Sensory Play Friday: Baby Oil

Ever since we made the cloud dough, Lyla has been asking to play with the baby oil.  Today I agreed to her request. I gave her just under half a bottle of baby oil.  (I do recommend that you either have old clothes on or use an apron.)

Part of the enjoyment was having the independence to pour the oil herself and deciding how much oil she wants. (She did not pour it all at once, but did eventually use all of it. ) Oh my goodness!! She was delighted.

She rubbed her hands in the oil, rubbed the tray and eventually even dipped her nose into it. It was her best sensory experience and it was initiated by her own interests.

An important lesson for me, is to remember to follow HER interests. It leads to the highest level of interest, learning and exploration. When she is done, it leads to the greatest personal satisfaction for her.

Sensory Play Friday: Exploring Rice.

Today I filled the tray with uncooked rice. I know you are thinking that this does not sound very adventurous, but it was perfect.  Lyla is reaching the age now where she is slowly growing out of pure sensory exploration, the 'what is this?' stage.  She is now moving into the 'what can I DO with this?' stage.

What is essential for this activity to be stimulating is: a few different sized containers, containers with spouts like jugs, spoons, jars with lids, narrow mouthed containers, funnels and spoons.

Lyla enjoyed filling the containers with the spoon.  This activity is especially great for developing motor skills.

She loved pouring from one container to another.

She also ate large amounts of uncooked rice. (Please excuse the red ink on her fingers and face, left over from the previous activity this morning).

Lyla is 2 years and 4 months old. I think, for her, this activity was very interesting. She remained engaged and busy for a long period of time, completely absorbed in what she was doing.  This is definitely an activity that I highly recommend.

Sensory Play Friday: Cloud Dough

Today's sensory play was cloud dough. I found the recipe on Flights of Whimsy and thought it sounds lovely. The two ingredients required are flour and baby oil. I could have made the dough before hand and then let Lyla play with it. However, I decided to make it with her.  

She loved adding the ingredients and trying to mix them together.  The baby oil was a new substance for her and I think she found this the most exciting part of the whole process.

I think an important point that I need to mention now is that when this happens, do not consider the activity to be a failure.  Sensory play is all about exploring. Just follow your child's interest.  After exploring the ingredients separately, Lyla did mix them together and enjoyed squeezing it.

This activity did not last as long as usual for Lyla, primarily because she found the mixing more fun than the end result. I did save the cloud dough in the end, for use over the weekend. Already my two older children have been exploring it and they found it very unusual.

Try it out and let me know what you find.

Enjoy.

Mini Makes With Lego Duplo : Hearts

Last weekend I visited The Hive Conference for Bloggers.  One of the sessions that I attended was with Lego Duplo.  I came away from  there full of inspiration.  I have been thinking about doing something special with my 4 year old, because in a family of 4 children, number three seems to draw the short straw.

 Lego Duplo gave each attendee a little Mini Make to take away.  I came home and built the heart with Riley. She loved having her own time with me and enjoyed building the heart. We went on to make many more hearts, using up all the appropriate pieces from our box of Duplo.

Riley then went on to build her own models whilst having a discussion with me.

My two older children used to build with Lego almost every day. My son was particularly fascinated with building. Thinking back, I had taught him, in the very beginning how to follow the build instructions.  I realised that Riley needed that too. We discussed how she would follow the drawing, row by row, from the bottom to the top to achieve the build.  Riley just needed me around now in the beginning to scaffold her learning. To help her achieve the tools that will lead to further making and creating.  These Mini Makes are perfect for this task.  

Then I thought that this is what most little children need in the beginning until they have developed the skill. That is how this Saturday virtual club came to be.  We will share instructions for a Mini Make every Saturday for you to enjoy with your children.  The first one is the heart from the conference, which is apt, we think, because we love it.

The older children got caught up in the enjoyment of building too. They built mini hearts with Lego and made a wall hanging.

Riley and I would love to see your makes. So please share it on social media with #minimakeswithlegoduplo 

Sensory Play Friday: A Woodland Walk

We love going on Nature Walks.  The children all enjoy exploring and the small ones enjoy collecting treasure. Be sure to bring a treasure collectors bag. We made the one above. ( I will share the make on another day). Although these pictures are from last summer, I feel it's a fun activity to share.

One of the great things about a woodland walk for my children is finding trees that are great for climbing, and sometimes just trying to work out whether a tree is good for climbing or not.

Slow walks are best as it gives everyone time to touch, feel, look and listen.

All the opportunity for large motor development too. Climbing, running, jumping and balancing.

Braving the elements to collect treasure.

Feeling a sense of accomplishment.

At the end of the day her bag was full of specimens and treasures for us to explore at home.  The outdoors has so much for us to enjoy, let us make an effort to get out there and ignite a sense of wonder in our children.

Sensory Play: A Holiday Round -Up

Firstly, I have to apologise for the fact that this post did not go out on Friday. I was away and unfortunately, I had very weak/erratic internet service.

Last week was school holidays which meant that I had all 4 of my children home with me. I love it!       

It does mean, that my photos are a little busier than usual.  We were just so busy doing so many different things for different interests on each day. So I decided that the post needs to be a 'round-up' of what we did.

We played with water and paint brushes... the best kind of mark making. Large and satisfying, when the walls and floors are your canvas.

We added shells to the water too. They are fun to wash.

The children remembered an almost forgotten resource, tiny little Teifoc bricks. These are mini real bricks. They can be re used after  washing away the special 'cement'.

On Friday we used shop bought modelling dough and loose parts. The loose parts included lolly sticks, craft match sticks, buttons and googly eyes.

Little Miss 4 was totally absorbed in this activity.  She made a number of little creatures. ( Even though the dough was too crumbly and not very satisfying).

Little Miss 2 on the other hand preferred exploring with the loose parts.

She spent a while trying to line up the googly eyes.

This activity was great for small motor development.

Thank you for stopping by. See you all for more sensory play on Friday.

Bye x

Sensory Play Friday: Cornflour and Water

This activity is definitely a favourite of mine. Its so easy to prepare. It is just cornflour and water. I used large flat trays in which to prepare it.  It is also extremely easy to clean up.  The children are always mesmerised by this, truth be told, so am I.  The trick is not to add too much water.  The cornflour needs to be mixed in and no longer powdery. However, it must not be too watery either.

The amazingness comes from having the consistency of liquid but on the cusp of solid.  You will know what I mean when you mix it up. It's simply baffling.  It looks like a liquid, but feels solid to the touch and then it turns to liquid once again.  My words probably do not describe the wonder of it very well, you simply must try it.... **cough** I mean your children must try it.

Please excuse my photos today, but doing a messy play activity with 3 children definitely creates a different dynamic.

I like the natural colour of the flour, it allows all exploration to be around the consistency and feel. However, you could add food colouring too if you wish.

Enjoy and let me know what you think. 

Sensory Play Friday: Water Beads

Today Lyla is not feeling her best. A few days of fever on and off have left her less smiley than usual.  She still wants to play for short periods and water beads are an old favourite with my children.  (These are found in florist's supplies.)

She enjoys exploring with a range of different utensils... great for fine motor control too.

The water beads are so colourful and attractive! The best thing about these beads though, is how they feel. I am sure everyone in your home will want to touch them and play with them.

Enjoy!!!

Sensory Play Friday

Today's ingredients in our Sensory Play were cornflour and paint.  Lyla was part of the entire process including adding the paint and mixing from a powder form.  

She was mesmerised from the beginning to the end.  The way that the ingredients changed in texture were amazing for her.

We added more paint until the mixture became like play dough.

She loved this and played with this unusual play dough for a while. However, when she started losing interest we added some water and turned it to gloop.

This was a great activity. Her sensory exploration was wonderful to watch and be a part of.

Sensory Play Friday

Friday is Sensory Play Day in our home.  Although we do have sensory play resources available all the time, on a Friday I introduce something new or a new element into something that is already familiar.  This activity is primarily for my two year old but by the end of the day all four children have had an opportunity to explore it.  The morning is her time.  She has uninterrupted time to explore and to discuss her findings with me.

Today we tried Kinetic Sand.  We love it.  It is not sticky, it can be moulded into shape and it 'flows'.  It is similar to gloop, but without the 'dirty'.  This is really something that will appeal to children that do not like getting their hands dirty. 

Another appealing factor is that it still retains its natural colour.  Presenting sensory play in an aesthetically appealing way makes it more enticing I find.

Sensory Play

On a Friday my toddler and I get to spend  'alone' time together. It's funny because she knows when we get back from school that today's routine is different. Today I was cutting some flowers that were beginning to wilt, with the intention of drying them. She was fascinated, so I thought I would give her a few to explore.

She loved it. Her concentration was intense.  It really was lovely to watch her interest in the colour, texture and smell.

There is so much learning in this simple exploration. I am glad that we took this moment in time together.