I put this one together several weeks ago. It's very simple, but it was a big hit because of the water. You can put anything in water and kids will enjoy it.
What’s in the tub?
Small rubber duckies,
Mini rubber duckies,
Small cups and scoops,
Water and that’s it.
We scooped, poured, compared the sizes and colors of the ducks, squeezed them to get all the water out and of course there was some splashing to. I put towels down on either the kitchen or bathroom floor so I don’t have a huge mess to clean up.
There are many more sensory bin ideas I’ll be posting in the upcoming months. Happy playing.
Here is another simple art activity. Lately, we've been using rubber duckies for a lot of our activities. It's a way of transitioning out of Easter themed activities into spring. I keep hoping that if I act like spring is here, then it will show up. My plan hasn't worked yet, but there must be warmer weather in our future.
This was simple to set up. I chose one color at a time. I put a little of paint into a bowl and then showed Rosebud how to stamp using the rubber duckies.
We had two sizes of duckies so we could make different designs. Rosebud enjoyed this activity and did some paintings.
What you will need:
Finger paints,
Rubber duckies,
Paper.
Then let your child explore and make designs. You could set out multiple colors to see how they mix, but I'm not brave enough to give Rosebud anymore than one or two paints at a time.
I know Easter has passed, but why not keep playing with eggs and peeps? Rosebud loves all the textures in this sensory tub.
What’s in the tub?
Plush peeps,
Plastic Easter eggs,
Regular and sparkly pompoms,
Small cups,
Mini shovel and spoons.
Rosebud made up her own activity. She found a basket and loves to transfer the pompoms from the tub to the basket. She does this over and over again. It’s good fine motor practice. It’s a really simple activity, but she loves it.
Ball painting is a simple activity with minimal clean up. When I’ve done this project at work, I’ve always used a golf ball, but the golf ball that was floating around the house has disappeared. I found a different ball to use. It’s a little bigger and a lot lighter than a golf ball and I wonder if it made a difference in how the paintings came out.
What you’ll need:
Paint,
Paper,
Ball,
Container
What you do:
Place the paper on the bottom of the container.
Add some drops of paint in whatever colors you wish. As you can see, I put way too much paint in the first one.
Then have your little one shake the container back and forth and or from side to side.
The movement of the ball will create the painting.
Open the container to see the surprise creation!
Rosebud enjoyed shaking the container. She wanted to make a second painting so we did. For the second painting we kept it simple and stuck with yellow. That seems to be her favorite color lately. We’ll be trying this again with other balls of different sizes and weights to see what gets the best results.
I am a big fan of play-dough. There are so many things you can do with it and so many ways to make it. I’ve used it for a sensory play activity, to teach numbers and shapes, to build fine motor skills and for pretend play. Also, I love to make homemade versions of things whenever possible. In the case of play-dough, it is cheeper to make your own, it lasts longer and you get a whole lot more of it.
I decided to make lemon scented play-dough. Something fresh and bright for spring. Here in the northeast, we have the feeling that spring will never come this year.
Rosebud was excited when I brought out the container of new play-dough that I had made the night before. As soon as I opened it, she said that it smelled good. She immediately got to work squishing, pounding and making holes in the play-dough. She used the play-dough cutters to cut pieces and the rolling pins to flatten it. I sat with her and first I made things to see if she could guess what they were. I made hearts, squares, circles and stars. She loves when I make balls, but then she is tempted to throw them. Fortunately, she usually squishes them before she gets the chance. Rosebud loves cooking in her pretend kitchen and loves to help me cook on occasion. She gets very excited about food, so she was thrilled when I started making play-dough ice cream cones. She guessed it correctly right away and then asked for more ice cream cones. We had fun playing with play-dough for about 45 minutes and towards the end, I was thinking about how great it is to just be in the moment. You’re in the present creating something with your hands and enjoying the company. It’s important to be open to moments like these. They will recharge you.
Here is the recipe I used.
2 cups flour,
1 cup salt,
2 table spoons cream of tarter,
2 table spoons vegetable oil,
1&1/2 cups boiling water,
A couple drops lemon extract,
Glitter to make it sparkly,
A couple drops of glycerin to add shine,
Food coloring if desired.
How to make it:
1. Mix together dry ingredients.
2. Stir in oil.
3. Add water and stir until the lumps are gone and it comes together.
4. Kneed. Add food coloring, scent, glitter and or glycerin at this stage.
Store in an air tight container. All of my batches of play-dough have stayed good for a couple months at least.
Even though filling a tub with water and adding a bunch of random stuff to it is so simple, it has countless benefits for children. This article lists a bunch of them if you are interested in learning more about water play from an educational perspective. Some of the basic math and science concepts such as measuring, sinking and floating or hot vs cold can be taught using water. the best part of water play is that it’s fun and your children can become absorbed in it. Rosebud could sit there forever just playing in the water. She loves bath time, jumping in a puddle or swimming in her pool in the summer.
Since spring doesn’t seem to want to show up this year, it has been cold so I’ve tried to find interesting things for us to do inside. Last weekend, I decided to put some water in a tub, cover the kitchen floor with towels and let Rosebud play and experiment. She had fun scooping, pouring, squeezing the sponge and so on. We talked about whether the water was warm or cold. She commented that it was warm. We counted how many scoops it would take to fill the cups. We talked about sinking and floating. Even though she’s young and doesn’t understand these concepts yet, it’s good for vocabulary building. She got wet of course, but surprisingly my kitchen floor didn’t so the clean up doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking. Another plus is that water play can be relaxing and can help a child Wind down.
What’s in the tub?
Water,
Small cups, (I used the little cups you can put salad dressing in by Tupperware)
Scoops, (one of them was shaped like a shovel and the other round)
Different sized funnels,
Small turkey baster,
Sponge, (This one was shaped like a whale)
Ball, (Just for something different)
You can basically use anything that you can put in water. It’s something you can be creative and have fun with.
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What’s in the tub?
What you will need:
I know Easter has passed, but why not keep playing with eggs and peeps? Rosebud loves all the textures in this sensory tub.
Rosebud made up her own activity. She found a basket and loves to transfer the pompoms from the tub to the basket. She does this over and over again. It’s good fine motor practice. It’s a really simple activity, but she loves it.
Paint,
