ABSTRACT
Children begin to make sense of the world, from the moment they are born, by processing the information received through their senses, and the sensory experiences of daily living help to build up a 'back catalogue' of knowledge which people rely on to inform choices, decisions and behaviour. Some children who are developmentally very young, will continue to experience the world at this level and will communicate and interact through their responses to sensory stimuli. The practitioner needs to understand how to use multisensory experiences to enhance learning for all children. This chapter explains what is meant by multisensory learning, and why a multi-sensory approach is central to working with children with complex physical, cognitive and sensory needs, and details how to plan meaningful activities for children with complex physical, cognitive and sensory needs, based on sensory experiences. It also gives examples of how stories and other activities can be developed into multisensory learning experiences for children.
