Busy Mommy Media » Sensory Activities

How to Make a Bean Table

Rachel — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:51:44 +0000

As a daycare provider, one of my favorite activities for rainy days, or any other day for that matter, was letting the kids play with a simple homemade bean table. Bean tables provide toddlers and preschoolers with a great sensory activity and can be incorporated into a variety of preschool themes by adding props to them.

Bean tables do have the potential to create a mess. Laying out an old sheet beneath the bean table can make it easy to pick the sheet up after kids are done playing and dump any beans that have escaped back into the bean table. It helps to have kids play in an open area so beans don’t get mixed in with other toys or end up underneath furniture.

What You Need

A large plastic storage container (I like the large flat ones that are designed to slide under a bed)
A large bag of beans. Pinto beans work well but any variety can be used.
Props – spoons, measuring cups, tiny toys, scoops, etc.

How to Use a Bean Table

Preschoolers love to bury their hands in the bean table and feel the texture of the beans between their fingers. Our bean table usually has a variety of basic props like measuring cups, spoons (wooden spoons are great for small hands), scoops from formula cans, and other things that can be used to scoop, stir, and play with the beans. We often add in toy dinosaurs, small dolls, and other hidden treasures that kids can hunt for in the beans.

My 3 year old has a sensory disorder and we often use the bean table to calm him down when nothing else works. Bean tables are a perfect activity for preschoolers, special needs children, and active children. Our bean table isn’t kept accessible to my kids so when we pull it out it is a special treat and can keep my kids occupied for hours.

As a home daycare provider, I often incorporated a bean table as part of our preschool themes by adding related items to the bean table such as dinosaurs for a dinosaur theme, fish for an ocean theme, farm animals for a farm theme, etc. Individual bean tables can be made so children can play independently by using a smaller storage container.

Shaving Cream Puff Painting

Rachel — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:48:18 +0000

Preschool art is all about the experience rather than the end result. This open-ended sensory art project for toddlers is a wonder summer art project for children of all ages. The simple supplies needed for this summer craft are likely found around the home, making it perfect for busy moms who want to fit in a quick art project without making a trip to the store.

Supplies Needed

Shaving Cream – the cheap stuff is fine
Glue
Washable Paint
Popsicle Sticks
Craft Paper
Plastic Containers
Paper Towels
Assorted Craft Supplies – feathers, beads, foam pieces, eyeballs, glitter, etc.

How to Make Shaving Cream Puff Paint

Set out several cheap plastic containers on a washable surface. Kids can help fill the containers and stir in the ingredients needed to make the paint. This is a great way to encourage self-confidence and teach younger preschoolers and toddlers a new skill. Fill each container with foam shaving cream. Squeeze in a good amount of glue. The glue helps set the shaving cream as it dries instead of allowing it to dry up and flatten. The more glue you add, the puffier your paint will be. Add a small amount of washable paint to each container. Use popsicle sticks or fingers to mix each container of shaving cream puff paint.

Painting with Shaving Cream Puff Paint Give each child a piece of paper or cut a large piece of butcher paper for each child. Allow kids to use their fingers or the popsicle stick to put the shaving cream puff paint onto their paper. Finger painting with shaving cream puff paint is a wonderful sensory experience for children of all ages and makes a wonderful sensory activity for children with a sensory disorder. Use the shaving cream puff paint as you would use finger paint. Be encouraging and allow kids to create their own project with little direction from an adult. This allows kids to express their own creativity and develop confidence in their own abilities.

Sensory Art Variations

There are endless possibilities for art projects with shaving cream puff paint. Add glitter to your paint for a sparkly variation. The shaving cream puff paint works like glue and can be used to stick a variety of craft supplies to the paper including, feathers, beads, foam pieces, eyeballs, and much more. Large globs of shaving cream puff paint help craft items stick to the paper best.

Draw an outline on a piece of paper to fit with a preschool theme and allow preschoolers to decorate the paper with shaving cream puff paint.

Mix colors together to find out what new colors you can create for a wonderfully simple and hands on science experiment.

More Sensory Activities with Shaving Cream

Shaving Cream Letters

Preschoolers love to experience the world with all their senses. Sensory activities are a wonderful way to teach valuable educational concepts to preschoolers. This preschool literacy activity encourages preschoolers to practice writing their letters and numbers by making it fun. Why use a crayon and paper when you can write in shaving cream?

Do you have a variation that you tried? Share it with us by leaving a comment.

Gingerbread Playdough

Rachel — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:43:08 +0000

Preschoolers will love this festive touch to traditional play dough. The wonderful gingerbread scent of this play dough adds an additional dimension to this sensory play activity and helps preschoolers to celebrate the holiday season.

What You Need

1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of salt
2 tsp. Cream of tartar
1 cup of water
1 tsp vegetable oil
cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, etc.

What To Do

Mix flour, salt, and cream of tartar together. Blend the mixture well. In a separate bowl, mix the spices together until you get the scent and color you want. When you are happy with the scent and color of your spice mixture add it to the dry ingredients. In a small bowl mix the water and oil together. Add the water and oil mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Cook the mixture in a pot for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. The play dough will start to pull away from the sides and form clumps. Remove the dough from the pot and allow it to cool. Knead the play dough until it becomes a smooth consistency.

Give each preschooler a piece of gingerbread play dough to experiment with. You may want to provide preschool sized rolling pins, cookie cutters, or dough stamps to create an exciting sensory experience for preschoolers.

Alphabet Practice

Print large bubble letters on pieces of cardstock. Have preschoolers form play dough snakes and then lay the pieces out on top of the letters to create three dimensional play dough alphabet letters.

Preschool Pretend Play

Have preschoolers pretend to make some holiday treats with their gingerbread play dough. Provide preschool sized rolling pins, plastic knives to cut the dough, and a metal pie plate. Have preschoolers pretend to make holiday cookies or pumpkin pie.

Make Use of Leftover Dough

Use leftover gingerbread play dough as a base for a Pine Cone Christmas Tree

Pine Cone Christmas Tree
Preschoolers will love making these open ended pine cone Christmas trees. Let preschoolers use their imagination and decorate their Christmas trees using a variety of leftover sequins, beads, and other craft supplies.

Additional Play Dough Activities

(Taken From - Toddler Sensory Play: Homemade Play Dough for Your Toddler)

Sand – Mix sand into your homemade play dough to give your dough a grainy texture. You can adjust the amount of sand that you add to your play dough to give your toddler a variety of textures.

Cloves – Whole cloves can be added to play dough to create an uneven texture and add lumps to the dough. Toddlers will have a different play experience using the uneven dough and the scent of the cloves adds another dimension to their play.

Be Creative – Nearly any material can be mixed in to your homemade dough to alter the play experience for your toddler. Be aware that if you use an add in that your toddler is used to eating it may encourage them to eat the dough but one taste of the heavy salt in the dough and they are not likely to try it again.

Shaving Cream Letters

Rachel — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:52:01 +0000

What You Need

Shaving Cream (Be sure to get the foaming shaving cream and not the gel shaving cream)
A baking sheet with an edge
A preschooler ready to have some fun

What To Do

Fill a baking sheet that has an edge with shaving cream. For larger groups of preschoolers be sure that you have no more than two preschoolers sharing each baking sheet to prevent frustration.

It is best to provide preschoolers with a level surface that is at their waist level but preschoolers can do this activity sitting on the floor. Lay an old sheet o the floor under the baking sheet if preschoolers will be working on the floor.

Preschoolers may get the shaving cream on their clothes or skin. The nice thing about working with shaving cream is that it is basically soap so it is very easy to clean up.

Have preschoolers spread the shaving cream into a solid layer on the baking sheet and use their fingers to write with. Preschoolers can use their finger to practice writing their letters and numbers. Have preschoolers practice writing their name or a few short words. You can provide laminated word cards for preschoolers that have a few short words on them for preschoolers to copy.

Variation

Have Preschoolers draw pictures in the shaving cream. If you have a preschool theme that you are focusing on, encourage preschoolers to draw pictures related to the theme.

Preschool Sensory Activity – Create a Feel Box

Rachel — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:48:02 +0000

Preschoolers love to experience their world through touch. Using a feel box can help preschoolers to practice identifying objects only using one of their five senses. This fun preschool guessing game is a wonderful addition to a circle time routine or it can be used as a calming activity for active preschoolers.

What You Need

An empty tissue box, preferably a square one
Wrapping paper or colored construction paper
scissors
glue
Various craft supplies to decorate

What To Do

Cover the empty tissue box with wrapping paper or colored construction paper. Use a variety of craft supplies such as, buttons, markers, glitter, foam shapes, and feathers to decorate. This can be done by the preschool teacher or if desired, you can allow the preschoolers to help decorate the feel box.

When the feel box has been decorated, allow it to dry completely before using.

How To Play

When the feel box has completely dried, place a small object inside without showing it to the preschoolers first. Have each preschooler take turns reaching their hand inside the feel box and trying to guess what it is. Tell the preschoolers to turn the object around in their hand, feel how heavy it is, and feel the surface to see what kind of texture it has. Ask the preschoolers not to guess until everyone has had a chance to feel the object in the feel box.

This activity can be a wonderful addition to circle time routines. Include objects in the feel box that are related to the weekly theme.

Letter and Number Recognition
To help encourage letter and number recognition among preschoolers, include small cardboard cutouts of a letter of the alphabet or a number. Preschoolers may have a hard time guessing what the letter or number is at first but the activity will help them to experience their letters and numbers in a different way and really think about the way a character is shaped.

Preschool Sensory Activity – Insta Snow

Rachel — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:44:05 +0000

Shake things up a bit by providing preschoolers with a sensory experience that goes beyond the traditional materials like play dough and sand. Celebrate winter by letting preschoolers play with Insta-Snow. This powder will mesmerize preschoolers as they watch it turn to snow right before your eyes just by adding a little bit of water.

Bring Winter Inside
Preschoolers can create their own snow day without ever leaving the preschool classroom. Using only 1 teaspoon of Insta-Snow powder and a little bit of water will give preschoolers an instant explosion of fluffy snow. Preschoolers will have just as much fun watching the reaction as they will playing with the resulting snow. The Insta-Snow powder instantly absorbs all the water and expands to many times its original size in seconds. Preschoolers can enjoy a unique sensory experience by squishing their fingers through the Insta-Snow. It even feels cool when you touch it, similar to real snow.

Safe For Preschoolers
Insta-Snow is made from sodium polyacrylate and is non-toxic. The material is similar to the absorbent material found in diapers. Preschoolers should still be discouraged from putting the material in their mouths but parents and preschool teachers can feel confident that the material will do them no harm if it is accidentally ingested. Insta-Snow has the added benefit of being environmentally safe.

Easy Clean Up
Insta-Snow cleans up easily with a vacuum or a wet rag. Use a cookie sheet with an edge as a play surface for preschoolers to experiment with the snow. This will keep most of the mess in one place and simplify clean up. When preschoolers are done playing you can either save the Insta-Snow for another day or rinse it away with water. Insta-Snow will return to it’s powdered state if left to dry for an extended period of time but this could take up to a month. Just like any other moist material, if you store Insta-Snow in a sealed container after you have added water to it, the wet snow will begin to mildew over time.

Variations
Colored Snow – Mix a few drops of food coloring in with your water before adding it to the Insta-Snow powder. When the snow erupts it will take on whatever color you added to the water.

Fake Snow Man – Make Insta-Snow by mixing the powder and the water and then set the snow in the freezer for a few hours. Getting the Insta-Snow cold will help it to react more like real snow. You can form balls with the snow and stack them on top of each other to create a miniature snow man.

Preschool Sensory Activity – Salt Writing

Rachel — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:37:48 +0000

This simple preschool sensory activity can be done using basic household supplies and a little creativity. Preschoolers will love the feel of the salt on their fingers and can use this activity to practice writing their letters and numbers.

What You Need

A cookie Sheet with an edge
Enough Salt to cover the bottom of the cookie sheet

What To Do

For this activity you will want to have a large cookie sheet with an edge. Place the cookie sheet on a table or on the floor. For easy clean up you can spread an old sheet under the cookie sheet. Pour enough salt onto the cookie sheet to cover the bottom.

Show preschoolers how they can use their fingers to draw in the salt. Preschoolers can practice drawing simple pictures such as snakes or they can practice writing their letters and numbers.

Creating an Alphabet Activity – This activity is wonderful for helping preschoolers learn to write the letters of the alphabet. Provide preschoolers with a alphabet strip or a paper with the letters of the alphabet written clearly on it, that they can use to copy the letters that they want to draw in the sand. Demonstrate how preschoolers can use their fingers to write the letters of the alphabet in the sand.

When preschoolers want to clear the cookie sheet of their writing they can gently shake the cookie sheet to start over.

Edible Play Dough for Toddlers

Rachel — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:21:07 +0000

Sensory experiences are a wonderful way to teach toddlers about the world around them. It gives toddlers the opportunity to use their sense of touch to explore new materials, but if you have ever spent more than five minutes around a toddler you know that it’s only a matter of time before whatever they are playing with ends up in her mouth. Edible play dough is a great way to give toddlers the freedom to enjoy an educational and developmentally stimulating activity, without having to worry about what will happen if they eat the play dough.

Ingredients

1 cup of peanut butter – Be sure that you do not give this play dough to a toddler with any sort of nut allergy. (Some kids can have a reaction simply by touching something that contains peanut butter.)

1 cup of honey – Honey should never be given in any form to infants under 12 months old.

1 cup of powdered milk – Plus extra, if needed, to create the texture you want.

Preparation

Allow your toddler to get involved right from the beginning by letting him help you make this easy edible play dough recipe. Even young toddlers will enjoy being a part of the process and will learn some basic measuring skills.

Give your toddler a 1 cup measuring cup and let him use a spoon to fill the measuring cup with peanut butter. When the measuring cup is full, help your toddler scoop the peanut butter out of the measuring cup into an un-breakable bowl.

Using the same 1 cup measuring cup, help your toddler pour the honey into the measuring cup until it reaches the top. Use a spoon to empty the measuring cup into the bowl that contains the peanut butter.

Use a clean measuring cup to measure one cup of powdered milk. Empty it into the bowl containing the peanut butter and honey.

Have your toddler wash his hands with soap and water since he may be eating the play dough after he is done playing with it. Then let him mix the peanut butter, honey, and milk mixture with his hands. Show your toddler how to squish the mixture together until it forms a sticky dough.

You will most likely need to add another ¼ cup of powdered milk or more to the mixture to create workable dough.

Play

Allow your toddler to play with the edible play dough as he would with any other play dough. As your toddler plays with the dough, the peanut butter will melt a bit and create stickier dough. Fill the measuring cup with some extra powdered milk and give it to your toddler to add to the dough as necessary.

After your toddler has finished playing, show him how he can eat the play dough (if he hasn’t already discovered it for himself). The dough is actually quite tasty and provides a protein packed and nutritious snack.

Originally published at Suite 101