Bartholomew and the Oobleck is an enthralling story to read with children! It follows a king who wants something new to come from the sky, so he orders his magicians to make “oobleck”. As with many alterations of Mother Nature (Michael Jackson comes to mind) this, of course, turns out to be a disaster! It is only remedied when his page, Bartholomew, convinces him he needs to say the words, “I’m sorry.”
Dinosaurs Frozen in Time
Try this activity in your sensory table for your dinosaur fans! In containers of various sizes, freeze sand, shells, plastic dinosaurs, and or plastic bones in water. (If your items tend to float, freeze the container half full with the water and the items. Once it’s frozen, and holding the items in place, you can fill the container the rest of the way with water and freeze again.)
Place these prehistoric ice cubes in your sensory bin alone or with sand. You can also bury them in the sand for even more fun! Add containers of warm water with droppers or larger containers with warm water that the ice cubes can be submerged in.
Preschoolers Painting with Water – Can it get any easier?
It seems too simple for many adults to consider, but from a child’s point of view, painting with water is a fascinating activity! Paint cups filled only with water and a brush transfer disappearing patterns on chalkboards or sidewalks. The consistency of the medium causes any excesses to find their own course of least resistance, giving every masterpiece an abstract flair, while also giving the artist a front row seat to the evolving shape created. Combine the water painting with chalk for a unique creative experience as the two media are combined.
I often introduce painting at the easel by having the children paint with water. Together, we can work through the processes of brush control, keeping the paint at easel, and keeping the lids on the containers, without the mess of actual paint. It’s almost like training wheels for little artists!
Mixing Colors the Easy (and Fun) Way!
Here’s a color-mixing project that is quick, easy, and inexpensive. Fill three clear containers(jars are great) about 2/3 full with water colored blue, yellow, and red with liquid or powder water colors, or with plain old food coloring. Provide a few extra empty containers for mixing. Place all of these on a towel-lined tray, or in a sensory table. Provide a baster or dropper for transferring water, or provide several different instruments of varying sizes for experimenting. Children will be absorbed in this activity, transferring water and creating new colors, while building a bundle of developmental skills!
Mixing colors is a cognitive, as well as creative, activity. Moving the water with a variety of tools is a provides small motor strength, hand eye coordination, and an exposure to basic science tools. As the amount of water in each container changes, or as tools with varying capacities are used, discussion can be guided toward math concepts such as “less than” and “more than”. To support literacy, use this activity in conjunction with a great color mixing book, such as Mouse Paint, by Ellen Stoll Walsh.
Preschool Paleontologists – Digging for Dinosaur Bones
What child wouldn’t love the chance to unearth the mysteries of dinosaurs? Here’s how I gave some preschoolers the chance to be paleontologists!
How to Find Sensory Materials on the Cheap
Photo provided by ba1969.
So you’ve found a way to create a sensory table without a huge hit to your budget. Now how do you keep it filled with a variety of materials without dipping into your rainy day fund? There are plenty of fantastic sensory experiences that you can provide with little or no cost, and most of them are reusable!
Capitalize on Catastrophe. If you’re as lucky as I am, you have a few extra hands in your house that tend to increase the number of spills in your kitchen. I’d be lying if I said all the spills were at the hands of my children. Suffice it to say that between the four of us in our home, the floor has seen its fair share of disaster. When these spills happen in our “dry foods department” and on a large scale, I scoop them up and store them with my sensory supplies rather than throwing them out in the trash can. This is how my popcorn kernel supply began, and has also contributed to my colored rice collection. With flour and salt, I often bag them up and save them for making playdough.
Colorful Rice
My own boys love playing in colored rice! They’re not the only ones though. I had a tray of colored rice sitting on my counter one day when my friend dropped by to visit. During our conversation she began running her fingers through the grains, scooping and dumping as we talked. After a while she said, “There’s just something soothing about this stuff!” It’s true, the feel of rice sliding through your fingers, the soft rustle of it as it falls into a pile, there’s something that just captivates young and old not so young alike. So here’s how to make your own batch of colorful rice.
Pour a tablespoon or so of rubbing alcohol into a quart size ziplock bag. Add food coloring and mix. Pour in about a cup of dry rice, seal the bag, and gently work the bag until the color has been evenly distributed through the rice. Spread the rice out onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet and allow it to dry completely. (Note: You’ll want to wear gloves and an apron to prevent staining while preparing colorful rice!)
Lather Up Some Color
Looking for a sensory activity that will get your kids’ attention? Spray some shaving cream into your sensory bin. The sight and sound of that alone will get them running!
Goopy Goop
It’s colorful, cheap, and a little bit slimy. What’s not to love? Goopy goop, is pretty much colorful paste. Get a few of the plastic bottles they sell for hair dye. Fill them about 1/2 full of flour. Add water and food coloring or water color powder. Adjust the flour to water ratio if necessary so that the goop is thin enough to be easily squeezed out, but thick enough that you can basically write with the stream that comes out. I used it in my sensory bin and included some paint brushes for mixing colors.
This activity increases fine motor control and strength, both key for future writers. It also is a great opportunity for creativity and sensory development.
Colored Salt
Here’s a quick way to create a new art medium. In a jar or baggie, pour in enough regular, table-grade salt to equal the amount of total colored salt you want to end up with. About a teaspoon at a time, add tempera paint powder. (If you don’t have paint powder, and you’re in a crunch for time, just smash a small piece of colored chalk into powder. My prefered method is to put the piece in a plastic baggie and stomp on it.) Mix the salt and color together thoroughly. Voila! You have colored salt! I use this several ways. Pour some in a cookie sheet or art tray and let children write in the salt with their fingers (for this, you really want to be scant with the paint powder to reduce the mess factor). As you can see in the picture, I put some in baby food jars, poked a few holes in the lids and glued them on. (Those of you who get ideas more than 5 minutes before you need them, could actually go to the store and buy cheap salt shakers, or even collect old spice bottles as you use them up.) I’ve seen these colored salt shakers used to shake onto glue pictures at the art table and into shaving cream at the sensory table. I’ve even reconstituted the tempera paint with salt to create a new texture. The kids really like the bumpy look and feel of their salty paintings! End up with some colored salt that you don’t need anymore? Use it to make playdough and you don’t have to add any color! No wonder salt was once used as money in ancient times. It really is versatile and fun stuff!