Characteristics of Sensory Play?

The different characteristics of sensory play align to the five common senses, along with two additional senses related to balance and proprioception (the perception or awareness of the position and movement of the body).

1. Tactile Play

This is probably the type of play you're most likely to think of when we talk about sensory play. Any time you see children exploring an object with their hands, they're using tactile play. From tactile play, children can learn about pressure, temperature, vibrations, and so much more.

2. Vestibular Sensory Play

Rolling around, hanging, swinging, and jumping can all contribute to your child's development of balance. This is because the sense of balance and movement comes from the vestibular system, which is located in the inner ear. Getting a child's head into as many different positions as possible helps strengthen the vestibular system by activating various receptors in the ear.

3. Proprioception Sensory Play

Think of how you're able to move your arms and legs freely without needing to look at them. That's thanks to proprioception. Pushing, pulling, and jumping all help your child develop spatial awareness of their body. Through proprioception, children learn where they are physically in space and how their limbs relate to the rest of their body.

4. Auditory Sensory Play

Bang, boom, clash! It might not be your favourite type of play, but auditory play helps your child differentiate sounds and develop their hearing. Give your child a wooden spoon and a saucepan and you'll see how they explore sound through play. Disclaimer: this might not be so kind on your nerves.

5. Visual Sensory Play

The Visual Sensory system is closely connected to the Auditory and Vestibular systems. Visual play helps to develop your child's vision and sight. Think of how your child watches the "airplane spoon" as you fly it into their mouth. Playing with, and identifying, colours and patterns is a fun and engaging way to encourage Visual sensory play.

6. Olfactory and Taste Sensory Play

Olfactory relates to the sense of smell. It is also directly related to taste. It's harder to gauge when a child is using their sense of smell and taste, but obvious examples include when they smell flowers or test the taste of their brand new building blocks. Children can develop these senses through games that encourage the exploration of smell and taste.

Theorists

Jean Piaget is somewhat of a celebrity when it comes to developmental psychology. He was perhaps the first theorist of sensory play, suggesting that there was more to "play" than we understood. His theory of play (also known as developmental stage theory) states that play involves a systematic process of learning that can even be identified by stages. Piaget proposed that children need environmental stimuli and experiences to guide their cognitive development. Through sensory play, he suggested that children digest new knowledge and store it for later reference. In essence, he argued that this type of play was key to a child's brain development.

Play at Only About Children

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Exploring the Benefits of Sensory Play for Children

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Sensory play has an important role in a child's health and development and influences how they learn about their world. Learn more here.

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Creative play promotes collaboration and interaction among peers, which is essential for developing social skills. Activities such as role-playing in dramatic play settings help children practice sharing, taking turns, and conflict resolution (NAEYC, 2020). These interactions also build empathy and ability to understand different perspectives.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (2020). Social development through creative play. Retrieved from NAEYC

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This statement's primary focus is on the decisions early childhood educators make that result in developmentally appropriate practice.

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Play allows children to express their feelings, process emotions, and develop self-regulation. Art activities, for example, provide children with an outlet to process complex emotions. This fosters resilience and a sense of accomplishment, which are crucial for emotional well-being (Ginsburg, 2007).

Ginsburg, K. R. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. American Academy of Pediatrics. Retrieved from AAP

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The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds

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Play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth. Play also offers an ideal opportunity for parents to engage fully with their children. Despite the benefits derived from play for both children and parents, time for free play has been markedly reduced for some children. This report addresses a variety of factors that have reduced play, including a hurried lifestyle, changes in family structure, and increased attention to academics and enrichment activities at the expense of recess or free child-centered play. This report offers guidelines on how pediatricians can advocate for children by helping families, school systems, and communities consider how best to ensure that play is protected as they seek the balance in children’s lives to create the optimal developmental milieu.

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Whether a child is expressing themselves through art, storytelling, music, or imaginative play, these creative activities play a crucial role in their cognitive development. Engaging in such experiences allows children to explore new ideas, experiment with problem-solving, and develop innovative thinking (Early Childhood Development Center, n.d.). Through creative expression, they communicate emotions, navigate complex feelings, and articulate their thoughts in unique ways. These activities also nature critical thinking skills by encouraging children to analyze, interpret, and adapt to various scenarios, laying a strong foundation for lifelong learning and intellectual growth.

Early Childhood Development Center. (n.d.). Cognitive development through creative play. Retrieved from East Orange

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The Role of Creativity in Early Education: Unlocking the Power of Creative Expression

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At East Orange Child Development Corporation, we recognize the boundless potential of every child’s imagination. Creative expression, whether through art, music, storytelling, or imaginative play, is integral to early education. It plays a significant role in the cognitive development of young children, allowing them to explore new ideas, communicate their feelings, and think critically. In […]

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Creative play fosters physical development as it actively engages children in sensory exploration and the refinement of motor skills. Through hands-on actives and playful interactions, children enhance their coordination, balance, and overall physical abilities. Repetitive actions, such as running, jumping, climbing, or manipulating objects, allows children to strengthen their muscles, improve fine and gross motor skills, and develop greater control over their bodies (PBS, n.d.). These foundational movements serve as building blocks, enabling them to master increasingly complex physical task with confidence.

PBS. (n.d.). Physical development through creative play. Retrieved from PBS

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Creativity is the freest form of self-expression. There is nothing more satisfying and fulfilling for children than to be able to express themselves openly and without judgment. The ability to be creative, to create something from personal feelings and experiences, can reflect and nurture children's emotional health. The experiences children have during their first years of life can significantly enhance the development of their creativity.

Importance of the Creative Process
All children need to be truly creative is the freedom to commit themselves completely to the effort and make whatever activity they are doing their own. What's important in any creative act is the process of self-expression. Creative experiences can help children express and cope with their feelings. A child's creative activity can help teachers to learn more about what the child may be thinking or feeling. Creativity also fosters mental growth in children by providing opportunities for trying out new ideas, and new ways of thinking and problem-solving. Creative activities help acknowledge and celebrate children's uniqueness and diversity as well as offer excellent opportunities to personalize our teaching and focus on each child.

Opportunities for Creativity
Children need plenty of opportunities for creative play and creative thinking. Start by providing activities that are based on the children's interests and ideas. This means learning how to listen intently to what children are saying. It is very helpful to tape record and transcribe children's conversations as well as take notes and review them with your co-teachers.
Be sure to offer children a wide range of creative materials and experiences. Being creative is more than drawing or painting. There's also photography, music, field trips, working with wire, clay, paper, wood, water or shadows. The possibilities are endless. It's important to provide children lots of time to explore materials and pursue their ideas. This includes time to think about how to plan, design, construct, experiment and revise project ideas. Don't forget to build in time to talk these ideas over with other people - both teachers and children.

Varieties of Experience
Look for ways to provide multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and other community experiences for children. Activities such as field trips, celebrating holidays and activities with other ethnic groups, and encouraging children to bring visitors to school enhances the creative process. The more varied experiences children have in their lives, the wider the range of creative expression. The more personal experiences children have with people and situations outside of their own environment, the more material they can draw on to incorporate in their play. Our challenge is to try not to be intimidated by the variety and diversity of artistic expression in our classroom.

Fostering the Creative Process
Encouraging children to make their own choices is important. Children should be permitted frequent opportunities - and lots of time - to experience and explore expressive materials. Put your emphasis on the process of creativity and not on the finished product. What children learn and discover about themselves is vital to their development. Show your support for the creative process by appreciating and offering support for children's efforts. Independence and control are important components in the creative process. This is especially true when working with children with disabilities.

Creative Play
One of the most important types of creative activity for young children is creative play. Creative play is expressed when children use familiar materials in a new or unusual way, and when children engage in role-playing and imaginative play. Nothing reinforces the creative spirit and nourishes a child's soul more than providing large blocks of time to engage in spontaneous, self-directed play throughout the day. Play is the serious business of young children and the opportunity to play freely is vital to their healthy development.
Even as early as infancy, play fosters physical development by promoting the development of sensory exploration and motor skills. Through play and the repetition of basic physical skills, children perfect their abilities and become competent at increasingly difficult physical tasks. Play fosters mental development and new ways of thinking and problem solving. Through block play, children are confronted with many mental challenges having to do with measurement, equality, balance, shape, spatial relationships and physical properties.
One of the strongest benefits of play is the way it enhances social development. Playful social interactions begin from the moment of birth. Dramatic play helps children experiment with and understand social roles. It can also give them countless opportunities for acquiring social skills as they play with others. Through dramatic play, children gradually learn to take each other's needs into account, and appreciate different values and perspectives.
Through play, children are able to express and cope with their feelings. Play also helps relieve stress and pressure for children. They can just be themselves. There's no need to live up to adult standards during play. Play offers children an opportunity to achieve mastery of their environment. They control the experience through their imaginations, and they exercise their powers of choice and decision-making as the play progresses.
Play helps develop each child's unique perspective and individual style of creative expression. Play expresses the child's personal, unique responses to the environment. Play is a self-expressive activity that draws on the child's powers of imagination. Play is open-ended, free-form and children have the freedom to try out new ideas as well as build on and experiment with the old.
Play provides an excellent opportunity for integrating and including children with disabilities in your program. The opportunities play provides for control and independence are important issues for any child but are especially important for these youngsters.
What are some of the ways we can encourage play in our classrooms? As caregivers, we must be careful to avoid dominating the play ourselves. Play should be the result of the children's ideas and not directed by the adult. Through play, we should try to foster children's abilities to express themselves. We should also try to help children base play on their own inspirations - not ours. Our goal is to stimulate play - not control it - and to encourage children's satisfaction in playing with each other.
Pay attention to play, plan for it, encourage it. Learn how to extend children's play through comments and questions. Stimulate creative ideas by encouraging children to come up with new and unusual uses of equipment. Try to remain open to new and original ideas, and encourage children to come up with more than one solution or answer. Be careful about over-restricting equipment and make sure to have play materials quickly available when children want them. Buy and use equipment in ways that encourage the use of imagination. Avoid toys and activities that spell everything out for the child and leave nothing to the imagination. Provide children with a good range and balance of equipment, and keep equipment exciting by changing it frequently or changing its location.

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The Whole Child - For Early Care Providers - Creativity and Play

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Creativity is the freest form of self-expression. There is nothing more satisfying and fulfilling for children than to be able to express themselves openly and without judgment. The ability to be creative, to create something from personal feelings and experiences, can reflect and nurture children's emotional health.

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The primary benefit of creative play lies in its ability to develop crucial language and communication skills. Through interactive activities such as storytelling, role-playing, and group discussions, children learn to articulate their thoughts, express emotions, and engage in meaningful conversations. These foundational skills not only support everyday communication needs but also provide a solid framework for future academic and social success(Red Monkey Play, n.d.). Creative play helps children build vocabulary, understand complex sentence structures, and develop listening and comprehension abilities. As they collaborate with peers and navigate different social context, children also enhance their social skills, learning how to negotiate, share, and emphasize.

Red Monkey Play. (n.d.). Language development through creative play. Retrieved from Red Monkey Play

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Why Is Creative Play Important For Children’s Development?

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Explore why is creative play important for children’s development and how you can incorporate it into your school’s programme.

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Integrating Play Across the Curriculum (Resource 1)

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Integrating Play Across the Curriculum (Resource 1)

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1. National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

Age Range/Grade Level: Preschool to Early Elementary (Ages 3-8)

Curriculum Areas Supported: Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Science, and Social-Emotional Development

Resource Description:

The NAEYC is a comprehensive collection of resources that emphasizes the importance of play in early childhood education. Their guidelines, articles, and position statements focus on how teachers can support playful learning while meeting academic and development goals. This provides strategies for integrating play into daily routines, focusing on the value of creative play for both cognitive and social-emotional growth.

Characteristics of Play Supported by the Resource:

Active Engagement: The NAEYC encourages educators to provide children with opportunities to actively engage in play. Such as, teachers can set up dramatic play areas where children can role-play real-life scenarios, like running a store or acting as community helpers, which helps them understand social roles and develop language skills.

Imagination and Creativity

The NAEYC resource highlights the role of imagination in play. For example, through pretend play with costumes, children can create stories, solving problems and thinking creatively about different situations. This boost their cognitive development and language skills.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (n.d.). Integrating play across the curriculum. Retrieved from NAEYC

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The Power of Playful Learning in the Early Childhood Setting

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This excerpt from Developmentally Appropriate Practice illustrates the ways in which play and learning mutually support one another and how teachers connect learning goals to children's play.

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Integrating Play Across the Curriculum (Resource 2)

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Integrating Play Across the Curriculum (Resource 2)

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2. The Creative Curriculum by Teaching Strategies

Age Range/Grade Level: Preschool to Early Elementary (Ages 3-8)

Curriculum Areas Supported: Math, Science, Language Development, Social Studies, and Creative Arts.

Resource Description: The Creative Curriculum is a research-based resource that guides teachers in integrating ply into daily lessons. The curriculum includes detailed strategies, lesson plans, and materials for creating a playful learning environment that supports a wide range of developmental areas. It offers hands-on activities for children to engage with math concepts through play, experiment with scientific ideas, and explore their world through sensory-rich activities.

Characteristics of Play Supported by the Resource:

Exploration and Discovery: The Creative Curriculum emphasizes sensory exploration and hands-on activities. Such as children might explore textures in a science activity where they touch, feel, and describe different natural materials, encouraging inquiry-based learning.

Social interaction: The curriculum fosters cooperative play through group projects. In one activity, children could work together to build a structure with blocks, fostering teamwork, negotiation, and communication skills while learning about math and engineering concepts.

Teaching Strategies. (n.d.). The Creative Curriculum. Retrieved from Teaching Strategies

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Resources and Materials to Support Children with Special Needs (Resource 1)

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Resources and Materials to Support Children with Special Needs (Resource 1)

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1. Autism Speaks: Play Activities for Children with Autism

Age Range: Preschool to Early Elementary (Ages 3-8)

How It Supports Play for Children with Special Needs: Autism Speaks provides specific play activities and strategies designed for children on the autism spectrum. These resources emphasize sensory-friendly activities, structured play routines, and techniques to encourage joint attention and communication. Some examples are sensory with water beads or sand, which help children explore textures and calm overstimulation.

Encourages Social Skills: Structured group activities, such as taking turns games, support children in development essential social interaction skills.

Promotes Emotional Regulation: Sensory play ideas like using weighted blankets or stress balls help children manage anxiety during play.

Autism Speaks. (n.d.). Play activities for children with autism. Retrieved from Autism Speaks

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Looking for at-home ideas to keep busy? Browse activities by area of interest by clicking on a link below. While many of these resources offer courses for those with special needs, this is not a list of exclusively autism-friendly programming. Thanks to Autism Behavior Consultants and Los Angeles Unified School District, which together curated many of the activities listed. Thanks also to New England Center for Children, Gateway Learning Group, Helping Hands Family, Kadiant, Neurabilities and Early Autism Services for contributing resources.

Learning Activities:

123 Homeschooling - Homeschooling worksheets. Free.

ABCya! - provides free educational games organized by grade and subject area

All Kids Network! - Resources for children's crafts, worksheets, coloring pages, mazes, dot-to-dot, and more. Free.

Amazing Educational Resources - Resource guide of educational companies offering free subscriptions due to the school closures.

BrainPOP - Educational website with over 1,000 short animated movies for students in grades K-12, together with quizzes and related materials, covering the subjects of science, social studies, English, math, engineering and technology, health, and arts and music.

Boom Cards - premade or customizable flashcards for skill building/maintenance (utilizes discrete-trial training format)

Daily Science Project from Easton Children's Museum - easy-to-do-at-home science experiments

Crash Course - A YouTube channel offering engaging educational videos suitable for high school students. The channel features a wide range of subjects, from anatomy to world history.

Edgenuity - For students to access core curriculum. Each student has an individual code that will allow them to access lessons in English language arts and mathematics. Science and history/social science lessons are available for and high school students.

Highlights Kids - Online magazine with activities, games, recipes.

Kids Activities Blog - List of education companies offering free subscriptions due to school closing.

KidsKonnect - printable worksheets for teachers & homeschool parents

Math Play - provides online math games organized by grade level, content and game type

Math Worksheets 4 Kids - provides Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social studies printable materials

The Math Worksheet Site - provides Mathematics-related printable materials

Mystery Doug - posts a new video every week answering scientific questions

Mommy Poppins Poppins at Home - e-learning, crafts, activities and games for a range of ages. Topics include cooking, gardening, STEM, crafts, languages story time and more!

Nassau County Museum of Art - engaging kids on the autism spectrum

PBS SoCal, KCET, and PBS - Free, standards-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans for at-home learning. Available for students in through .

LA Parent Magazine - Activities and information on remote learning for children and families.

Originator - List of educational mobile and tablet applications for children and families. Fees apply.

Reading A-Z, RAZ kids and Vocabulary A-Z - provides leveled books, passages, comprehension printable materials, quizzes for interactive reading practice and vocabulary word lists/lessons with online practice. Subscription

Scholastic Learn at Home - Allows open access to daily learning journeys divided into four grade spans: , , , and , covering ELA, STEAM, science, social studies, and social-emotional learning. Free.

Starfall - provides Reading and Math games, movies, books and music

Universal Class - Classes to guide parents and teachers to build their own unit study courses for homeschool purposes. Free access with a Los Angeles Public Library card (which can now be obtained online).

Virtual School Activities - A collection of sites to live webcams, virtual tours/tips, and other miscellaneous fun educational sites for homeschooling.

www.EdHelper.com - provides Reading, Grammar, Math and Science printable materials. Subscription

www.Education.com - provides Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies printable materials as well as Reading and Math online games. Subscription

www.EnchantedLearning.com - provides Writing and Science printable materials. Subscription

www.mathworksheetsland.com - provides Mathematics-related printable materials. Subscription

Art and Crafting:

Games:

Movement and Mindfulness:

Music:

Amped Guitar + Gibson - 3 month free trial of Amped Guitar lessons through Gibson Gives.

Carnegie Hall - Resources and teaching videos for teachers and K-5 students.

Fender Play - 3 months of free online guitar, bass and ukulele lessons to the first 500,000 to sign up for Fender Play.

- The Inkshed team creates art, writing, music, and theater video lessons to share their love and passion for the arts.

Music and the Brain - Video tutorials and keyboard instruction for K-12 students.

New York Philharmonic- Watch the famous Young People's Concerts at home.

Prodigies - Video library of engaging musical activities and curriculum for kids ages 2-12.

Save the Music Foundation- A list of free and low-cost music instruction and performances.

Soundfly - Free video courses about producing, playing and writing music taught by industry professionals and educators.

Outdoors and Animals:

American Museum of Natural History - Their Ology science website provides games and activities for kids and covers a range of science topics, including archaeology, paleontology, astronomy, and marine biology.

Center for Discovery - Safe indoor and outdoor activities for families in the time of the coronavirus.

Explore Mars from NASA - Explore the real surface of Mars, recorded by Nasa's Curiosity rover.

Google Arts & Culture and National Parks - Google has teamed up with five national parks in the US so people can enjoy the beauty of the natural world virtually: Kenai Fjords National Park (Alaska), Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park (Hawaii), Carlsbad Caverns National Park (New Mexico), Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah), Dry Tortugas National Park (Florida).

Live Science - Breaks down stories behind the most interesting news and photos on the Internet, while also digging up fascinating discoveries that hit on a broad range of fields, from dinosaurs and archaeology to wacky physics and astronomy to health and human behavior.

Los Angeles Zoo - Videos of animals.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute - Resources from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute introduce students to the impacts of climate change on marine habitats; explain the adaptations of animals that live in the deep sea; and present the challenges faced by ecosystems invaded by nonnative species, such as the so-called zombie shrimp.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - Tour marine sanctuaries and ocean habitats with a collection of virtual dives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

San Diego Zoo - Videos, activities, and games from the San Diego Zoo.

Smithsonian's National Zoo - Animal webcams at the zoo.

The Nature Museum in Chicago - How do butterflies eat? What's the difference between frogs and toads? The Nature Museum in Chicago has videos and activities to acquaint kids with the natural world and to inspire their curiosity about the plants and animals in their own backyards.

Virtual Field Trips - Videos to explore the world, organized by curriculum, by grade, by location, for grades .

Yellowstone National Park - Virtual tours of some of Yellowstone National Park's main attractions around the park.

Reading:

Audible - Free audiobooks for kids and teens.

CommonLit - Free reading passages and literacy resources in all literary and nonfiction genres for .

LA County Library - Sign up for a Digital Library Card to get free access to all of the Library's digital offerings, including ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, movies, TV, homework help, online classes, and more.

PJ Library - sign up to receive free books and participate in virtual storytimes.

Storytime at Los Angeles Public Library - Recorded storytime with the Los Angeles Public Library staff. There are also guided storytimes so that families can create their own version at home.

Time for Kids - For elementary and middle school students, digital subscriptions are free for the duration of the school year. This is the first time that the magazine is fully accessible at home.

Tumblebook - An online collection of animated, talking picture books, which teach young children the joys of reading. Books available in seven different languages. Free trail available.

Sports:

Baseball - Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns.

Basketball - Free preview of NBA League Pass.

Football - Complementary access to Game Pass.

Hiking - A custom program designed by PopFit!

Hockey - 'Pause Binge' replays of archived games.

Swimming - A custom program designed by PopFit!

Technology:

Scratch (MIT Media Lab) - Learn to code for ages 8-16, but used by people of all ages. Program your own interactive stories, games, and animation and share with others in the online community. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.

Theater:

The Met Opera Stream - Each day, a different encore presentation from the company's Live in HD series is being made available for free streaming.

Playbill - Guide of Broadway plays and musicals available to watch online.

Shakespeare's Globe Theater - Theater lovers can browse a range of classroom activities and plays by Shakespeare.

Virtual Field Trips:

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Looking for at-home ideas to keep busy? Browse activities by area of interest by clicking on a link below. While many of these resources offer courses for those with special needs, this is not a list of exclusively autism-friendly programming. Thanks to Autism Behavior Consultants and Los Angeles Unified School District, which together curated many of the activities listed.

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Resources and Materials to Support Children with Special Needs (Resource 2)

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Resources and Materials to Support Children with Special Needs (Resource 2)

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2. National Center on Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD): Inclusive Guidelines

Age Range: Early Childhood to Adolescence (Ages 3-18)

How It Supports Play for Children with Special Needs: NCHPAD provides inclusive play strategies tailored to children with a wide range of disabilities, including physical, cognitive, and sensory challenges. The resource highlights adaptive equipment, accessible playgrounds, and activity modifications to ensure that all children can actively participate in play.

Fosters Motor Development: Activities lie adaptive sports and modified obstacle courses help children with mobility challenges develop motor skills in n enjoyable, engaging way.

Promotes Peer Interaction: NCHPAD offers ideas for cooperative play activities, such as team-based relay races or group art projects, which build social bonds and encourage teamwork among children of all abilities.

National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD). (n.d.). Inclusive play guidelines. Retrieved from NCHPAD

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National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD)

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A center focussed on promoting 1) inclusive policies, systems and environments that support the needs of people with disabilities; and 2) improved health behaviors (i.e., physical activity and nutrition) and better weight management strategies for addressing obesity in children and adults with disabilities.