Students in all stages of development use their sense of touch to help understand concepts like hot/warm/cool, rough and smooth textures, soft and hard, and in the case of hearing impaired, reading and writing. The materials that have been developed to increase this sense of awareness rely on comparisons between these characteristics, allowing students to come to their own conclusions and understanding. Strengthening their connections to this sense, allows for a great deal of additional exploration in other parts of the classroom.