Sensory Project: Water Beads

Sorry I haven't been keeping this very current!! October always gets away from me. Sebastian's party (and the entire weekend went great. I'll post pics soon!) Next up comes Pumpkin Patch and Halloween activities. YAY!!
So today I will bless you with a fun little sensory project we did. Basic flower water beads. Who knew kids would adore squishing these in their hands? I think even Skylar got a kick out of them! (btw, these come in multiple colors and are sold in the floral aisle at Wal*Mart. The pack I bought was $2. I got clear because I was afraid of the dyes rubbing off on them, but I think I will buy colored ones next time! Color is just fun, and it'll come off eventually, right? :) )

Little packet of Beads

Put into large bowl and cover with water

An hour later, as they swell up absorbing the water

In 2 hours I considered them done, (package says could take up to 4 hrs)
Then drain off the excess water

Closeup of the beads

Now it is time to squish!!

8/8/11 MM (I wanna touch it!)

So today the kids played with Gloop. Is there a better term? Skylar and I referred to it as Oobleck from Dr. Suess.

You have probably made this at school or some other point in your life.
Making gloop is a 2 ingredient ordeal. How cool???
You need water and cornstarch. EASY PEASY.
I made 2 separate bowls as I was unsure on how you *share* this type of activity.
I also colored it. I'm sure you can tell by now, we love color. We try to add color to a lot of our crafts, and even food. Haha. Skylar wanted Blue Gloop and Sebastian wanted his to be green.
All you do is add however much water you want and double that for the amount of cornstarch needed.
Skylar's was 1 cup of water (mixed with food color) and 2 Cups of cornstarch
Sebastian's was 1/2 Cup of water and 1 Cup of Cornstarch.
He was a little weirded out by the concept of what he was supposed to do, but once he got going, you can see the excitement on his face! He thoroughly enjoyed this, as did Skylar. She told me it was a Science Experiment as well. She said the substance didn't make sense, like Jello doesn't. Is a solid? Is it a liquid? Who cares??? It's FUN!!

Keep it moving and it is a solid

Let it rest and it's a liquid!
Move it again and it'll re harden!

Aug1, 11 MM (Veggie Garden Sensory Box)

So today we did another sensory box. I know, I love these things, can't help it. A toy made from household items that a toddler adores and stimulatea their brain? Yes please!! I saw one here that was my inspiration. Only I made mine a bit simpler and let the kids be more involved in making it rather than making it and handing it to them. (so yeah mine isn't as neat, lol)





The only thing I did was make the markers a few days before on a whim. I was up late, as usual and wanted a lil something to do. So I made them, and I shoved the pipecleaners in the carrots. The things we used to create this box were:

Items Needed

Can you tell bathtime came early while the paint dried on the veggies? haha

Yay all done!! ready to play!

I think he loved it!

Sensory Boxes w/animals

Today I got out his old sensory box, aka a container full of blue rice. I added some more rice (that I dyed green) and 6 of Skylar's Schleich animals. I hid them inside and he had to find them. He had such fun. I think this was his favorite time. It was so cute he'd be all "PIG!!! Are you??" (yeah he doesn't add the *where* haha), then if he found a different animal than the one he had called for he's say "No, turtle!" and shove him back in and continue the pig hunt, aha sooo much fun. This is another time he played with the box and here too.
I won't do any more commentary and let the pics do the talking, haha

Sensory Boxes

I made Sebastian 2 sensory boxes thus far. I have plans to make more. Sensory boxes can be any type of container filled with any type of material to allow your small child to explore and experience textures. Our sensory boxes did not go over so well on the first try. Little did I know Sebastian wasn't feeling well. I will try these again when he is feeling up to it, but I still wanted to post about these because I think they are cute and I believe he will like them.
Our first box is Soft. This is currently only filled with cotton balls. I had originally wanted feathers as well, but when I went to get them the store was all sold out. So at this time, cotton balls is the "Soft" texture.

The second box is Smooth and Bumpy. This container includes tri colored spiral noodles and blue rice. Well, it is blue now, haha. For those of you who may not know how to color uncooked rice, it is super simple. Just place your rice into a ziplock bag, drop in your desired liquid food color and knead the bag until the color has worked it's way through the rice. Then dump the rice into the container. If you use a lot of color you may need to let the rice dry but I didn't need to, it was ready instantly. There is no staining, no mess.
Although Sebastian wasn't feeling his best, he did enjoy this box for a few minutes before telling me he was ready to go to bed.