Tag Archives: sensory play

Water balloons sensory play – bath time fun!

Posted on May 13, 2014 | 4 comments

Next in the sensory play series was the limitless possibilities of water play!

Toddlers love water, not only because of the familiarity of their womb environment, but also because it’s one of the most exciting thing to explore!

Giggle, spray, sprinkle, laugh excitedly, drip, pour, funnel tickle, drizzle… and the most fun one is SPLASH! Think of how rich and delightful water is as a play.

Who doesn’t remember water balloons from childhood? I filled about 20 balloons with water and placed them in the tub to extend the bath time fun.

Nady got so excited, he jumped on the balloons, wanted to grab them all at once, squeezing them, twisting them into other shapes and slipping them through his hands.

Water play, fosters learning in all developmental areas. It encourages the development of eye – hand coordination through squeezing, pouring or stirring.

Water play relieves tension by encouraging children to release their emotions. Nady was enjoying expanding the balloons. I tied the balloon to the tap and he was pulling until it splashes. You can hear a lot of giggles!

Water play is such a meaningful experience to introduce new words to describe the situation such as heavy, pull, splash… for instance.

Sprinkling was hilarious! I was enjoying the play as much as Nady. I loved his reaction!

Water play widens the sensory experience as kids put their hands in different textures and temperatures. Running water was like magic for him, he wanted to catch it, he stayed for a long time trying…

You can’t imagine how open – ended is this activity and how it provides opportunities for extended learning. After we burst all the balloons and wanted to end this play, i needed a transitional game to take him out of the water. I thought his stacking cups could help and he found a way to stay in the game. he started filling the cups with the burst balloons and pouring them from one to the other.

It was so hard to end the play! We really enjoyed it and looking forward for the next time with even more equipments 🙂

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Posted in way to play

Tagged balloons, bath, bathtime fun, blog, fun, jaymmy, marmite et ponpon, sensory play, water, water balloons, water play, water sensory play, way to play

Homemade colored sand – fine motor skills and messy sensory fun

Posted on May 5, 2014 | 1 comment

Homemade sand for hot days (or rainy, but it’s not the case in doha), when it’s not convenient to play outdoor.

Very easy and low-budget activity. All you need is cracked wheat and colors ( i always recommend wilton icing gel). One kilo bag of cracked wheat needs one tsp of the coloring gel. Mix well until the color is even and let it dry.

To kick off the fun, I put them in a container and hide the small animals for Nady to dig in.

Children have always been intrigued by sand play. They dig in, pour it, enjoy the feeling, pretend with it and explore how it moves.

Sand play is open-ended, there is no right way to play with, it stretches the imagination of the kid, provides a soothing sensory experience and it’s an excellent avenue for children to learn physical, cognitive and social skills.

Children are not born with a know how to play, parents should teach them! that’s why at the beginning children just observe before starting to explore.

What does this feel like when I touch it? What does this sound like when I squeeze it? What will happen if I push this or pull that? Crawl over there? Pull myself up on this?

Get down on the floor with your child. You are the ultimate plaything, and any activity will seem more fun if your child can share it with you. Talk to him while you play and you’ll help boost his language skills. Let your child choose how to play, you can suggest new things or present new options, but he should be the boss.

Now it’s time for messy play! It’s an important part of early education:

Physical development: Children will be given the tools to develop and practice fine motor skills and eye hand coordination, such as pouring and spooning and will provide opportunities for children to compare textures such as smooth, rough, hard and soft.

Communication and language development: During messy play, children will be given many opportunities to speak and listen.

Personal, emotional and social development: Messy Play is designed with children’s natural curiosity in mind. It encourages a positive approach to new experiences. There is no “right” way for children to do messy play. This builds self-confidence and self-esteem. They develop concentration, problem-solving and planning.

Intellectual development: Children will investigate, explore, design and create leading to a better understanding of the world around them. They will learn to group and classify, arrange items in a logical order, identify and match and understand cause and effect.

Mathematical development: The children will sort objects, fill containers and create patterns.

Creative development: Children are given endless opportunities with a variety of materials to build imagination and creativity. Through sensory experiences, they are able to respond to what they see, hear, feel, touch and smell. They will express their feelings and thoughts through color, texture, shapes and forms in two and three dimensions.

It was a successful fun activity, Nady was extremely happy and enjoying every second! we played for 90 minutes non stop without loosing interest or getting fussy.

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Posted in DIY, way to play

Tagged blog, colored sand, colors, cracked wheat sand, DIY, fine motor skills, homemade snad, how to make sand at home, jaymmy, marmite et ponpon, motor skills, sensory play, way to play

jungle playdough – Introducing the playdough to your toddler for a great sensory learning and fine motor skills

Posted on April 29, 2014 | Leave a comment

Today we are using the playdough we made yesterday. Click playdough recipe for more details.

Playdough brings out the fun and creativity in your kids, there are open ended games great for hands on, sensory learning. The first very basic game with the playdough consists of introducing the texture to just squeeze and poke . We are all sensory creatures, especially kids they use all their senses when learning something new.

Introducing playdough to your kids can start from age of 15 months. At this age they are not able to create shapes yet, so don’t expect your baby to grab it and start playing. It’s a bit disappointing in the beginning, he can throw it or reject it. Nady was giving me faces and keep on throwing it! You need a gentle introduction, that’s why putting his favorite toys with it can help for more fun.

Nady is learning colors and animals. Jungle playdough is a great fun idea for his first experience.

We started by creating the jungle and introducing the animals one by one inserting their legs in the playdough!

Adding some broccoli trees created a realistic atmosphere. As said Nady likes to taste everything, and he loves broccoli!

Poking sticks in the playdough was so much fun we used popsicle sticks. It’s a great way to encourage his motor skills.

We were shaping balls for him to poke with the sticks.

Mommy loves playdough too! It’s important to talk while playing and introducing new words like squeeze, poke, naming the colors or the things around us. Nady loves the music, we were singing all the time too 🙂

Daddy decided to introduce the legos as well (his favourite).

First he was showing him how to print the lego pattern then he filled them with the playdough and Nady was trying to take it out.

This way we extended more the fun, and we all participated in the play!

When you decide to introduce playdough to your baby or toddler, just make sure it’s safe and at a right pace without pushing too fast.

how to dye noodles for rainbow sensory play

Posted on March 17, 2014 | 6 comments

Cooked noodles are so much fun for a sensory play. Dye them in rainbow colors and let the amusement begin.

Boil the noodles as instructed on the box, better al dente so they are not sticky or coat them with a touch of oil. Divide them into bowls for each color. Mix with the food coloring, (I always recommend the wilton icing gel to save yourself from stains) and let them dry for 15-20 mns. Now they are ready for play!

I wanted this experience to be even more fun, I packed the rainbow noodles in a plastic container and head to Aspire park, one of the beautiful parks in Doha.

For the first 10 minutes, the rainbow remained intact. He was just contemplating the beautiful rainbow. So we decided to take it out of the container to start playing.

More squeezing and squashing were expected but my boy was a bit repelled since he is not used to touch food with his hands, my mistake for having OCD tendencies 🙂 so i decided to participate in the play to encourage him.

We shaped them into balls, his favourite toy!

Happy times with your kids, are unforgettable precious moments!

6 Comments

Posted in DIY, way to play

Tagged aspire park, blog, coloring noodles, DIY, dyeing noodles, jaymmy, marmite et ponpon, noodles, playing, rainbow, rainbow noodles, sensory play, toddler

homemade bathtub paint

Posted on March 11, 2014 | 7 comments

Bath time is always fun, why not make it even more fun by introducing paint to your baby. “Safe paint” made by you at home. Great idea when it’s inconvenient to go out and play.

Sensory play are very important to your babies and toddlers, they can experience stimulation of their senses. In other words your kids discover and understand life through their senses.

I spotted this recipe while surfing on the net. Very Easy and simple, only 4 ingredients:

2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup baby shampoo
4-5 drops of food coloring
2-3 tbsp water

Use a tear free shampoo, so when it gets into the eyes, it’s not the end of the fun.

I put the colors in separate disposable containers, no need to wash later, just throw them.

Now set up is ready… steady, gooooo

Bathtub picasso!

It was also fun for me, i was using my photography skills!

Nady’s chef d’oeuvre!

Can’t be more fun!

If you’re worried about cleaning, it did wipe away very easy with only water. No food coloring stains.

We loved the game… happy bath time!

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