We had a great time with this sensory tub this morning. The oatmeal is a great texture! Big Brother, who typically flitters from one thing to another every 5 minutes, spent 40 minutes just playing with the sensory tub! And the only reason he stopped is because Little Brother woke up from his nap and we had to go inside to get him. I’m all about simple, engaging versatile fun!
I opted to make this an outdoor activity, especially since the weather has been so beautiful! I’m glad I did…it was a mess. If you do this inside, I would recommend putting a vinyl shower curtain liner underneath your children so that when they are done, you can just wad up the liner and shake it off outside. :)
Here’s what you’ll need: a large tub of oatmeal (ours was $1.50 at ALDI), measuring cups, and apples with numbers written on them (I used some pre-made numbered apples I had from my classroom).
Big Brother used an egg carton to make “cupcakes”. Gotta love pretend play!
I helped Big Brother line up the numbers, but was pleasantly surprised when he was able to identify some of the numbers himself!
He said, “Look Mommy, I make a waterfall.”
And then we used our measuring cups to make a tower.
Guess who else loved this sensory tub…Little Brother! Once he woke up from his nap, we came outside to play some more!
Melissa says
September 23, 2010 at 1:26 pmWhat a cute idea! Come check out my post today!
Peaceful Wishes,
Melissa
http://thecutestchaos.blogspot.com/2010/09/couple-of-sweet-blog-awards.html
Dorie says
September 28, 2010 at 11:45 amThe oatmeal base was a great idea, and to do the activity outside – even better! Looks like a lot of fun. I'll have to try it sometime with my little one.
Michelle says
October 6, 2010 at 2:33 pmSo simple, but fun. Love the oatmeal for the tub!
Erin says
August 29, 2011 at 11:48 amWhat a great idea! I have a bunch of oatmeal I bought at Costco a few years ago that passed its expiration date before we used it. This is a greet way to use it up. Thanks for all the neat ideas.
Kaidi says
August 29, 2011 at 1:30 pmWe use rice for our sensory tub but thanks for reminding me about the oatmeal. A ton of fun!
ksmama says
June 20, 2012 at 4:05 pmThank you SO much for your site! I am a 4th grade teacher, but, embarrassingly, I’m not sure how to make the most of my summer time with my 3 year old and 20 month old. Now, my summer’s not long enough!! I’ve been using your apple unit idea this week. For snack today I used your idea of oatmeal sensory but I put chopped dried apples in a bowl with oatmeal so the kids had to dig around for their snack. Then we used the oatmeal to make no bake cookies. Thank you again for the great ideas!
Deb @ Living Montessori Now says
September 19, 2013 at 6:21 amIt’s so much fun to visit older posts! I featured your post and photo in my 30+ Apple Sensory Tubs post today. :)