Crafts and Activities

Rainbow Playdough Fine Motor Activity

Playdough is such a versatile sensory play material. This Rainbow Playdough Fine Motor Activity is great for helping little hands practise their dexterity. While at first glance, this activity may seem very simple, it has layers of learning within it. This play allows children the opportunity to learn or reenforce their knowledge of the order of the colours in the rainbow while practising their fine motor skills.

Rainbow Playdough Fine Motor Activity:

Supplies:

Playdough in red, orange, yellow, green, blue 2 shades of purple and white*

*you can either purchase Play Doh in those colours or make your own

Directions:

Invite your child to roll each colour of the playdough into small balls. If they have never done this before, show them how to pinch off a section, place it in the palm of one hand and roll it using the palm of the other hand.

After this is accomplished, invite your child to arrange the balls in the pattern of a rainbow. You can remind them what the order of the colours is either in words or by setting out pieces of paper in those colours or with the words of each colour written on them or by displaying a picture of a rainbow for them to compare to.

Sensory and Learning Opportunities:

Children will receive visual, tactile, and proprioceptive sensory input while participating in this activity. Expand the learning about rainbows. You can create an entire unit study on rainbows in your preschool or homeschool.

Set out books. Invite your child to draw, colour, or paint a rainbow. Watch videos about the science behind a rainbow.

Light: Shadows, Mirrors, and Rainbows Chasing Rainbows Rainbow In My Room Night Light Projector Grimm’s Rainbow Wooden Nesting Puzzle Rainbow How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow

Incorporate other rainbow activities such as these:

Erupting Rainbow Rocks – STEAM Powered Family

Rainbow in a Bag – Powerful Mothering

Math with a Rainbow Abacus – 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Sticky Rainbow Wall – Crafty Morning

Rainbow Salt Tray – Natural Beach Living

You may be interested in some of these activities:

Bath Time Sensory Bin

Seashell Fossils in Playdough

Minute to Win It Camping Games

By Sharla Kostelyk

Want to make your camping trip even more memorable? Our family loves Minute to Win It games. They are great for large group gatherings, parties, family connection, and laughter. On our recent camp trip, we tried out some Minute to Win It camping games.

Because I didn’t want to pack a lot of extra supplies, I tried to come up with games that would use what we already had with us or small inexpensive items. These are all easy to set up and easy to play for all ages.

Minute to Win It Camping Games:

If you’d like to create your own Minute to Win It camping challenge, you can use all or some of the games below.

I’ve provided a list of supplies used to play all of the games as well as broken them up per game to make it easier for you to plan. As you can see, there are very few supplies needed to create a lot of fun. As you’ll see from the list, many of these are things that you likely already have with you when camping.

Supplied needed:

golf balls
watermelon
playing cards
rubber bands
empty cans
chopsticks
graham crackers
chocolate
marshmallows
balloons

Note that due to the nature of some of the supplies such as the balloons, elastic bands, and marshmallows, adult supervision is required.

Caddy Stack

Supplies needed:

3 golf balls (or 6 if you are playing head to head)

The object of this game is to stack 3 golf balls on top of each other. The balls must remain stacked for 3 seconds to win. You can either play head to head or individually. If playing head to head, the first one to complete their stack and have it stay in place for 3 seconds is the winner.

Card Ninja

Supplies needed:

watermelon
deck of playing cards

To set up this game, slice a watermelon in half and prop it up on a picnic table or other flat surface. Have each player stand at a distance from the watermelon and throw cards one at a time in an attempt to get a card in the watermelon. The object of the game is to get one of the cards to stick in the watermelon in under a minute.

You can determine the distance away that the players have to stand based on their age. If you’re playing with a large group with many ages, you can allow younger kids to stand closer if you like.

Rapid Fire

Supplies needed:

rubber bands
6 empty pop cans (12 if playing head to head)

Set the cans up in a pyramid on a flat surface such as a folding table or picnic table. Give each player elastics. The object of this game is to knock over all 6 cans using elastics in under a minute. Again, you can determine how far away players must stand depending on age.

If you want to play this game head to head, set up a second stack of cans a bit of a distance away from the first. In this version, the first player to knock over all the cans is the winner.

S’more Fun

Supplies needed:

chopsticks
graham wafers
chocolate
marshmallows

Give each player a set of chopsticks, 2 graham crackers, a marshmallow, and 1 or 2 pieces of chocolate. The object of this game is to assemble a s’more using only the chopsticks in less than a minute.

When the timer starts, begin with one graham cracker, top it with the chocolate piece(s), then a marshmallow, and finish with the last graham cracker.

In the head to head version of this game, players race to be the first one to assemble their s’more using the chopsticks.

Defying Gravity

Supplies needed:

balloons

Blow up the balloons. You’ll need 3 if doing this individually or 6 if you’ll have people competing head to head. The goal of this one is to keep all 3 balloons in the air for 60 seconds without having any of them touch the ground.

If two players are competing at the same time, you can either declare the winner the person who keeps all 3 from touching the ground for the longest or give a point to each player if they both complete the challenge in one minute.

You’ll need a bit of space for this one, especially if there are two people playing at the same time. Some campsites may be large enough (ours was quite large) or you may need to complete this in a field or open space.

All of these Minute to Win It camping games work well for large groups such as at a camp, day camp, family reunion, youth group, or party.

Be sure to check out all our other Minute to Win It games:

Minute to Win It Family Fun

Dollar Store Minute to Win It

Christmas Minute to Win It Games

Printable Pirate Themed Emotions Playdough Mats

By Sharla Kostelyk

These pirate themed emotions playdough mats are a great way to get kids to learn about feelings. Most kids like pirates. These use pirate situations and list the corresponding emotion.

You can expand on the activity by having your child discuss what they would do in those situations if they were a pirate.

How to use the printable emotions playdough mats:

Print out the playdough mats on paper or thick card stock.
Laminate the pages or place each of them in a plastic sleeve.
Set out the playdough mats with playdough. You can use homemade playdough or purchased.
Have your child shape the playdough to fill in things on the playdough mats and to fill in the faces to show the emotion each one needs.
Use this as a jumping off point to talk to your child about emotions such as asking when they have experienced those emotions or what they would feel if they were a pirate in a similar situation.

One important thing to note: Having your child wear an eyepatch while doing this activity makes it a heck of a lot more fun!

This activity also provides good sensory input. As your child squeezes and shapes the playdough, they are using their proprioceptive and tactile sensory systems. Reading the words and looking at the pictures uses their visual sensory system. If you use scented playdough, their olfactory sensory system will also be engaged.

When children use their senses while they learn, they are better able to retain the information. It also helps them to get enough sensory input into their day which can help regulate their behaviour. And of course, playing with playdough is just plain fun!

You can download these printable playdough mats (free) and join our Sensory Solutions and Activities email series by entering your email below.

Check out some of our other printable playdough mats:

Birthday Party Emotions Playdough Mats

Seashell Fossils in Playdough

By Sharla Kostelyk

This simple seashell fossils in playdough activity is easy to set up and fun for kids. It includes opportunities for hands-on learning as well as sensory play. Use this activity after collecting shells at the beach on a vacation or pair it with an ocean unit study. You could also do this when studying fossils. It’s a great hands-on science activity.

Seashell Fossils Sensory Play:

Pressing the seashells into the playdough provides good proprioceptive sensory feedback. As does rolling out the playdough. If you use scented playdough, you can add olfactory sensory input.

There are contrasting textures and colours with the soft playdough and rough and hard seashells which engage the tactile and visual sensory systems.

How to make Seashell Fossils in Playdough:

Supplies needed:

playdough (homemade or purchased)
seashells
rolling pin

Instructions:

Set out the playdough, a rolling pin, and a variety of seashells.
Have your child roll make a ball with the playdough and roll it out using the rolling pin.
The seashells can then be pressed into the playdough.
Encourage your child to use the rolling pin or their fingers to press the seashells further into the playdough.
Invite your child to carefully peel the seashells out of the playdough. Observe the faux fossils that are now displayed where the seashells used to be.
For younger kids, you can also have them match the seashells that are now out of the playdough with their imprint.

Expand this activity:

Set out books about seashells for your child to discover which type of seashells are in front of them and what sea creatures used to live in them.
Talk about what true fossils are and how they are formed. Here are some resources to help you teach about fossils.

Curious About Fossils Where Do Fossils Come from?The Beachcomber’s Companion Seashells, Crabs and Sea Stars Sea Shells Mixed Beach Seashells Play-Doh Modeling Compound

Join thousands of others who have signed up for our Sensory Solutions and Activities email series and get a free sample from our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.

Some of our favourite homemade playdough recipes:

Calming Lavender Playdough

Peppermint Playdough

Snow Playdough

Understanding Emotions Birthday Party Printable Playdough Mats

By Sharla Kostelyk

This activity actually combines two things that I feel pretty passionately about: teaching kids about emotions and sensory play. These birthday party printable playdough mats depict common feelings kids are familiar with.

When you incorporate sensory play into learning, kids are better able to retain what they learn. Discussing emotions with them while having them shape playdough with their hands is such a good way to have them remember.

Kids can relate to the emotions they might feel while at a birthday party. The playdough mats each tell of a situation at a birthday party and the corresponding emotion.

You can use this opportunity to talk to your child not only about how they would feel if they were in that situation but what they would do. You can help guide them to the best possible response. Children who role play situations ahead of time have a better chance of choosing appropriate reaction in the actual situation.

How to use the Birthday Party Printable Playdough Mats:

To use these playdough mats, print them on paper or card stock. Laminate them or place each one into a plastic sleeve. Set them out along with some playdough. Allow your child to shape the playdough to fit inside the mats and also to create the facial expressions that correspond with each emotion. You can use store bought playdough or make your own. If you want to add a calming scent element to it, use our lavender playdough recipe. Create different colours by changing the food colouring in the recipes.

Discuss the emotions with your child. Help them express what they would feel in those situations.

Get your free printable playdough mats here and you’ll join thousands of others wanting to learn sensory solutions and activities.

Fine Motor Sensory Activities

By Sharla Kostelyk

Fine motor sensory activities are so healthy for kids. They enable them to get that awesome sensory feedback that they need while also practising their fine motor skills.

These fine motor sensory activities can be used at home or in preschool or the classroom.

Even older kids can benefit from fine motor work. Improving fine motor skills improves hand-eye coordination which is an important skill for driving and playing sports.

Another benefit of improving fine motor skills is that it helps children understand how their body works. This is great for body awareness and self-esteem.

The activities don’t have to be complicated. Simple and done is better than intention that doesn’t happen. Just pull out some buttons and throw them in a bin with some water beads and have your child dig for the buttons. Fine motor sensory play = done!