The two lesser-known senses are vestibular and proprioception and they are connected to the tactile sense (touch). 

• Vestibular (Movement): It involves movement and balance sense, which gives us information about where our head and body are in space. Helps us stay upright when we sit, stand, and walk. 
• Proprioception (Body Position): It involves body awareness sense, which tells us where our body parts are relative to each other. It also gives us information about how much force to use, allowing us to do something like crack an egg while not crushing the egg in our hands or think of picking up a fragile glass versus a gallon of milk. 

These two senses help round out our ability to connect and interact with the world around us. Vestibular and proprioception, when combined with our other five senses, are referred to as sensory processing. Sensory processing is crucial for motor, speech, cognitive, learning, social, attention and behavioral development. 

So, how can you help your child develop their vestibular and proprioception senses along with their other five senses? The key to developing these skills is input. Providing varied sensory information for your child’s brain to experience and begin to make sense of will help. Keep your child active and provide them with opportunities to move and interact with the world in different ways. Michigan State University Extension suggests the following activities to support your child’s vestibular and proprioception senses: 

• Play: blow and pop bubbles, play peek-a-boo, discover a sandbox or sensory table, cook or bake together, play tag or go for a bike ride. 
• Explore: help your child explore different age-appropriate substances with differing sizes (cups, blocks, beads, etc.) and textures (pudding, shaving cream, play dough, Goop, noodles, water, sand). 
• Move: encourage your child to crawl, walk, climb, run, ride, roll, jump and swing. Try engaging your child in heavy work: have them push or pull weighted things, like bringing in the groceries. 

While all of these activities can help support your child’s sensory processing, it is important not to overload them. Giving children ample time in a quiet, calm environment is important to keep them from getting overstimulated and allow them time to recharge. 

By helping your child explore, understand and control their body, you are helping them begin to explore and understand the world around them.