Why is the development of fine motor skills so important for children? The fact is that in the human brain, the centers responsible for speech and movements of the fingers are very close. By stimulating fine motor skills, we thereby activate the parts of the brain that are responsible for speech. Most mothers know this and let their children play with cereals, buttons, and beads. We invite you to pay attention to such a very interesting, bright and pleasant to the touch material, such as hydrogel balls.
Aqua soil is a non-standard but effective method of working with children. It was originally created for growing plants. But resourceful mothers have adopted the hydrogel for themselves. The fact is that multi-colored elastic balls are great for educational games. At first, these are tiny peas, but after being immersed in water, they increase in volume several times in just a few hours.
The balls, very pleasant to the touch, not only develop fine motor skills, but also perfectly soothe. In addition, children are always interested in tinkering in the water. But be careful: if your child is still pulling anything in his mouth, he should stay away from the hydrogel balls.
So how do these balls affect the development of speech?
Scientists have long proven that a child’s speech is at the fingertips. It is the nerve endings located here that give impulses to the part of the brain that is responsible for speech. Therefore, it is very important to train your child’s fingers.
While playing with the hydrogel, the sense of touch develops perfectly – the child feels what they are to the touch. Fingers also start to work well – it’s not so easy to catch and hold slippery gel balls in your hands.
How to make playing with hydrogel fun and rewarding?
The game starts from the moment you immerse dry peas in water. It will be very interesting for the child to watch how the balls grow.
Well, when after a few hours the hydrogel has completely increased in its size, you can do the following:
1. We put our hands in the hydrogel and sort out the balls. Very pleasant feeling, the baby will like it.
2. We hide small toys at the bottom, and the child looks for them by touch among the hydrogel balls.
3. We take out the balls, transfer them to another dish, sorting them by color.
4. We put the balls in a bowl with a narrow neck (for example, in a plastic bottle).
5. We take out the balls, transfer them to another dish and count.
6. We count and compare which plate has more balls, and which has fewer (more blue, red, yellow, etc.)
7. We spread the colored hydrogel on the table in the form of a mosaic (spread paper or a towel so that the balls do not roll away).
8. As you play with the hydrogel, tell your child what you are doing and ask them to repeat. For example, “Take the red ball! – I took a red ball “; “Hide the green ball in your palm! – I hid a green ball in my palm ”; “Press on the yellow ball! “I press on the yellow ball,” etc. Thus, not only fine motor skills develop, but also the study (repetition) of colors, new words, and the development of coherent speech.
9. Put several balls in a row on a flat surface and try to knock them down with a snap of your fingers. As a complication of the task, you can try to knock the balls down not just with your fingers, but with another ball that needs to be pushed with a click (something like a billiards, only without a cue. Although you can push the hydrogel and, for example, with a pencil. Good accuracy training).
10. Pour the hydrogel into a basin and let the child walk on it. There is already a foot massage, which is very useful for the prevention of flat feet.
There can be as many games as you like, just show your imagination. And there is one more bonus: the hydrogel balls make a wonderful foot massage mat. You just need to pack the balls in a dense plastic or fabric bag – the baby will gladly walk on such a rug.