Today was a sensory extravaganza! We explored textures and temperatures, and even tastes and smells. The theme of our playdate was "Snow in the Summer" and each mom brought a sensory bin with a substance that resembled snow or ice. Our bins included:
Cornstarch
Coconut Flakes
Extra Large Marshmallows
Mashed Cooked Cauliflower
Ice Pebbles
Ice Cubes
"Fluffy Stuff"
"Cloud Dough" (we used canola in stead of baby oil)
Popcorn
shredded paper
Crayola Mod Podge
We started by letting the babies feel and eat the dry ingredients. On one side of our picnic blankets were the edible bins, on the other side were the inedible. The babies really enjoyed feeling and tasting the popcorn, marshmallows, and coconut flakes. It was hot out and the marshmallows got a little sticky, but were fun nevertheless. On the inedible side, the babies loved making it "snow" the shredded white and silver tissue paper, squish the mod poge, and they really loved the silkiness and scrunchiness of the cornstarch.
Once they had played with the dry bins, we brought out some of the wet sensory bins. Things got messy here. The Mashed Cauliflower was fun to squish but was really stinky, especially on such a hot day. The Ice Pebbles were really pretty and easy to make: Just a drop of diluted blue food dye in a balloon, fill balloon with water about a third of the way and freeze. Once frozen just snip the balloon and peel away. It took a long time for them to freeze. Overnight wasn't enough time for some of them and they sort of exploded as I peeled the balloon away. Fluffy Stuff was a really crazy feeling texture made with shaving cream and cornstarch, and the Cloud Dough was sand-like feeling and was made with flour and vegetable oil.
All textures were fun and different, and cheap! A box of Cornstarch for $1.49 provided hours of fun for 10 or so babies! Can't beat it :)
The best part was taking a dip in the kiddie pools to cool off and clean off before heading home.
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