Summer Sensory Activities

Edible Freezie Painting

This was one of those activities that probably was better conceptually than it actually was in reality but the kids were just happy to have an excuse to get to eat a freezie!

I used fingerpainting paper because it is glossy and doesn’t tear easily. Incidentally, this seems to be my go-to paper for all edible art projects as it is also what we use for pudding painting and condensed milk painting.

This is as simple as cutting the tops off of store-bought freezies (or making your own) and handing them to the kids to paint or drip onto the paper. Some of the kids chose more of an abstract creation while some chose to make shapes or houses or trees.

Some of my kids even chose to lick their papers! And of course all of them chose to eat the rest of their freezie when they were done their painting! (a few clever kids even convinced me that their art needed more than one colour, therefore they needed a second freezie to complete their masterpiece!)

This is part of my series of Summer Sensory Activities.

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

Frozen Treasure Find

By Sharla Kostelyk

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I find that it’s so much easier to think of fun sensory activities when the weather is nice! While this activity did require some prep work on my part, it was so worthwhile because this kept the kids occupied for a very long time!

I actually made one big frozen treasure find for the kids all to work on together and then little ones for each of them just for fun.

For the individual ones, I used empty yogourt containers and put a few small items in each. I used glittery foam stickers, sequins and pompoms. I then filled them with water and froze them. The little ones were much more challenging to unmold than the big one was, but after having them sit in water for a minute, they came out easily.

The larger one took more time to make as I made it in layers. I used an empty ice cream bucket and placed some items at the bottom before adding a layer of water. I then put that in the freezer and when it had set, I added a few more items and a layer of water that I had added some blue food paste to so that it created layers of blue. The interesting thing is that the layers of regular water I added afterwards each took on a bit of the blue but less with each layer, creating a really cool effect that was completely unintentional!

The weather hadn’t been great, so I wasn’t in a rush to complete this and took a few days of adding layers here and there and keeping it in the freezer in between.

For the “treasures”, I used a few play coins, sequins, ocean life shaped ice cubes, pompoms, silk flowers, foam stickers, string that I wound through the layers, toy fish, and mini pinwheels. I tried to stick with a summer theme.

I ran the bucket under the water for a few seconds to release the ice creation from the ice cream pail and set it outside for the kids to play with. They used spray bottles, squirt bottles, a turkey baster, and plastic spoons to try to release the treasures from the ice.

This occupied them for a long time and it morphed into a bit of a science project as they decided to experiment with different temperatures of water in their bottles and with different techniques. It was also a good way to cool off on a hot summer day!This project is part of my series on Summer Sensory Activities.

If you are looking for information on making sensory bins, you may be interested in my book.

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

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The “No Rules” Garden

By Sharla Kostelyk

Children love to create and explore. They also love to do what they’ve seen their parents doing and they love to pretend. All of those factors come together to make this activity a guaranteed hit!

I gave the kids a patch of soil where in years past we have planted a garden. This year, we only managed to plant in the pots on our deck, so this patch by the garage was just sitting there filling with weeds.

I provided them with a few garden tools and a small garden play kit from the dollar store that included a watering can and some plastic gardening tools. I also lay out some gloves and packets of seeds. I gave them no direction whatsoever except to point out to the older ones that on the packets of seeds, it lists how deep they should be planted and how far apart. I then set them loose in this gigantic sensory bin to do as they pleased!

It was a bit of a challenge for me not to want to give them instructions or show them how to plant so I had to consciously step back and let them explore. I was there if they wanted to ask questions but I let them just have fun and do things the way they wanted to. Some of them ditched the tools after awhile to get in there with their hands and really get muddy once they had poured water in there!

They especially liked that I gave them real seeds to plant. I imagine we may have some surprise vegetables popping up in a few weeks!

When kids are just starting out with gardening, following the “rules” of gardening isn’t what’s important. It’s about fostering a love of nature and giving them an opportunity to experience watching something that they planted grow. If their seeds are planted too close together or with vegetables they “shouldn’t” be next to, worry about teaching them those things when they get older.

The point of this exercise is to set them free to explore through their senses and discover the joy of gardening.

This life sized sensory bin is part of my 5 Days of Summer Sensory Activities Series.

If you are looking for information on making sensory bins, you may be interested in my book.

Ice Painting

By Sharla Kostelyk

Ice painting is a great outdoor activity for kids to engage in. It allows exploration of temperature, texture and art. All that is needed for this art project is an ice cube tray, tempera paint, popsicle sticks, and paper. As I have been doing for some of our sensory art projects, I again used fingerpainting paper because of its glossiness and durability.

The set-up for this particular art was very simple and the finished products turned out quite well!

To prepare for this, I poured tempera paint in ice cube trays and put them in the freezer. I let them set for a bit and then inserted small popsicle sticks in them before allowing them to freeze completely. I actually left mine in the freezer for several days because it was a rainy week and I was waiting for a day when the sun came out!

When it came time to the actual painting, I ran the bottom of the tray under water to loosen the paint pops and then gave the kids their ice paint pops and let them paint away! As the paint pops melted, some of the kids used their hands to spread paint around.

I forgot to add that Snuggle Puppy really got into the whole “sensory” concept and decided to lick the ice pop! I do not recommend you try this one at home!!!

This is just one of the projects we did as part of our 5 Days of Summer Sensory Activities.

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

Shaving Cream Polka-Dot Sidewalk Painting

By Sharla Kostelyk

The last time we did shaving cream painting, I used food colouring to add the colour and we painted mostly inside on paper, though the kids did end up using it to paint on trees and on themselves! Since I still have many cans of shaving cream that I got for free using coupons, I thought that maybe we could try an outdoor version.

I purchased a bath mat at the dollar store (so this entire activity ended up only costing me an extra dollar!). The bath mat caught my eye because it was full of holes and I immediately knew that we could use it as a giant stencil for something.

This time, I used actual paint and mixed it into the shaving cream in a muffin tin. I used washable tempera paint so that it would easily wash away during the next rain. I used shaving cream that was lemon-lime scented to add another sensory element. I lay the bath mat on the concrete and the kids used plastic spoons and their hands to spread the foamy paint onto it. When we lifted it up, we had a polka dot pattern on the sidewalk!

This was something that kept the kids occupied for longer than it took to set up the activity and that always translates into a success in my mind!

This is part of my Summer Sensory Activities Series.

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

Pretend Play Sensory Activity

By Sharla Kostelyk

This project is so simple that I hesitate to add it to this week’s Summer Sensory Activities but sometimes, the easiest projects are the best!

All that is needed for this activity is water and paint brushes and/or rollers. We used old paintbrushes that we already had and a pack of two foam rollers that I picked up at the dollar store. This activity is perfect to be used after the Cotton Ball Throw! Have the kids “paint” away the paint residue left on your fence or in our case, the playhouse.

The key to this activity is to make it fun and not a chore or consequence. Kids love pretending they’re painting and having the added bonus of being able to see results when they are able to “paint” away the colour makes this even more fun!

I’m joining in the Summer Hopscotch with the lovely ladies of iHomeschool Network.