Let's explore the senses

Let's Explore the Senses is a children's book that invites children and adults to read together, share conversations, and explore the world around them. In the book, we follow Eddie and Hannah on a trip to the zoo, where children discover the five senses through familiar experiences: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch..

In the book, we explore the five well-known senses: hearing, smell, sight, touch, and taste. On each page, there are suggestions for conversation topics and activities that help strengthen the child's knowledge and understanding of the senses. The book is structured so that several words in the text have been replaced by small illustrations. This way, the child can take part in "reading" the story themselves — supporting their language development and nurturing both the curiosity and the confidence to learn to read one day. The purpose of Let's Explore the Senses is not to train the child's senses, but to spark their curiosity about them. The senses develop naturally through play, togetherness, and everyday experiences — and the book helps open up new conversations, both during reading and in other situations. The book is written by psychologist Ina Victoria Haller and beautifully illustrated by Lea Letén..

When reading the book together, it is a good idea to have the child sit on your lap so that the book is right in front of you both. Since it can be difficult for younger children to focus on text and similarly small details, the text is written in a large font size, making it easier for the child to follow along. Extend the play: Create your own sensory story.

Ciha's sensory children's book about the five senses. Follow Eddie and Hannah and strengthen your child's language, sensory understanding, and dialogue through shared reading. Through sensory situations and a warm, reassuring story, Let's Explore the Senses gives children words for what they already experience in everyday life. On each page, you will find suggestions for conversation topics and small activities that make it easy to talk about sensory impressions and put experiences into words. The theme of the book is the senses — because it is through a child's senses that they gain knowledge about themselves and the world we live in. When we experience something — that is, when we sense something — the brain receives countless inputs that it must then sort and piece together into a meaningful experience. Just as a child's language develops when it is stimulated through talking and reading aloud, a child's senses develop when they are stimulated. It can therefore be a good idea to focus on the senses in everyday life, giving the child the opportunity to use their different senses and practise the vocabulary for sensory impressions. Don't worry if you are sitting there thinking that you haven't thought about stimulating your child's senses at all — because you have! Engaging the senses happens naturally when we talk with our children, play with them, feed them, cuddle them, kiss them, and show them the world. The ability to sense is not something that needs to be "put into" a child. A child's senses develop naturally as they grow older, the brain matures, and experiences multiply. Every child does this at their own pace, and there are great differences in how children (and adults) experience sensory impressions. The purpose of the book is not to get parents to train their children's senses, but to help children learn about them. With this focus, new conversation topics also blossom when you read other books together, play, or go on outings. Because as mentioned, we use our senses all the time — especially when we learn new things, and children do that every single day.