Educating Young Children Volume 1 – Spring 2025 | Page 39

These same concerns were echoed during regular discussions between Sean( the first author and the principal of Ravine Drive Elementary School) and Renee( the second author and the school’ s preschool instructional coach). We gathered feedback from teachers and support staff, collaborated with families, and developed a plan to provide children with an outlet for different types of sensory exploration that would help them be active and engaged learners and reach their learning goals. During the 2022 – 23 school year, we added an indoor sensory room. We found the space to be beneficial, but it was not enough to meet the needs of all children in our school. Through discussions with our school community’ s stakeholders, we determined that an outdoor learning space would help us support every student’ s sensory interests, preferences, and needs.

We decided to create this space because we understand that it is through the senses that children learn about the world around them. In addition, research shows that sensory experiences and materials can help children regulate their emotions, focus, and engage in early learning environments. Finally, intentionally planning and supporting sensory experiences and materials in early childhood settings can benefit all children.

In this article, we share what we have learned about offering sensory experiences to all children. We provide an overview of sensory exploration, describe how we planned for and implemented it in our setting, and illustrate how to incorporate sensory exploration into outdoor play through sensory bins and a sensory pathway. We highlight how educators can guide children through outdoor sensory exploration while offering them choice and agency.