This past week we have have a lot of fun trying out some different sensory play activities. I made the activities “valentine’s day” themed since it’s that time of year and all! Last week I promised you two sensory activities but we actually ended up doing FOUR different activities! Woohoo!
First up was our squishy bag! I used a bottle of clear shower soap and mixed in some pink food coloring. I added some of those gel window clings to squish around in the bag. I tried to seal the bag off with tape, like I had read on several sites to do, but I don’t think it would have worked had he really been trying hard to squish the bag. It was already starting to leak a little, and he really didn’t play with it that much. If we do this again, I’ll seal the bag off with super glue, just in case! Or do it in the tub so it’s okay if it leaks!
 |
| “What am I supposed to do with this?” |
 |
| “Oh, maybe it’s food!!!” |
 |
| “hmmmm I wonder if I can get this baggie open” |
So that about summarizes Carter’s reaction to the squishy bag! I’m honestly not sure how much he liked it, he just really wanted to try to get the cling gels out of the baggy and was really upset when he couldn’t! I think next time I might try it in the bath, and put some more interesting things in the baggy!
Next up was our Valentine themed sensory bin! For this I colored the rice pink and added pom-poms, pipe cleaners and rubber ducks (all from the $1 section at Target!). I also threw in the heart mirror from one of his puzzles, since it went with the theme! I also plan to use the pom-poms in other activities as well as the pipe cleaners!
It’s hard to get a good picture of Carter playing with the rice bins because he is constantly moving! He loves touching everything and then getting a small bowl or measuring cup to scoop it all up. He will move the items from the bin to his cup and back. He also likes grabbing handfuls of rice.
If I fits, I sits!
Our third activity is the most simple, it requires no setup! You just need a colander and some pipe cleaners! You could start off by sticking them through the holes before your kid starts playing with it (which was my intention, but he woke from his nap too soon!) or you could lay them out and see what happens!
I showed Carter how to bend the pipe cleaners. I also modeled how to stick them through the holes and he loved pulling them through the other side! Eventually he started taking them out and throwing them everywhere, then collecting them and putting them back in!
Then he just dumped them all out and made a hat!
Our last activity was our Valentine themed play-dough!
Which I made! From scratch. It’s super easy, too! I got the recipe from this blog, but I cut it in half. Because I am the kind of person who decides to make play-dough at 9:00 at night and only after realizes I need a whole cup of salt and I only have a half! But it worked out fine and we got a big amount which I made into two colors!
The next day I set out the play dough for Carter in a big flat plastic bin. After many a rice dumpings, I decided to try out a bin that he could actually sit in with the sensory materials. Carter’s never played with play-dough before this so it was a lot of fun!
I gave him heart shaped cookie cutters to make shapes in the play-dough. I did show him how to do it, but after that, he was able to do it on his own!
Carter got out of the bin and found a few things around the kitchen to add to it- he liked squishing the play dough into his different sizes of tupperware!
Action shot! As usual, the activity ended with Carter trying to dump everything out! Thankfully he kept it all in the bin and the play dough keeps well in a sealed container so we can use it many more times! He did lick it a few times to see what it tasted like, but its mostly flour, salt and water so no big deal!
Have you tried any of these activities with your kids? How did they turn out?
What is the attention span of a toddler? Not long in most cases, I’m sure!
Here is how long each of these activities held Carter’s attention:
Squishy Bag: 2 minutes tops
Rice Sensory Bin: 30 min to an hour! (we did this one a few times)
Pipe Cleaners/Colander: abut 10 minutes, but he kept coming back to it throughout the day
Play-dough heart bin: 15 minutes (maybe would have been longer, but it was very close to bed time)
Stay tuned, I will be testing out more sensory, art and learning activities and posting about them! My goal is to have one post a week with different activities! Usually I find them on Pinterest and put my own spin to them or modify them to fit Carter’s age and personality!
This month’s super sponsor:
