Kid-friendly pop music blared over the green space at The Shops at Park Lane on a sunny day in late March while parents watched and assisted their children with scooping sensory mixes into plastic eggs.
This was — as described by Gabriela Bogran, head of hands-on fun at arts and crafts store My Festi Goodies — a free sensory event that is designed to allow children to have fun, be creative and engage their senses.
For young children, activities like identifying colors, feeling textures and holding objects are developmental and educational milestones. Sensory play can help them do that by engaging their senses, like touching playdough or sand, hearing different sounds or recognizing smells. My Festi Goodies’ sensory kits usually include a scoop, a mix of textured materials, a tray and other items to play with. It’s like a small zen garden for children.
Bogran hosted the first activity in her series in March and plans to have another one from 1-3 p.m. on the last Saturday in May at the park area between Starbucks and Chipotle. After that, she may even continue the events further into the year.
The activities are intended for children as young as 3 years old with parent supervision, but older children can enjoy it as well. Bogran decided to start the series because she wanted to host an Easter-themed event that would be full of learning and fun. This was her first time hosting this event for the public, but she has led the activity at schools.
“The kids love it,” she says. “They really don’t want to leave once they start exploring and getting their hands on the sensory mixes. It’s very fun and satisfactory for me to see how there’s different minds creating different things with the same theme.”
In Bogran’s opinion, sensory events that give children space to be creative and develop fine motor skills aren’t very common, so her series is filling a need. In her personal experience, she has engaged her oldest child in sensory activities since he was 1 year old, and when he started pre-kindergarten, his teacher was praising his fine motor skills.
“The kids have a lot of creativity, but sometimes we just don’t have the right resources or places to take them to, and so I think this is a great opportunity for kids to explore the world of sensory,” she says.
Parents in attendance described coming to the event because it was something fun for their children to do in the spring while temperatures range between cold and hot.
“The weather is nice, so now we are ready to do more outdoor things,” says Erika Amaya, who brought her daughter and her daughter’s friend to the sensory activity. “And they love crafting — arts, crafts, so I thought it was a good experience for them.”
And the fact that the event came at no cost to families also likely helped attract participants.
“I love free stuff sometimes to just get her out of the house instead of just sitting around looking at an iPad,” says Dominique Hall, who attended with her 3-year-old daughter. “Sometimes, it’s a hit or miss if she’s actually going to enjoy it, so when it’s free, it’s perfect. If she enjoys it, perfect. If not, I didn’t waste any money.”
During the event, Bogran seemed impressed with the turnout and participation. The children could be creative, and the parents were able to enjoy themselves as well. She even recalled one parent playing with the sensory mix. At first, she tried to make the event more structured with different activities at each station, but she decided to just let the children play how they wanted to.
“I enjoy whenever they do whatever they want, and they use their creativity,” Bogran says. “That’s the whole point is to use their creativity and learn.”
