sensorial ideas for toddlers & young children

[Aurora]

Add your child's favourites here!


Goop
Mix cornflour and cold water together, with a couple of drops of food colouring, until it forms a runny consistency. Put mixure in a bucket or tub outisde, and let them go for it! Any goop that gets on the driveway or lawn can be hosed off easily.

Rice & Pasta Play
Dry rice & pasta are great for imaginative play. We often put them in containers in the cubby house, and provide some saucepans and spoons/ladles for ''cooking''. You can dye rice or pasta with food colouring, too. Great for making mandalas with, or pasting onto a collage.

Shaving Cream
Some may be concerned about the chemicals contained within shaving creams, and if you child has sensitive skin I certainly wouldn't recommend ths activity. But shaving cream is a great sensorial experience- add a a drop of food colouring, and place some foamy dollops on an old plastic table or on an old shower curtain or plastic tablecloth on the lawn and let them at it!

[Beatrice]

:bump Looking for some more ideas to keep the kids amused indoors when it's too cold to go out to play...

We have a tub with rice, lentils, soup mix, small beans etc, and lots of scooping, pouring toys.

I was reminded of how useful old plastic bottles are. We used to have a "treasure bottle", which was an old softdrink bottle filled with white rice, and heaps of little toys/buttons/beads/etc which were revealed when you shook or turned the bottle. I think I might make one with oil/water and food colouring, too.

This (http://play-activities.com/blog/sensory-play-%E2%80%93-part-1-%E2%80%93-introduction-what-is-sensory-play/) was a useful series of articles on sensory play. I think I might try some of her ideas out next week.

[Ceres]

Did we miss play-dough on this list? That has to be one of the world's best sensory play items!