Sensory play is a great way for children to explore the properties of different materials with the senses and is also enjoyable. Please find and post a great sensory idea you have found and why you think this activity is a good one! Also - add a link to a website that has great ideas.
I love fall, it's my favorite season of the year! There are many pumpkin activities, but one of my favorite sensory activities is pumpkin moon sand. The children can first mix in all the ingredients then have lots of fun molding it into anything they like. I included a website that gives you the recipe and shows you pictures of how it looks.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/09/pumpkin-moon-sand-recipe.html
Hi Veronica - I love these ideas. I got all the ingredients to make moon sand and I'm excited about having that for the kids when they get back from break!
DeleteThanks, Julie
I help babysit both my sisters kids a lot. One of the things they really enjoy doing is silly putty. Its also very simple to make, you just need glue, liquid starch, and food coloring. You usually let it sit for about 5-7 minutes once its all mixed in and then its ready to use. My nephew usually makes balls out of it, it actually bounces pretty good. And my nieces like making figures or just playing with it in their hand which is really good for developing fine motor skills. I found a link that gives you advise on the best glue to use and the kind of starch that works best
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pbs.org/parents/crafts-for-kids/homemade-silly-putty/
ooh. Got to try that one too!
DeleteThanks Zenia!
I like to use colored rice for my sensory table. I use blue rice with my sea animals. Green rice for garden and a mix of colors for egg hunt. Children love to dip their hands into the sensory table and feel it running through their fingers.
ReplyDeletehttp://naturalmommainme.blogspot.com/2013/12/simple-sensory-play-ideas-rice-trays.html
Colored rice - a classic sensory material. We have a beautiful rainbow rice in TK. The kids can spend an hour scooping, pouring, sifting and mixing the rice into different sized containers. A great way to explore volume (measurement).
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Monica!
One of my favorite sensory activities is using soap with toilet paper. I let children grate the soap using a cheese grater. Then I invite children to tear the toilet paper into small pieces. Then we add warm water and let children mix up all the ingredients. Children love to play with this activity. They like to create different
ReplyDeletefigures, filling up little containers or just using their hands.
http://www.learning4kids.net/list-of-sensory-play-ideas/
Sounds like messy fun! I'll have to try that one too!
DeleteThanks for sharing!
We have used to sensory play is Shaving Cream. We usually we put a tablecloth on the table, after we cover the table with much shaving cream all over the table, but we usually put few drops of food coloring to change color and children got so excited. Sometimes we added some glue (and this made it a little stickier, slightly a different texture and if kids want we put it on a piece of paper with some glitter. Shaving cream is great for sensory exploration building up their fine motor skills and coordination that Encourages Imagination and creative play. This activity provides endless opportunities for children to play and discover.
ReplyDeleteJohanna Torres #162406
My kids love to play with shaving cream! We add tempura paint to it and after then play with it for a while, we give them paint brushes and let them paint their colored shaving cream onto black construction paper. I haven't tried the glue yet. Thanks for the great ideas!
ReplyDeleteI love sensory play one of my favorite things to put in the sensory table is Clean Mud it consist of toilet paper, shredded bar soap and water I also add glitter its a great texture and also find it soothing for some children its smells great and it leaves children's hands smelling clean
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried this one yet Lina. Sounds like a great activity - especially the part about leaving the children's hands clean!!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea because children could learn a lot with this. All the open ended questions you could ask them. Which kid dosen't like paint. I will have to share this with my co-workers so we could try it at our center.
ReplyDeleteMixing- Primary-Colors-Squishy Bag
You will need a large tray (or flat surface), red, blue and red paint, clear plastic zip lock lunch bags and sticky tape.
The sticky tape is used to seal and strengthen the openings of the zip lock bag and to also tape the bags onto a flat surface.
•Place the two colored paints for each zip lock bag in the corners opposite each other. One bag with blue and yellow, second bag with red and blue, and the third bag with red and yellow.
•Use sticky tape to seal and strengthen the squishy bags. If you are concerned the bag may break, you can double bag it for extra strength. I find that by fastening the squishy bags flat on a surface with sticky tape also assists in avoiding the bag breaking.
•Read the stories Little Blue and Little Yellow or Red, Blue, Yellow Shoe and talk about the colors and what it happening in the stories.
•Gently press and push the paints to the center of the bag to blend. Using your fingers gently rub the paint to mix and blend.
•Watch as the colors blend together. Make predictions and talk about what is happening throughout the process. Use descriptive language.
•Label and name each color throughout and talk about the new colors that they see.
•Ask questions, such as, which two colors made green? Name other objects that are green? Can you go and find me something that is green? What do you see? What does the squishy bag feel like?
Learning Opportunities
•Language development: Using descriptive words to express ideas and opinions.
•Make connections with real life experiences.
•Promote scientific thinking: predictions, observations, comparison, reasoning, experimentation and evaluation
•Hand-Eye Coordination and Control
•Cause and Effect
•Language development – color mixing, primary and secondary colors.
•Color recognition – name and recognize colors.
http://www.learning4kids.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Mixing-Primary-Colours-Squishy-Bag-Experiment.jpg
One activity that I like to do with the kids as part of sensory, science, art is painting with ice. Yes I put food coloring on the water, make ice cubes and allow the cildren to paint with them. It is nice to see how at first they don't want to touch it but once they see they could paint with them they enjoy it.
ReplyDeletePinterest is a great site where you can find lost of great ideas.
https://es.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=preschool+sensory+activities&rs=ac&len=2
Thinking about my ladies, that are working with toddlers this year. This is a great idea for a sensory board, to keep those busy hands working and curious minds exploring and learning about their world and how things work. A plus is that parents may volunteer to put it together or supply some DAP items. Enjoy!http://handsonaswegrow.com/wp-content/uploads/Supernova-Toddler-Busy-Board_10917/toddler-busy-board-20150818-12.jpg
ReplyDeleteSensory is one of my favorite theme. I really enjoy work with the senses, I think is the best way to learn, explore and discover while play. I love to use different sensory play. For example, I put rice, beans, and lentils in a recipient or tray; invite to children to felt the texture and find deferent objects that are inside the recipient. Another activity that children enjoy is the jelly texture, they play and felt the texture at the same time. Play with water, sand, mud, magnets, play-dough, sensory bags, and smells sensory games, sink or float, sudsy goop, etc. Children loves to explore and feel different sensory textures and I love it too.
ReplyDeleteI really believe that sensory play is very important for children because it is a great way for them to use all of their senses by exploring and using different materials. Through sensory play children are enjoying and at the same time gaining knowledge. While searching through websites I found a really cool website with great sensory ideas but there is one that I found even more interesting which involves water play with eye droppers. Water play with eye droppers includes filling the eye dropper with water from a bowl and transferring the water into different color plastic bottle top lids. This activity provides an opportunity to explore creatively and encourages the development of coordination and awareness. As teachers, we can set interesting challenges such as, fill only the green lids with water first then orange and so on or even make them count how many drops it takes to fill a bottle top lid. Water play with eye droppers is a colorful and fun activity that encourages development of the pincer grasp. It can be challenging for a child but it enables a child to pick up small items using the thumb and index finger. This is a sensory play activity because pincer grasp is important for little tasks such as holding writing utensils and manipulating items such as shoe laces, buttons, and zippers.
ReplyDeleteSensory play encourages children to manipulate and mold materials, building up their fine motor skills and hand and eye coordination. One of the sensory activities that I found and that I know children will love to touch (feel) and explore is “cloud dough”. The best thing about this activity is that we only need 2 ingredients (flour and oil). We can also add all kinds of manipulative for children to dig in. This sensory play activity is SIMPLE, MESSY and FUN!!!
ReplyDeleteRetrieved activity from
http://www.pbs.org/parents/crafts-for-kids/cloud-dough-exploration/
I found sensory play entertaining, appropriate and great as a tool for teaching. I believe that in sensory play everyone interacts and engage at the same time. My favorite sensory play activity is when they make clean mud. You just need toilet paper, ivory soap and water, children love it.
ReplyDelete-Samantha Rivero
CHD 306
Sensory play is another great way of learning, I like it because the children can use all their senses and it is a hands on activity. One activity that I remember that we use to do on a rainy day is read to the children the book “Little Cloud” by Eric Carle and after it, we did an easy and fun science experiment with the children, you just need a clear plastic glass with water, you add a thick layer of shaving cream on the top and let the children add a few drops of food coloring, and let them observe what is going to happen, the food coloring starts to fall to the bottom of the glass and it looks like “rain” After the children did this experiment they drew on their journals about their colored rain, and they liked this activity.
ReplyDelete“Cloud in a jar experiment” - http://www.learning4kids.net/2015/05/17/cloud-in-a-jar-experiment/
For sensory play I love it when children play with ice or shave ice. Children, make some cool face expression when they are touching the ice. Like, if they have a new toy. Sensory play with ice is a good idea because children get to experience what cold feels. Also, when we they shave ice children can create things like when they are the actual snow.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.pinterest.com/pin/9148005466557318/
I like that the children explore clay. I believe clay it's a great sensory tool. The children love to mold and the paint their sculptures. This season I am planning to incorporate clay so the children can create seasonal sculptures and follow up with painting and decorating. Letty Fierro
ReplyDeleteI personally like the children to play with water. I notice they become more calm and is a great place for them to use measuring cups, estimate, and have conversation regarding what their doing. When ever I notice some children restless I pull out my water table or we water the plants and usually that takes care of the problem.
ReplyDeletethis is a website with different sensory ideas: http://www.learning4kids.net/list-of-sensory-play-ideas/
A sensory activity that I use with families and children is creating a texture book. each year my families collect material from their homes like small rock peddles, broken dvds, rice or beans, an old t-shirt, foil, plastic bags, family pictures, plastic spoons forks, carpet pieces and roof rubber.I provide a piece of cardboard that the parent can fold in half and colored paper yarn and glue. This activity came from a parents as teachers training I had in 2012. Pinterest also has great sensory book ideas.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.parentsasteachers.org/
https://www.pinterest.com/
A sensory activity that I use with families and children is creating a texture book. each year my families collect material from their homes like small rock peddles, broken dvds, rice or beans, an old t-shirt, foil, plastic bags, family pictures, plastic spoons forks, carpet pieces and roof rubber.I provide a piece of cardboard that the parent can fold in half and colored paper yarn and glue. This activity came from a parents as teachers training I had in 2012. Pinterest also has great sensory book ideas.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.parentsasteachers.org/
https://www.pinterest.com/
Yolanda Padilla
ReplyDeleteI do provide different textures in my sand table, by using bird seeds, flour, oatmeal and water in different colors. In my dramatic play area I add different textures of
fabrics and I add water to the sand as well.
I work with infants and toddlers and we use different types of balls and encourage babies to feel the textures of each one of them. For bigger kids we the the cause and effect activities where children explore with water and things that sink and float. Each teacher comes up with other different kind of sensory activities. I really like the ideas from other teachers that had posted here. We do these activities during Socialization and I use it at home per parent requests.
ReplyDeleteI work with preschoolers and cant help to see how much they love sensory activities One thing we do at my center is replace the sand in the sand table with rice and or beans. The children love it! Not only is it inexpensive to buy, it also allows them to feel different textures and expands their imagination.
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ReplyDeleteThe home make pop stick shape dominoes game is a great sensory activities for children. This allows them to make shapes create different forms of objects that imagination can come up with. Adding other things like buttons, glue, and other small objects will also make it more interesting and expand their thinking and creativity in the exercise.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.learning4kids.net/2016/02/01/diy-pop-stick-shape-dominoes-game/
The one thing I enjoy doing with my kids is having them experiment with different things inside ziplock bags! I have put shaving cream in there with some food coloring and they can draw letters with their fingers or shapes whatever they please! I also have put paint in there so they can combine two colors and see what they get! My daughter has also put cotton balls and other colorful objects with clear hair gel and lets my granddaughter explore the different textures. I love them! I found this website to be very useful... http://www.learning4kids.net/list-of-sensory-play-ideas/
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I enjoy doing with the children is hand on sensory, I put hair gel on the plate or in zip lock bag, add glitter and different color of pompom and let the kids experiment it. sometime I add paint to make it more interesting the children love that. It's inexpensive and its simple activities and the children have fun play with it.
ReplyDeleteThe rubbery goop is a great sensory activity for children. The texture of the good is soft and rubbery. Children are able to squeeze the goop, roll it, and pull it apart. Children really seem to enjoy play dough and the rubbery goop is almost the same thing.
Deletehttp://www.learning4kids.net/2015/08/30/homemade-rubbery-goop-recipe/
One of my favorite Sensory activities is kinetic sand. My children always get a kick out of how the sand feels and is able to be minupliated different than regular sand. I even take the time to change the sand toys weekly. Sometimes I use people, animals or even cars. The children get excited every week wondering what's next. I love how they are able to stretch their imagination.
ReplyDeletelast month we did a "Primary Colours Squishy Bag Experiment" is a wonderful sensory experience for children to see how colours mix and form other colours. Children use their hands to blends and squish the different coloured paints together for form new colours
ReplyDeletethey just need a plastic zip lock lunch bag and paint
The three primary colours, red, blue and yellow are the minimum number of colours that can be mixed to make the greatest number of other colours or secondary colours.
I found this cool idea for sensory play, its called "Sand Foam". mix clean sand and shaving cream in a large tub. some of the ideas you can add to it depending on your theme, like dinosaurs, shells, animals, letters etc.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link. It looks fun!!
http://www.learning4kids.net/2015/05/26/how-to-make-sand-foam/
One of the activities that children enjoy is finger painting. Finger painting is a great sensory activity and introduction to art. The materials that you will require for this activities are finger paint and paper. Children love to taste everything; the teacher can make their own finger paint edible or non-toxic finger paint. In case if the children taste the paint it will not be harmful. Set up all the items on the table and let the children explore, investigate, create, and play. This sensory activity can stimulate the children senses and help them to develop cognitively, socially, and emotionally.
ReplyDeleteI love sensory play! I think it is the best kind of play because it can be done indoors or outdoors, actually some activities can be done anywhere, for example, a squishy colorful bag or a calming jar can be played with in the car while traveling.
ReplyDeleteOne sensory play activity I recently came across is called Puffy Paint. You mix some Elmer’s glue, shaving cream and food coloring in a bowl. Then use paint brush or whatever utensil you prefer or the children prefers and paint away. Another way to do this activity is to put the mixture inside a Ziploc bag and cut one corner and squeeze out paint that way to make a picture or just doodle. When it dries up it looks like 3D paint and it’s a little squishy. It is a great sensory activity that I have yet to try in my classroom. I bet the children will love it!
I saw this on BabyFirstTV page on Facebook.
Here’s a link:
https://www.facebook.com/BabyFirstTV/videos/10154238133604586/
I really like to have sensory bags tape to the tables. I usually put gel in them with food coloring. The children love touching the bags and to see there smiles on their face. I also put buttons in them the children can sort the buttons in the bag and count them. This a great sensory as well as It will help them with their fine motor skills.
ReplyDeleteSensory Play can be therapeutic for the children specially for the babies; one of my favorite activities is play with the water, when the babies are tired criying or in bad mood we just need to put them in a warm bath and play with them in the water, they can enjoy and calm down.
ReplyDeleteI found many more activities in this link:
http://www.pbs.org/parents/child-development/sensory-play/developing-and-cultivating-skills-through-sensory-play/sensory-play-early-exploration-through
Sensory Play can be therapeutic for the children specially for the babies; one of my favorite activities is play with the water, when the babies are tired criying or in bad mood we just need to put them in a warm bath and play with them in the water, they can enjoy and calm down.
ReplyDeleteI found many more activities in this link:
http://www.pbs.org/parents/child-development/sensory-play/developing-and-cultivating-skills-through-sensory-play/sensory-play-early-exploration-through