Sensory Tubs Archives - I Can Teach My Child!

Hide-and-Seek Alphabet Puzzle

April 23, 2013 by Jenae — 4 Comments

I’ve had this bean tub in our closet for over 2 years now. Big Brother used to love playing with it, and still does on occasion. Little Brother had not had a chance to play with it yet…until now (mainly because I forgot about it by the time he was old enough to not put the beans in his mouth anymore). I bought the beans in a large bag from Dollar General and stored it in a plastic tub with a tight-fitting lid.

Little Brother is sort of cantankerous about activities (although he is coming around) and he isn’t a huge fan of puzzles. Whenever I ask him if he wants to do a puzzle, he adamantly says “no”. But this time I enticed him to complete this Melissa & Doug Alphabet Puzzle by first hiding the pieces in the bean tub. He was automatically interested! :)

Here’s what you’ll need: An alphabet puzzle, beans, and a plastic tub with a tight-fitting lid. You also may want some cups for scooping.

(Our letter “Z” puzzle piece is nowhere to be found)

1. Dump the alphabet puzzle pieces into the bean tub. Be sure to bury some of them to make it a bit more challenging.

Ready to go!

2. Let your child get started. Be sure to be close by to emphasize the letter name and sound.

Making progress!

Little Brother found all of the letters and recognized most of them!

Little Brother earned some free play in the bean tub after he finished the puzzle! :)

Be sure to check out our other sensory tub ideas.

*Please note: This activity is not appropriate for children younger than 3 or those who still put small pieces into their mouths.

Leave a Comment

Share This Post:

Filed Under: 3-5 years, Alphabet, Language Development, Sensory, Sensory Tubs

Bible-Based Sensory Tub: Moses, the Plagues & and the Red Sea

February 22, 2012 by Jenae — 5 Comments

We had some sensory fun exploring one of the Old Testament Bible stories this morning using some colored rice and random “props” to represent the ten plagues. Thanks to our Jesus Storybook Bible on CD (our absolute favorite Bible for kids), the boys could listen to the story and play at the same time!

Here’s what you’ll need: a bag of rice, rubbing alcohol, food coloring, and random props as shown in the pictures above.

1. Put the rice in a large bowl and add several drops of blue food coloring. Add a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol at a time, adding more as needed to make sure all the rice is covered.

2. Mix together.

3. You can either lay the rice out to dry in a very thin layer, or you can line a baking pan with foil and put your oven on the absolute lowest that it will go. Depending on how much rice you have, it will take 1-2 hours. You must watch the rice carefully while it is in the oven…don’t leave the house or forget to check up on it for long stretches of time.

4. Take it out, stir, and let it sit overnight.

Now…it’s time to add the props and let your kids go to town! But first…turn on the Bible story for your kids to listen to while they’re playing! We used the Jesus Storybook Bible Audio CDs.

The parting of the Red Sea (and the cotton balls pulling double-duty as the cloud that moved ahead of the Israelites)

Here’s a list of the props we used for the Plagues (in no particular order):

-Gnats: Plastic bugs
-Water to Blood: Piece of paper towel with a drop of red food coloring on it
-Frog: Stuffed Frog
-Diseased Livestock: Two Cows from our Little People Farm
-Boils/Leprosy: A bandaid
-Darkness: A flashlight
-Hail and Thunderstorms: Cotton balls for hail and/or clouds
-Flies: Plastic Bugs
-Locusts: Plastic Bugs

I obviously didn’t include a “prop” for the final plague. :(

Yep, rice did go everywhere! But that’s what a dust pan is for, right? :)

Leave a Comment

Share This Post:

Filed Under: 2-3 years, 3-5 years, Dramatic Play, Sensory, Sensory Tubs, Spiritual and Moral Development

Monster Sensory Tub

September 5, 2011 by Jenae — 29 Comments

This was definitely our favorite sensory tub yet! Even I enjoyed digging around in it! We used water beads, which I first learned about from my friend Julie’s blog. She found the idea on Play At Home Mom. These little water beads are the absolute coolest things! They are water-retaining polymers that keeps their shape and are slippery to the touch. They are non-toxic (though you need to supervise at all times since they could be a choking hazard–so don’t do this activity with children younger than 3) and can be used again and again. Just store in an air-tight container and add a little water the next time you want to play with them. Some (like mine) come already hydrated and others you’ll need to add water and let them “grow” for a few hours. You can find them in the floral department of most stores and usually run a couple of dollars (or you can find the kind that you add water to here). A few dollars well spent, mind you!

For a little monster fun, I threw in some large wiggly eyes, which we received for free from Craft Project Ideas.

I ended up using two containers instead of just the one shown. Mine were already hydrated, but I think you can buy them “dry” and you just add water.

Having tons of fun in the water beads!

In case you’re wondering…they don’t stain your hands or your clothes (at least this brand, anyway).

Have you tried water beads??? If so, what did you think?

Leave a Comment

Share This Post:

Filed Under: 3-5 years, Five Senses, Monsters, Sensory, Sensory Tubs

‘Are You My Mother’ Sensory Tub

August 24, 2011 by Jenae — 9 Comments

After our Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Sensory Tub, I thought it would be fun to do more sensory tubs inspired by some of our favorite children’s books! The Are You My Mother? Board Book is one of Little Brother’s favorites lately.

Thankfully, a quick check around the house and we had all of the necessary “characters”, except for a dog…how ironic. Our dog Sage came outside with us, so that counts, right? I also used some birdseed I had purchased several months ago. I had intended to make about 200 birdseed hearts for my sister’s wedding favors…but decided against it after making the first batch! ;)

I read the boys the story while we were outside…they LOVED reading outside. We’ll have to do that more often!

I always think it’s hilarious when I see kids squat while they’re playing…it’s gotta be uncomfortable!

Little Brother was so excited to find the baby bird!

Be sure to hang on to your birdseed…I’ll share why later!

What is your favorite children’s book that you would like to be used as inspiration for a sensory tub???

Leave a Comment

Share This Post:

Filed Under: 2-3 years, 3-5 years, Books, Dramatic Play, Language Development, Language Development, Reading, Sensory, Sensory Tubs

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” Sensory Play

August 8, 2011 by Jenae — 11 Comments

Big Brother’s favorite book at the moment is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. We read it at least twice a day. If you’ve ever read this book, you know how long it is…it is quite the time investment!

I think the reason he loves this book so much is because it combines make-believe with one of his favorite interests these days…the weather!

I’ve been racking my brain on a way to extend his love for this book into something more tangible and the idea for a Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs sensory tub came to me. After all, I have a plethora of spaghetti noodles in my pantry!

We just used items we already had on hand for the rest…pretend food, cars, and blocks from our train set to make the city. If you don’t have any blocks, you could also print out this Paper City from Made by Joel.

I put a piece of duct tape down the middle of our large, shallow plastic tub. I then used a highlighter to color some mailing labels yellow, cut them, and added them to the “road.”

Next came the buildings…Welcome to the tiny town of Chewandswallow!

And the weather began…first with frequent showers of spaghetti…

Is there such a thing as a spaghetti flood? Apparently there is in the town of Chewandswallow!

And then the rest of the food started coming down as well. Corn, eggs, hot dogs, carrots, galore! The only thing Big Brother was sorely disappointed with was the fact that there was no “wonderful Jell-O setting in the West.” I think that’s his favorite part of the book, except perhaps for the “tomato tornado”. :)

Gettin’ slimy in the noodles…

Random alert: Have you ever seen the movie Patch Adams? Do you remember the sweet little old lady who wanted to swim in a pool of spaghetti? I always thought that would be so much fun…until today. The after effects of spaghetti are not pleasant. Hard, sticky hands…blech.

I’m not gonna lie…this was messy (but oh-so-fun). I might have spent more time cleaning up after this sensory tub than the boys actually spent playing with it. But that’s okay…all the food and cars cleaned up nicely after a nice, soapy bath in the sink.