The pedagogical journey has last for 15 days and was rich in gaining new skills such as identifying and responding to non-verbal play cues and the sharing of knowledge, skills and ideas; it was an opportunity for me to develop more dispositions for learning such as confidence, enthusiasm and persistence.

                                                                                             Documented by Angie Neelaya Argendra

 Jerry was playing with some soft toys on the mat. His eyes were fixing the farm corner when he suddenly crawled slowly towards the farm. He was still holding a yellow toy in his right hand and once he has reached the farm corner, he smiled. He was on his tummy and stretched his left arm to reach the green mat. 

He then looked at me with his mouth wide open and I smile at him. After that, he looked back at the farm corner and with a good grip, he took one of the pebble stone using his left hand. Jerry lifted the pebble stone a bit higher and looked at it while babbling. 

Afterwards, he glanced at me and with a rapid move of his left arm, he was about to put the pebble stone in his mouth. 

‘Not in the mouth’, I said to Jerry.

He then put the pebble stone back on the green mat and banged the yellow toy which was in his right hand on the pebble stone. Jerry turned around and crawled back to the rubber tyre full of soft toys.

He looked at one of his peers and smiled. He grabbed timber flakes and some gum nuts with his fingers and added them to the water.

His peer was watching him when he quickly walked to the grass and bowed on his knees. He picked a thin stick and walked back quickly to the basketball stand. He used the thin stick to mix the natural materials he has added to the water. 

When his parent came to pick him, Kaiden gave the stick to his peer and said:
‘taaaaaaa’, with a smile on his face.

The cognitive development of children is fostered as those children have an innate curiosity to explore the world using their senses while looking around, touching, and grabbing materials or even banging toy for auditory sensory play. The above play experiences are sense based and encourage the infant and toddlers’ active involvement which makes the play meaningful to them as they remain interested, enthusiastic and persisted. While picking sand, wooden stick, timber and pebble stone, children’s cognitive development is supported as they have experienced various sensations such as smooth, rough, full, or empty. Their eye and hand coordination, muscle strength and agility support their fine and gross motor skills while crawling, walking, and manipulating objects. 
The pebble stone in the farm corner was a new object or material that the child has explored and has boosted his creativity and self-discovery when he confidently and independently made the decision of banging the toy on the stone.

Moreover, the children were engaging with stone, sand, wooden sticks and water, etc. in the learning space; this highlights the foundational values of the Reggio Emilia approach where sensorial provocations are dominant in the learning environment by the presence of the natural materials. The environment is the third teacher as children are developing imaginative thinking (cake and candles), they are pursuing their own interest and they are learning textures while manipulating natural materials. Malaguzzi (1920 -1994) posits that “it was not so much that we need to think of the child who develops himself by himself but rather of a child who develops himself interacting and developing with others” (Rankin 2004, p.82); an authentic relationship was created with nature and the capable and involved learners were discovering natural materials which were inspirations that compel them to use their senses, think further and experiment with enthusiasm.

The children were offered learning possibilities while actively engaging in sensorial exploration and according to the behaviourist theory, Skinner (1904- 1990) and Bandura (1925), learning is ongoing and regular and the environment determines the children’s holistic development and learning.

Children need environmental stimuli full of everyday resources including natural materials and authentic experiences to trigger their curiosity and awaken their senses. Making loose parts and natural materials available for free exploration, will help children to build their knowledge and understanding of the world around them and develop their language skills. Sensory play will boost their curiosity, self-discovery and motor skills; presenting new materials or object will enhance learning and development  as children will search creative ways to explore more about the materials and themselves during sensory play.
The provision of sensory materials both indoor and outdoor such as clay, play dough, water play and sand will offer children the opportunity for hands-on, self-directed and learning opportunities. Engaging with natural materials allows sensory experiences and are provocations for learning. In my teaching, I will embrace developmentally appropriate practices while creating learning environments filled with hand-on, concrete materials full of intention that encourage exploration, manipulation, discovery and active engagement of children.

Questions can be asked to the young children or vocabulary words can be included to describe for example the wooden stick such a 'thin' and 'light'. Extending their scientific thinking about what materials 'disappear' or 'sink' in water or even talking about the textures of materials, 'is the pebble stone rough or smooth?'

Children are sensorial explorers and capable to pursue their own interest and create their own meaning. They need time to try things and explore while looking around, identifying different sound or even touching and feeling things. 

By introducing gradually meaningful resources or experiences that feature new colors, shapes, sounds and textures, children are impacted positively in terms of development. Moreover, as children are not passive learners, I should avoid keeping children in restrictive devices such as a pram or swing that prevent active exploration, learning,  and development through their senses. Sensory areas full of stimulating materials help children in developing their cognitive skills and to self-regulate while being focus in what they are doing. 

Centre for Learning Innovation 2006, A basic introduction to child development theories, New South Wales Department of Education and Training, viewed 08 August 2020, <http://lrrpublic.cli.det.nsw.edu.au/lrrSecure/Sites/LRRView/7401/documents/theories_outline.pdf>.

Department of Education and Training 2016, Victorian Early Years Learning And Development Framework, Department of Education and Training, Melbourne, viewed 09 August 2020, <https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/providers/edcare/veyldframework.pdf>.

Early Childhood Australia 2012, ‘What have theories got to do with it?’, National Quality Standard Professional Learning Program e-Newsletter, vol.31, Early Childhood Australia, p.1-4, viewed 8 August 2020, <https://www.ecrh.edu.au/docs/default-source/resources/nqs-plp-e-newsletters/nqs-plp-e-newsletter-no-31-2012-what-have-theories-got-to-do-with-it.pdf?sfvrsn=4%3E>.

Gardner, Howard (1999) Intelligence Reframed. Multiple intelligences for the 21st century, New York: Basic Books. 292 pages. Useful review of Gardner’s theory and discussion of issues and additions.

National Association for the Education of Young Children, Inspired by Reggio Emilia: Emergent Curriculum in Relationship-Driven Learning Environments, NAEYC, Washington, viewed 15 September 2020, <https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2015/emergentcurriculum#:~:text=The%20third%20teacher%20is%20the,and%20environment%20that%20ignites%20learning>.

Nolan, A & Raban-Bisby, B 2015, ‘Theories and perspectives’, Theories into practice: understanding and rethinking our work with young children and the EYLF, Teaching Solutions, Blairgowrie, VIC, p. 5-14.

Yorganop 2016, Theories and theorists in early childhood: who they are and what they tell us? ideas for practice, Yorganop, Perth, WA, viewed 08 August 2020, http://web.archive.org/web/20180316184334/http://ipsuwa.yorganop.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/combined-theorists-resource.pdf>.

Engaging in sensory based materials impact children's holistic development as children develop dispositions for learning, they feel a sense of wellbeing as they pursue their own interests and ideas, they develop their fine motor skills by using their fingers and hands but also their gross motor skills while crawling and walking to get materials of interest. Also, children's communication skills are supported through sensory play.

Overall, embedding sensory based materials and play is a valuable way of engaging children actively in activities that heighten their senses and enrich their learning and support their holistic development.