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Thursday 12 January 2012

Marine sensory play


Had I heard the phrase 'sensory tub' before I started blogging I would have thought massage parlour... but now I know better. Blogging has taught me the value of sensory play and engaging all the senses of babies, toddlers and preschoolers (if you want to know more about sensory play have a look at A Handful of Fun: Why Sensory Play is Important to Preschoolers by Amanda Morgan www.notjustcute.com).

Recently I have come across two rice based sensory tubs that I think are fantastic. The first is a flowers and fairies sensory tub from The Imagination Tree and the second is a winter sensory bin by crayonfreckles. They were my inspiration to get out and make up my own rice based sensory tub for Boo and Cakey.


I bought a large packet of the cheapest rice I could find. I dyed half of the rice with blue food colouring and the other half with green. I simply poured a little of the food colouring in and mixed it through with a fork. Taking on board the advice given on The Imagination Tree I left the rice overnight to dry thoroughly.

The next day I poured the rice into a large tub and added a set of marine animals as well as sequins to make it glittery, pom poms and shells. For a bit of fun I also threw in a pig, a couple of dinosaurs and a butterfly just to see whether the kids would notice that they don't belong in the ocean... they didn't. Our marine sensory play tub kept the kids very busy. They both played with it in different ways. Boo loved to dip her hands and arms into it and transfer rice and toys from tub to bowl and back again. Cakey got out her trucks and treated the tub as a construction site. The third day in Cakey got a little over-enthused and tipped the whole thing up - unfortunately it was unsalvagable... I will have to make another one again soon.


If you are interested in some other ideas for sensory play have a look at these posts:
Everyday sensory play in preschool from Teach Preschool
Foam Plate Sensory Play from Creative with Kids

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Linked to What's on the Tray Wednesday, Baby Play Friday, Sunday Showcase, It's Playtime and Red Ted Art

11 comments:

  1. Absolutely love this marine play! I'm all inspired to do a jungle sensory play for all the cool jungle animals littlelish got for christmas. Thanks for the inspiration

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  2. That's fantastic, it was a lot of fun. Cleaning it up wasn't quite so much fun sigh!

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  3. Oh wow, the rice looks FABULOUS! What a great sensory bin.

    Thanks for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!

    Maggy

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  4. Like your 'massage parlour' comment - I always thought they sounded like some sort of torture chamber! We love playing in our tubs now though, I just put a new one together today.

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    1. I will head over to your blog and check your out sensory tubs (the words still make me giggle. I would love to make some more.

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  5. I love the pic of the jumping marine animals! Great idea! Pretty photos!

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    1. Thanks. Boo liked picking all the animals out.

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  6. We love sensory bins over here too! I have a link party on Wednesdays for trays, bins, boxes and bags. I would love for you to link up.

    http://his4homeschooling.blogspot.com/2012/01/whats-on-tray-wednesday-2.html

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  7. Using the rice was an awesome idea. So pretty!

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  8. Thank you for sharing this at WOTT! I think when we do our ocean theme I will use cloud dough for sand and dyed rice for water because yours looks so pretty! I can't wait to see what you share at WOTT next time :)

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