When you find your alarm clock on your bedside table before opening your eyes in the morning or find your keys in the bottom of your bag: that's your Stereognostic sense.

It is the ability to identify objects by touch without looking at them, smelling them, tasting them, or hearing their sounds.

Learning stereognostic sense Montessori activities helps children to classify between different sizes and shapes by feeling the objects. It differs from the tactile sense because of the lack of visual or auditory signs.

Refining this sense supports

• Child's developing ability to name and perceive their environment
• Building of neural pathways in the brain for cognitive development in early childhood.
• Understanding of dimension, mathematical, and spatial reasoning.
• Promotes language development and fine motor skill development.

How do you develop and refine their Stereognostic sense at home?

Simple. By exposing them to objects and textures around them that they can feel. Remember to name them.

Let the child manipulate materials behind their back, blindfolded, or by identifying objects inside a bag – with their eyes closed.

• Stage 1: Put familiar objects in a bag and let them pick them from the bag and observe them.
• Stage 2: Name and Find: Name the object and ask them to find it. Ideally done with a blindfold else the child can simply close their eyes to feel the object.
• Stage 3: What is it: Ask your child what they found. This is especially good to support and promote language development along with fine motor skills development.
• Stage 4: Find the pair: Put 2 of the same object or similar objects. This makes the activity more challenging and further refines their Stereognostic sense. 

Things to note:

Allow observation time. There are attributes of the object that the child may want to notice that they may have missed before but felt while touching them.

• Start with only 3-5 familiar objects to build confidence.
• Always use real objects. E.g., a steel spoon, a hairbrush, a wooden chopstick, etc. or you can get creative and get a stereognostic bag for your child.
• Try different thermic temperatures and textures for extra sensory bursts
• It’s ok for them to get it wrong. It’s all sensorial.

How to increase the challenge level?

• Start with lesser objects before adding more.
• Start with behind their back, then eyes closed, and then blindfold (Some children may not be comfortable with a blindfold and some may love it. Always follow the child)
• Keep it fun coz this is the home environment.