Messy day

 

Today is the first day of the holidays and its been a beautiful day.

I usually do a sensory activity then move onto another with my boys but with

 it being so warm outside i decided to put everything out for them and just 

leave them to play.

They didn't need me to interact, just let them do their own thing. 

They've all been unwell for a few weeks,we've had a bad winter for bugs

 along with that they've been tired and bored so i thought this activity

 doesn't require them to be overly physical and a lot of what i put out was pretty

 therapeutic for them, especially water play.

So what did set out for them?

I put out a few containers, funnels and jugs. I also put out some squirty bottles 

with coloured water.

I made some coloured spaghetti which i have already posted a blog on here 

if you back track a few.

I also put out water beads, quick paint and shaving cream.

I gave them some sponges, scoops, sieves, paintbrushes and other wee kitchen tools i had lying around.

They really enjoyed it and spent about an hour and half just playing and getting messy.

The water play was especially a hit so i'll definitely repeat it now the weather is getting warmer.

Clean up was a breeze, put them in the  shower and everything 

outside got hosed down and the likes of the spaghetti and water beads into  the compost bin. 

Easy!

Squishy water beads

So for a while now I've been wanting to do this activity with my boys,

 I've seen it on other sensory blog posts and on pinterest but they all had the type of beads

 that should a little person put it in their mouths could be rather yucky and possibly poisonous.

I found these instead. These are edible.

In other countries they're called boba pearls but here in NZ they are tapioca balls, 

the ones that can be used in making dessert.

You can get bigger ones most likely from asian food warehouse as they are used in bubble

 tea but i just used supermarket small ones.

To Make:

1. I used the whole packet but you don't have to, they swell up so a whole packet is plenty.

 I put the packet in a pot of boiling water and cooked them for about 15 minutes on low. 

2. Keep stirring as they tend to stick to the bottom of the pot and then start to burn even on a 

low heat

3. After about 15 mins you'll notice they star to look like the picture above. 

That's when I tipped them in a strainer in the sink and ran cold water over them, 

using my hand to swish them around a bit.

4. I used just 4 bowls and divided up the beads into them, I added some colour-  

i used wilton food gel as that tends to work best with liquidy things and washes off better 

than regular food colourng.

5. I added just a bit of water and colour and let them sit for about half an hour, 

After that I then rinsed them bowl by bowl in the strainer just a bit to get any excess 

colour off, by now the colour had well set in to the beads.

6. I tipped them into a water table with  bit of water for the kids. Without any water the 

beads are really really sticky.

The kids loved this activity and cleaning up was a breeze. They loved squishing the beads 

in their hands and tipping them from container to container.

I might have even enjoyed playing with them its such a unique sensory activity! 

Also super pretty in the sunlight!

Quick paint from 3 ingredients

Its been a while since i did a sensory activity due to being a busier year than expected 

but lately this little toddler of mine has been bored to say the least during the day while

 his brothers are away at school.

So today i thought i'd put something together for him to let him have some fun, 

To make:

1. Find any little tray that can be used as paint palette, egg cartons are awesome!

2. I used 4 little bowls for my 4 colours but you can do as many colours as you want.

3. I put maybe half a cup of plain white four in a bowl then filled  a measuring jug with

 200mls of water and added a few drops of colour. 

4. Add some of the coloured water to the flour and mix until you have a runny paste- 

you may need to add more water if its still quite thick.

Repeat for each bowl/colour

5. After doing this with each colour i added the paints to the palette and let him have fun.

Clean up required a quick shower for the toddler and a hose down of the concrete outside 

but didn't take long and he actually enjoyed taking the paint palette in the shower because it was plastic to clean it himself

This is such a great activity i am thinking i'll do again this weekend with the other 2 boys,

 the paint was gooey and vibrant plus being made from flour totally safe if the toddler

 happen to put it in his mouth.

Coloured foam!

Today i created a different kind of foam and it was so

 quick to make it was only about 10 minutes of preparation.

We haven't done a lot of activities these holidays because my 

middle has been unwell and has taken a long time/still is recovering.

Every time i do the dishes the boys love the foam the dish soap makes in the sink so i thought how could i recreate this for them to play with?

Dish soap foams when you mix it with your hand so 

perhaps an egg beater would do the same thing but better? I mean my poor egg beater only gets to come out for christmas to whip the cream so i thought i'd make it feel useful!

I tried it 

It worked!!

To make:

1. In a bowl, i added 1/4 cup of water, about 2 tablespoons 

of morning fresh dish wash liquid. 

And for colouring, i used Wilton food gel- just a tiny blob on 

the end of a skewer added to the water.

2. I put the eggbeater on high and with in a minute had created a decent amount of foam.

 I think though for next time my cake mixer might do a better job and create a larger amount with more formed foam, like beaten cream with stiff peaks.

3. I added the foam to the tray and moved on to the next colour.

They really enjoyed it and spent quite a while playing in the foam, they 

clapped it between they're fingers and slathered it through each others hair.

Food gel is nicer than food colouring in that it washes out quite readily 

where as food colour tends to stain.

Luckily because it is dish soap, clean up is quite easy; i showered them 

afterwards because of the amount in their hair but had it not been in 

their hair i could have washed hands and changed their clothes, the tray i just

 hosed down and left outside.

Definitely an activity to do again and great for heightening their senses!

Shaving Foam!

Yesterday  after our Christmas break and being off school for 2 weeks the boys were starting to show signs of being bored, so i decided to make a rough plan of some things to do with them during the day sort of like a holiday programme at home that i can easily adjust for when they're not up to it or the weather is no good. 

Ive made plans like this before but after being so tired finishing school for the year i hadn't anticipated  they'd be bored already- there's another 4 weeks yet!

This was one of the activities i set up.

Shaving foam.

This kept them happy and entertained for quite a while.

i usually do messy play outside but shaving foam dissolves with water so any that made it off the the tray and the splash mat i had down was easily cleaned up.

I put some cars in for them to drive around, they really enjoyed the foam between their fingers, and the great thing about shaving foam compared with cream is that it stays foamy.

Clean up just involved washing their hands under water and taking the tray outside to be hosed down and left in the sun.

 I bought the cheapest shaving foam which i think was a few dollars but with the can once you start spraying the foam it swells up a lot so you dont need the whole can and can use again at a later date.

I didn't let the baby play in this, shaving foam wouldn't taste great so maybe this should just be for older ones who wont put in in their mouth.

Great  sensory fun that can be an inside rainy day activity!