or by adding bubbles. Food coloring is great in snow. Maple syrup is super fun and tasty in the winter, and can be scooped up with little spoons or popsicle sticks. Heating it up makes the snow melt a little and is a great, sticky treat. Get creative, throw things in, and watch the children explore. When the weather is warm, I left the table outside in the driveway for weeks. I alternated between water and beach sand that I brought home in a bucket from the ocean. Beach sand is very fine and great for straining and pouring. Water play is always easy and effective. Set it up full of measuring cups, a few plastic storage containers, and plastic oral medicine syringes from the pharmacy. A hose will host hours of fun: water games, car washes, pouring jobs, splashing, water fights, “bathing,” and more. Combined with a hose, sprinkler, or an outdoor plastic kitchen, a sensory table and a few buckets transform a driveway into a water park. Often my children put the water table on the ground, filled it, sat in it, dumped it to make a stream to lay in,
pretended it was a pool or boat, and more. Most of these scenarios my children created, I simply provided the tools. We also mixed up activities with bubbles, food coloring, sponges, Q-tip, old rags, sprayers, and even paint brushes. Painting with water is super fun. Cutting up a sponge or rags into small pieces adds an element of play, whether playing car wash with toy cars, their bicycles, or helping wash the family car. Children also love things their size, like little bars of soap. Published Author Jodi D. Healy is a mother of three with more than 20 years’ experience in the field, with a B.A in psychology and M.Ed. Her recent books, Create a Home of Learning, the Jesse True series, and The Dirt Girl, are available at createahomeoflearning.com.
Material Ideas for Sensory Play Base Material • Water • Snow • Play-Doh • Sand (play sand, beach sand, Moon Sand) • Ice • Different types of seeds (bird seeds) • Corn • Flour and water • Shaving cream • Oobleck (cornstarch and water) • Weeds and grass with roots • Shredded paper, confetti • Slime • Foam packaging • Shells, pebbles, stones • Collection of things that shine: mirrors, CDs, flashlights • Broken toys or items to take apart • Potting soil (without chemicals) • Magnets and metals (cans, tools)
Rotate In • Measuring cups • Measuring spoons and utensils • Different types of bottles (plastics and recyclables work well) • Sifters and colanders • Tweezers and egg cartons for sorting • Straws • Balls, marbles • Small plastic toys for hiding • Colanders, sieves, pitches, colanders • PVC piping • Digging shovels, buckets, cups • Food coloring • Pipe cleaners, Q-tips, popsicle sticks • Paint brushes • Bugs or sea creatures, collections • Toy cars • Beach toys
BAYSTATEPARENT 11