Looking for a fun sensory activity your child can do outside? Try this Flower Potion/Soup.
Not only does it get your kid independently playing outside, it’s a fun sensory experience for them too.
Flowers are Mila and my favorite part of spring! All the pretty flowers make me smile and she loves to pick them. We try to incorporate them in a lot of play activities.
Another element Mila is obsessed with is water! I learned early on in parenting that water calmed Mila down. No matter if it was a lot or just a little.
This kid activity is a perfect mix of the two!
Everything you need is either in your backyard or your kitchen:
Flowers
Jars
Water
Big Bowl
Sticks
Water Dispenser
This activity is really child led. I did ask Mila to collect different flowers that were in our yard. Then I set up the potion/soup station.
I let her know that was her mixing bowl and she could add whatever in there.
She really took over after that!
Mila pretended she was a witch making potions the entire time. She let us know what the potions would do and who they were for. As always, I love hearing from her creative mind.
What’s your favorite spring kid’s activity? Let me know in the comments.
Lets bring on the May flowers and start this month off with a Gardening Sensory Bin.
Since kids need some type of play at parties, I thought a Gardening Sensory Bin would be great. It turns out… it was.
Although I haven’t posted about it yet, Mila’s birthday part was garden and plant themed. She loves plants so much, it was a perfect fit. All of Mila’s friends loved it and Mila kept playing with it for days after.
Just beware of beans flying everywhere.
For this bin, I used things that were around my house, but you can find everything at the dollar store:
Dried Beans
Fake Flowers or Produce
Gardening Accessories
Jars or Mini Pots
Sensory Bin
All you need to do is a fill a sensory bin with whatever kind of dried beans or rice.
Then, place fake produce and flowers like they’re planted in the ground. I loved the felt produce from Targets Dollar Spot or we use fake flowers from the Dollar Tree.
Next, place some jars or pots in the bin along with some gardening accessories.
Now it’s time to play!
Your child will know exactly what to do with this bin. It’s a lot of fun to watch them play and discover. I’ll have this sensory bin ready for whenever. It’s easy and has endless amounts of fun.
What are you looking forward to this month? Let me know in the comments.
What’s Mila’s favorite part about spring, minus the flowers and nice weather? All the baby animals! This Farm Clean Up Sensory Play idea is a perfect way to talk about new baby animals AND have fun being messy too.
This interactive play was easy to set up and let her play for a long time. The best part… it’s completely edible too.
First, I want to say a HUGE thank you to Terra by Battat for gifting Mila these animals to play with. They have these big Bucket Sets full of different types of animals that are amazing. Terra by Battat sent us farm animals, marine animals, and a few other goodies that we love.
Their toys are super realistic and come in their own world. Mila has spent hours with both the buckets. The marine animals have became her favorite bath tub toys. I’ll be posting different ways we’re playing with them. You should still totally check Terra by Battat out though. Would make perfect Easter presents!
Anyways…
When I saw the country world bucket, I instantly thought of this fun sensory play. To further create this world, here’s what you’ll need:
The hardest part of this sensory play is the set up. It just takes a little time, but it’s worth it.
To set the scene, all you need to do is spread chocolate pudding in one part of your sensory tray. I also added some crushed kix cereal to make it look more realistic.
I also made sure to make the animals ‘muddy’ too. Honestly, I didn’t know if Mila would want to do that so it just made it a little more fun for me.
Then, I set up the cleaning area. This just consisted of a wash cloth, cleaning brush, and soapy water. It was nice doing the water in a bowl because Mila instantly thought it was a bathtub! Which works for me.
The next little area was where the animals dried off. I just used shredded paper and tissue paper.
After it was all ready for her, I just let her do whatever. When we do sensory set ups like this, I try not to give her too much direction. She immediately started cleaning off the animals.
It was so cute to listen to her too. She pretended she was a zookeeper and it was cleaning day.
After the first clean up was done, she made the animals muddy again and kept the process going. I loved watching how creative she was through it all.
I think this activity would have been even better outside with more space, but it worked well inside too.
The clean up for this activity was really easy too. All I did was recycle the paper. Then I just used water to clean everything else off. It was quick and simple!
I have a feeling we’ll definitely be doing this set up again in the near future. Until then, I can’t wait to show you the other fun activities we have planned with the marine world bucket. It was another hit with Mila.
Make sure to check out Terra by Battat and order realistic play animals that your kids will love.
What edible sensory play do you do with your kids? I would love to hear ideas.
If love isn’t in the air, then you can conjure it! Well, your toddler can through this fun Love Potion Sensory Play.
Toddlers will feel magical and interact with Valentine’s elements.
Mila seriously had so much fun making a love potion. She ended up pretending she was a witch and made our dogs fall in love with each other. Anytime sensory play opens to imaginative play, I get happy!
She also had a blast renaming all her ingredients, which I thought was so creative.
Speaking of ingredients, here’s the ingredients you’ll need to make your little fall in love with this potion:
A Big Bowl
Jars
Tissue Paper
White Vinegar
Baking Soda
Heart Ice Cubes
Shaving Cream
Food Coloring
Tongs
Candy Hearts
Heart Sprinkles
Spoons
I let Mila do her thing when she put all the ingredients in. The only rule I gave her was to put the big jar (water) in last. That way everything could fizz and look magical.
Although I didn’t give her an order, I think it’s best if you mix the baking powder with the other solid things first. Then, add vinegar.
The longer it can fizz and pop, the better!
She also loved stirring it when she did add the water. I just made sure to keep getting more hearts and tissue paper for her to add in there. It just extends play longer when they can put more things in.
We had so much fun with this simple Love Potion Sensory Play idea. It was easy to set up, but can get messy. I would totally suggest adding kraft paper or a sensory bin underneath to catch rogue water.
No matter what, this potion was a hit and we’ll make sure to keep making potions in the future too!
What fun Valentine Activities do you do with your littles?
There’s so much magic when a person gets to shake a snow globe. It’s a whole work in your hands. Snow Globe Sensory Bins are even more magical and fun to explore.
If your child loves snow globes, they’re going to love this play idea.
Mila has a slight obsession with snow globes.
On her first Christmas, she got multiple ones from different people. We still have all (but one), that are all set up in her room. My parents also get her snow globes from every place they visit. To say we have a mini snow globe collection is an understatement.
No matter the time of the year, she loves to shake and look at them. To continue that love, I thought this sensory bin would be a perfect fit.
I was right!
As with a lot of my sensory bins and play ideas, I used elements I had around the house or from past bins. Here’s what we used for this one:
Fake snow
Sensory bin
Rainbow bottle brush trees
Different sized jars
Extra accessories
Spoon or mini shovel
This sensory bin is full of fun activities. All I did was set it up like this and Mila made it her own.
She filled up the jars with snow and saw how many trees she could fit in each jar. I watched her make the snow globes pretty too.
We talked about the colors of the tree, had them count, and we did small to big comparisons with the jars. Learning has no boundaries. You can talk about whatever with your child. They’ll soak up all that information.
Even though I originally just set up the mini trees, Mila brought in mini toys to play with and put in the snow globes too.
I can easily see opening up play with her by making the snow globes more themed or adding different seasonal elements in the future. Again, the opportunities are endless when it comes to sensory bins!
Hopefully you and your child enjoy this sensory bin as much as we did. We want to make snow globes sometime this winter and need all the tips we can get! I’ll update when we make them.
Have you ever made a snow globe before? What liquid do you use for the inside?
Then… check out these other fun indoor winter activities too!
Happy First Day of Winter, everyone! To celebrate, I prepped this Winter Tree Sensory Bin for Mila to play with winter elements without the cold!
This sensory bin was such a hit, I’ll keep it set up all winter long.
Let me tell you a secret… of all the elements in this sensory play are reused from Christmas decor and past sensory bins.
My dogs told me… aggressively… that they didn’t like my new mini tree. I was so sad because it was cute and brand new! Instead of just throwing it all away, I cut what I could salvage off and gave it a new life.
I’m letting you on this little secret because I have NO idea where to find little tree branches like these normally. AND since Christmas season will be over soon, you definitely can reuse old decor items for play or other DIY’s. It’s always just a nice reminder.
Anyways, here’s what’s all in this sensory bin:
Reused pine branches
Fake snow
Mini ornaments
Bells
Pinecones
To set this up for Mila, I added fake snow from the other sensory bin this month at the bottom of a tray. At first, I put the tree together so she knew what she was going on.
Then I told her to decorate the tree with the ornaments and bells.
After, she had taken everything out of the bin and started making different trees! I wish I would have began the play this way. It made the bin much more creative and she ran to get other little characters to play in the snow.
I love watching her play and her ideas come to life.
If you’re looking for ways to celebrate winter or just want another sensory play idea for your child, this one was definitely a hit!
Let me know in the comments your favorite season and how you celebrate them.
A new month means there’s new things to explore and discover. This month, we’re doing a Christmas Sensory Play. The most fun part of this sensory bin is everything is bought from the dollar store!
We love Christmas and all the joy it brings to us. I think Mila is mostly excited for snow and Santa to bring presents. To combine that happiness and interest, I thought this Christmas Sensory Play idea was the best of both worlds!
This sensory bin is filled with:
Different types of fake snow
Jingle bells
Chocolate Kisses
Santa stickers
Refrigerator organizer
As I said before, I got this entire bin at the dollar store! Everything was pretty cheap and easy to put together. All I did was dump the three different types of fake snow in the refrigerator organizer.
If I could give one fake snow suggestion, I’d tell everyone not to get the small foam balls. They get EVERYWHERE and stick to everything. We could have done with just the glitter snow and the medium sized foam balls. It would have worked just as well.
Anyways, then I hid chocolate kisses underneath so Mila could find surprises.
The next things I added were the jingle bells. I had a ton of different sized and colored bells. This is important for one of the activities that I’ll explain.
To make it a little more festive, I added five, felt Santa stickers. They’re so cute!
There’s seriously a ton of activities you can do with this Christmas Sensory Bin.
The first is just letting your child explore the sensory bin. There they can find the chocolate kisses, feel the different types of snow, or use their imaginations. Mila loves when I don’t give her directions and she just does whatever.
One activity that I directed her in was sorting the bells. You could have them sort by color or size. This provide a ton of different skills.
I also had her count the Santas too. There’s a ton of math that kids can do that will help!
In all, this Christmas Sensory Bin is festive and educational. Kids will love it and you’ll love that they’re learning and having fun.
Do you have any suggestions of Christmas play? I have a few, but I’m definitely up for more ideas. Also, what are you most excited for this Christmas season?
Are feathers the googly eyes of November? I think so! This Fine Motor Turkey Activity is the BASTE way to play while prepping for Thanksgiving.
Another huge positive for this activity is you only need two things: feathers and a colander.
You can make a turkey face too if you’d like.
You can find feathers at any dollar store for only a dollar and you get a ton of them. You can use them for so many other crafts and activities throughout the year too. They also make for a great sensory object.
For this Fine Motor Turkey Activity, all I instructed Mila to do was make a turkey out of those materials.
Mila had fun sorting the colors and making the turkey look ‘silly.’ It gave me time to make dinner and it would be a fun race for the kids on Thanksgiving Day.
I truly believe the simplest activities make the biggest impact.
As usual, Mila did an amazing job and I know other kids would like this activity too.
I love how this activity could be used for little kids too. It’s a great sensory activity that works on motor skills!
For older kids, you could do a timed activity where they either need to put all the feathers in OR take them out the quickest. It’s simple for kids of all ages.
What sort of activities do you do during Thanksgiving? Or does your family play any fun games?
Happy November! We’re celebrating this month and Thanksgiving with another fun sensory bin. You all know how much we love them! This time Mila did a Make a Turkey Sensory Bin.
Not only did she have fun playing with the different materials, she made Thanksgiving art.
This bin looks like a random grouping of items, but it all came together so perfectly. Here’s all that we used:
Like with all sensory activities, I let Mila explore the different materials. She was familiar with everything, but the beads threw her off. We usually only use beads for threading activities… or making bracelets.
It was fun to watch her interact with these materials with the thought of making a turkey too.
Obviously, she pointed out the feathers and eyes for the turkey, but everything else she made up on her own. I had a canvas with a brown circle glued down on it. This became the base of the turkey.
Then, I let her glue down everything else and put the items where ever she wanted.
This is how it turned out:
She says the beads were the turkey’s necklace, the candy corn it’s ears, and everything else is normal.
I just love her quirky turkey.
To extend this activity, you can have your child describe the texture and feeling of the items. You could also do a fun counting game with them too.
No matter what, it’s a great way to make memories with your child.
I have a few Thanksgiving and turkey activities lined up. As always, I’d love to hear about your traditions or activities you do too!
Another day, another fall activity! Today’s play is a Pumpkin Washing Sensory Bin.
We love sensory play for so many reasons. To summarize all of its benefits, it helps children’s brains in a ton of ways! It also gives me a minute to do a chore or task that needs done around the house too.
Now that it’s spooky season, I’m finally letting Mila pick pumpkins from our pumpkin patch on the side of our house. It led straight to this activity.
Before we paint or decorate these pumpkins, I thought they needed to be cleaned off. Instead of me just doing it, I thought it would be so much fun for Mila… and I was right. All I had to do was set up this station.
The only thing I told Mila was that the pumpkins needed cleaning and she could use more water and soap if she needed.
Let’s just say… she went to work right away!
This activity is so simple and Mila had came up with a big story of why they needed washed. She pretended they came from a different farm and not just outside our home. I always love listening to how her mind works.
That’s what makes sensory play so fun for everyone.
I actually left this activity out for the next day and she kept on playing. Lets hope painting or carving pumpkins goes this smoothly too.
Do you paint or carve pumpkins?
I’ve done both, but I’m thinking Mila may like painting more than carving this year. I’ll keep you all updated when it happens!
Grey Skies & Rainbow Highs 