Easy Peasy Sensory Fun!

Have you ever seen your child intensely digging in the sand box? Concentrating ever so carefully on the tiny bits of sand that are sifting through his/her tiny fingers. Carefully touching and exploring the textures that are before them.

Children respond differently to sensory experiences and these experiences can be therapeutic, improve motor skills, contribute to language development, help with social-emotional development and raise awareness of the world around them.

As the weather begins to cool off and fall/winter starts crowding in, I start to cringe at the thought of my children being cooped up indoors, scaling the walls of the house and not having as many of those stimulating sensory experiences that summer time offers. Have no fear mama friends! Don’t pack away those water tables just yet! Rinse them out, bring them inside and let’s get our fun on! It’s time for some easy peasy sensory fun that will keep your kids busy for HOURS…I’m NOT kidding.

Sensory Leaf Game

Supplies:

• 4 bags of fake leafs (50 count in each bag)
• A few pumpkins and gourds that I scored at Dollar Tree
• Water table/Rubbermaid container or something similar

Directions:

I came home, opened the bags of leafs and scattered them all in the empty water table (that I just so happened to get for FREE with Pampers Diaper Rewards! BOOM! If you have a child in Pampers diapers…you should be racking up those reward points girlfriend. It only took me three years to earn a $25 water table but FREE is FREE, and I ain’t ashamed.)

My three year old thought this was the coolest thing EVER. Mom points! When he got bored of checking out all the different leafs we decided to start playing “Hide and Seek.” I would hide little toys under the things in the water table and he would have to find them with a magnifying glass.

This activity can be taken in so many different directions. You could work in pre-math skills by sorting leaf colors. You could add real and fake leaves and sort them into piles based on texture. A whopping $6 provided HOURS of entertainments for my kids…totally worth the laughter, smiles and…a little peace of quiet for mama!

Monster Slime

Ingredients:

• 2 bottles of glue (Dollar Tree sells 2 bottles for $1!)
• Liquid starch
• Extra-fine glitter (we used green, but you could use whichever color you desire)
• Water

Directions:

In one bowl mix 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of glue. Make sure it is mixed really well and then add as much glitter as your little heart desires. (I used about 2 tablespoons.) Slowly pour in 1/2 cup of liquid starch and mix together. I usually end up using my hands and kneed the slime until it is the perfect consistency. It should be squishy and stretchy but not sticking to your hands. If it is too sticky, add a little more starch. Note: the slime does get better with time, so let it set for a few minutes. You can even add cool Halloween glitter or googly eyeballs to spice things up even more! Store in an airtight container for future play!

Pumpkin Spice Cloud Dough

Ingredients:

• 7 cups of flour
• 2 pieces of orange smashed up sidewalk chalk
• 2 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• Water table/Rubbermaid container or something similar

Directions:

First mix the smashed up chalk and seven cups of flour together. Next sprinkle in pumpkin pie spice. (You can add as little or as much as you like when it comes to the spice.) Add vegetable oil slowly and mix together. Continue adding it until the dough is mold-able and slightly damp. Viola! Cloud dough!

I threw the dough in the water table and it literally provided an entire day of enjoyment. My kids made roads with their cars, molded “cloudmen” and used items out of the play kitchen to make “Pumpkin Muffins.” This is a MUST TRY for all you Mama’s out there!

What did you and your kiddos think of these easy peasy sensory activities? Which one was your favorite?