Chickpeas!

Today i made coloured chickpeas as something different for the boys to play with and just a bit of a challenge to me to create something new.

My middle and baby loved it. Chickpeas make a great sound when they hit the tray which is a great auditory sensory activity to get their little ears tuned in as well as being quite tactile.

The chickpeas i used were from cans as i had no dried chickpeas which i think would have worked better and dried better once coloured.

It didnt take too long to put together but drying took maybe half an hour in the sun. Cleaning up didn't take much time either.

To make:

1. I used a can of chickpeas per colour but if you were to use dried i would say as much as you want as they don't swell up.

2. For the canned chickpeas i drained them then added each can to a bowl with a few drops of colour and mixed around (any excess liquid- drain before you put out to dry). 

For dried chickpeas i imagine you could do the same just adding a few drops of colour to the bowl but maybe add a bit of water if needed -just drain before you dry.

3. I then put my canned coloured chickpeas on a plate leaving them in the sun (again you can do the same with dried chickpeas).  

They didn't take long to dry but because they were canned didn't dry back to a hard state as they had been soaked in the brine in the can.

 I think the dried chickpeas would dry back to their hard state as they were before being coloured- probably a much better result.

I did this activity outside so when they were finished i was able to sweep up any chickpeas that had fallen out of the tray with a hand shovel and broom and put them in the compost.

Nonetheless my boys still really enjoyed scooping up the chickpeas and watching them fall- which is great for vision and eye tracking!

Spaghetti!

This afternoon after school my boys were a bit tired and a bit agitated, they gravitated towards each other upsetting the other, feeling a little stressed by their behaviour i decided on this sensory activity. 

I thought it might calm them and distract them from their boredom. 

I was right.

The spaghetti was cool and slimy to touch, the colours were lovely to look at and i think it helped relieve some of that tension they had pent up and made them feel relaxed as the sat for ages squishing it between their little fingers like one of those squishy stress relievers. Very tactile activity.

It was easy to make too, the most time consuming part was the cooking of the pasta itself but once done it was pretty straightforward and quick to put together.

Cleaning up didn't take too long either, after brushing off excess pasta form their clothes i put what was left in the tub in the compost bin and swept the rest which had dried hard again in the sun 

To make:

1. I used 2 packets of spaghetti pasta, cook it until soft then drain and run under cool water. Pasta swells up when you cook so not to worry if it doesn't look like enough.

2. I divided up the pasta once cool into bowls then added a bit of oil to each bowl along with food colouring, you could use a spoon to mix but i find using your hand tends to be more helpful (gloves on!) to work the colour in.

3. Add to a container or a tray and let them go!

Its great fun!

Play dough

Play dough is a lot of fun.

My boys love play dough, its always a hit in our house whether i get out little tools and shape cutters or do what i did today where i gave them coloured popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners and pom poms

They will usually sit for a while with play dough, its not only a great sensory activity but its great for fine motor skills practicing rolling the dough into little balls or worms.

I love to sit with them and make different things and talk about our creations.- snowmen are usually the favourite.

My middle talked about what he was making with his dough- a machine he told me! 

I make my play dough by cooking it and ive found it keeps a really long time in doing so.

To make i used:

3 cups of flour

1 cup of salt

6 teaspoons cream of tartar

3 cups water

3 tablespoons oil

few drops of colour 

I add it all to a pot and turn it on low, it pays to keep stirring as  after 5 or so minutes  it begins to clump together forming the dough. It eventually forms its own ball, before you take it out of the pot add a few drops of colour and knead the colour in. 

Keep in an airtight container and bring out whenever you have little ones who are bored. 

And dont forget its baby safe!

Squishy colours

These creations i made are so vibrant in colour but didn't last long as an activity i think perhaps because the boys were tired and another sensory activity was going to be too much. 

My middle played with them for a while before retreating to the comfort of the couch.

There are 2 ways for doing this, creating these and its totally up to you how you pursue it. 

They can be squishy fun or finger paints.

To make:

I used a couple of bags of instant mashed potato and split it into 6 small bowls.

 I added water enough to mix it into a ball then added colouring and with my hand kneaded the colour in(once again gloves on!) and they turned out like this. 

Its quite different to play dough completely different texture.

To make into finger paints just add more water so that its almost goopy and let them loose with some paper. This a totally baby safe play activity, if they eat it that's cool its just potato!

Not too time consuming to prepare (maybe 20 minutes), post preparation clean up took the same amount of time.

 I did this activity inside and lesson learnt- should have done it outside or on the hard floor as a few bits got stepped in to the carpet and it wasn't the easiest to get out. 

But do try it!

 Was an interesting activity that i'll probably try again another time. If you do try- let me know how it goes for you!