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sensory play

Tactile Sensory Cards

Tactile Sensory Cards

By Sharla Kostelyk

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I am participating in the 6 Days of Sensory Play Challenge. I am late due to some issues and extra appointments for some of the kids so mine will not be on the right day but I do have plans for all of them so if you can bear with me, I will be getting to each of them and sharing my ideas.

For Tactile Sensory Play, I created some simple sensory cards. Tactile play involves touch so things such as sensory bins work well. Since we do so many sensory bins, I decided to try something a bit different and make these cards for the kids to explore different textures.

Tactile Sensory CardsThese are very simple to make and allow kids to explore textures and even get used to textures that they made not be as comfortable with. I used paint chips (since I seem to be making everything out of paint chips lately!) but you can make these on cardstock if you prefer.

I glued things onto the paint chips that represented a variety of textures. I used sponge, bristle pad, bubble wrap, foam, cork, tin foil, mesh, cotton, rubber, and sand. The great thing about these is that you can make them using things that you have in your home already and they don’t have to cost a penny. Sensory solutions do not have to be expensive.

You could use pretty much anything that you can glue down: rice, beans, sandpaper, wire, tissue, fabric swatches, corrugated cardboard… What other ideas can you come up with?

The kids enjoyed playing with these tactile sensory cards and even tried to identify which was which with their eyes closed once they got used to them. When they were done playing, I put them into a large resealable bag and instantly made this into another busy bag!

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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Create Your Own Sensory Bin

By Sharla Kostelyk

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Sensory bins have always been something that I have created for the kids with very little input from them. Once I create them, the kids play with them, but the process of making them has always been something that is mine. Normally, I choose a theme, plan out what I’m going to include, make a list or take notes, go shopping for supplies if I need to, and then assemble the sensory bin. Sometimes in a pinch, I will go over to my sensory supplies cupboards and throw something together but usually, I have a plan.

Create your own Sensory Bin...a creative challenge for kids

Sarah from Little Bins for Little Hands put out a challenge to set out a bin with white rice and allow our kids to create their own sensory bin without any instruction from us. It sounded like fun and I was really interested to see what my kids would come up with so I took her up on it!

I set out five bins on the table, each filled with a layer of plain white rice. I did give one instruction to the kids which was that they should steer clear of adding anything wet to the bins (we have experienced several times what happens when liquid is added to a sensory bin that has rice as a base and it’s not pretty!).

It was so neat to see not only the kids’ personalities represented in their finished bins, but also to see their sensory preferences. Our older kids who weren’t home at the time the five younger kids made their bins were actually able to later guess whose was whose just based on personality!

The kids know where I keep the sensory supplies and they have been itching to get their hands on the stuff in those drawers! One of the first questions they asked me was if they were allowed to use those items. I say “yes”. The second question they asked was if they were allowed to add food or things they found in the kitchen. I say “yes” to that as well.

They tore off in search of items to add to their bins. It was clear from the beginning that some had a clear plan while others were just adding what felt good to them or what they saw their siblings add to theirs!

creating their own sensory binsI have to be 100% honest and say that it was painful for me to watch some of this process. It was painful to watch certain things get mixed together when I knew there would be no hope of separating them again and it was painful sometimes not to offer instruction or give suggestions. I was sometimes cringing when I saw what they were adding, so this was as much a learning exercise for me as it is for them.

Here are the kids and their completed sensory bins:

Miss Optimism sensory binMiss Optimism chose to add Kidfetti to the rice as a base. It’s interesting because the Kidfetti has a very similar feel to the rice. It’s smooth and soft. She initially added some glass stones and sea shells to create a beach scene, but in the end, she ended up taking all of those out because she preferred the feel of her bin without them. Later that day, she hid a coin in the bin and made a game out of having the other kids retrieve it.

Einstein sensory binEinstein added anything he could get his hands on and just loved the feel of all the different textures. MORE is MORE apparently for Einstein! He added Kidfetti, dried lentils, dried chickpeas, birdseed, dried beans, mini marshmallows, dyed pasta shells and macaroni, pompoms, jingle bells, cotton balls, shells, Easter grass, and ribbon. He pretty much used every sensory bin filler that I had!

Snuggle Puppy sensory binSnuggle Puppy headed straight outside to gather items for his bin. He had a plan from the beginning and his bin was less about sensory and more about story. He told me to tell my “people that read your blog” that the title of this is “Mommy’s first time camping”. He is obviously excited that I am going to be coming camping for the first time in his life this upcoming summer. He used sticks, twigs, shredded paper, and rocks to create a campfire scene.

Granola Girl sensory binGranola Girl started with a very organized bin that can best be described as minimalist but as the time passed, she began to be influenced by her siblings and add some of the things they were adding. She used Kidfetti, an origami box, silk flower petals, seashells, shaped ice cubes, feathers, Easter grass, dyed pasta shells, a ball, a stretchy frog, and a squishy snake.

Dancing Queen sensory binDancing Queen’s sensory bin had a distinctive theme of food. She used both real and pretend food. She added corn flakes, mini marshmallows, glass beads, feathers, shells, a wooden heart, flower petals, her pill bottles, and a pretend mango (her favourite fruit), bananas and grapes. She also threw in some red dyed pasta.

If you are interested to see how other kids reacted to this sensory bin challenge, there are a number of blogs who are sharing their experiences with this.

rice sensory bin challenge

Little Bins For Little Hands

A Mommy’s Adventures

Craftulate

Creative World of Varya

FSPDT

Gift of Curiosity

Glittering Muffins

Here Come the Girls

Kids Play Space

Lalymom

Life Over C’s

Life with Moore Babies

Minne-Mama

P is for Preschooler

Preschool Inspirations

School Time Snippets

Squiggles and Bubbles

Still Playing School

Suzy Homeschooler

Teach Beside Me

Teach me Mommy

 If you are looking for other sensory play activities, you may be interested in following my Sensory Bins Board on Pinterest.

Check out my book on Sensory Bins! It is fantastic!

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Filed Under: Sensory, Sensory Bins Tagged With: sensory bin, sensory play

Easter Egg and Bunny Sensory Bin

By Sharla Kostelyk

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I like to keep a stash of coloured rice on hand for things just such as this. Since I had already dyed the rice, I was able to throw this sensory bin together really quickly.

Easter Egg and Bunny Sensory BinTo make this Easter sensory bin, I used blue and pink rice, egg shakers (a really great sensory tool!), glittered foam eggs, styrofoam eggs, fuzzy chicks, a bunny cookie cutter, and cookie cutters to spell out the word “HOP”.

The kids enjoyed this bin but it was Granola Girl who took the biggest liking to it. She especially seemed to like to group things by colour. She also liked to keep the blue and pink rice on their respective sides. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture after any of her sessions with the bin. I did manage to get this picture of the bin after Snuggle Puppy finished playing with it. He obviously had no issues with mixing the different colours of rice!

Hop Easter Sensory Bin

You may also want to check out our Christ-centered Easter sensory bin from last year. If you are looking for more sensory bin ideas or information, you may be interested in my book and by following my Sensory Bins board on Pinterest.

The Ultimate Guide to Sensory Bins

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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Filed Under: Sensory, Sensory Bins Tagged With: sensory bin, sensory play

Silk Flowers Sensory Bins

Spring Flowers Sensory Bin

By Sharla Kostelyk

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These silk flowers sensory bins were made easily using silk flowers and flower petals. These are a very easy sensory bin filler. I find most of mine at the dollar store.

Flower and Flower Petal Sensory Bin IdeasSpring is coming! After a winter that seemed longer (or maybe just colder) than most, I am very ready to welcome it. As part of my plan to welcome spring a bit early, I made two Spring themed sensory bins. The first one I made very simply with two colours of silk flower petals, soap flower petals (I knew that my sensory sensitive kids would NOT be fans of the smell of the regular rose scented ones so I bought softer grapefruit smelling ones), and little chicks. It was a very simple bin but had a good contrast of textures between the coarser soap petals and the silk petals and then the fuzzy chicks. With the presence of the little chicks, this bin could also double as an Easter sensory experience.

Spring Chick Sensory BinThe other bin is one that I love because it is full of bright and cheerful colours! For me, Spring is all about colour. This bin was so pretty.

For this sensory bin, I used a purple silk flower lei, many different silk flowers in an assortment of colours, silk leaves, a large daisy hairclip, and really bright pompoms. The kids really enjoyed this bin. Granola Girl enjoyed grouping the flowers and pompoms according to colour while some of the other kids just wanted to dig their hands in and play in a more random way.

Spring Flowers Sensory BinSilk flowers and flower petals are a very easy bin filler because they add colour, a nice soft texture and they hold up well to play and even do well if they get wet. You can easily float them in water.

If you have any sensory bins that you silk flowers or flower petals, please link them up so that others can find more ideas for incorporating this easy sensory bin filler into their sensory play as well.

If you are looking for information on making sensory bins, you may be interested in my book. The Ultimate Guide to Sensory Bins

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Simple Valentines Sensory Bin

Valentine's Sensory Bin

By Sharla Kostelyk

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This Valentines sensory bin was made at the last minute with very few items but still captured the attention and creativity of the kids! Last year for our Valentine’s Day sensory bin, I used red paper shreds as the base. I hadn’t planned anything out for this year so I used pink and purple beaded garland and shiny foil heart garland as the base. I threw in a few plastic heart shaped containers and in one of them, I put a costume jewelry ring. The container with the ring led my boys to come up to me, open the container and ask, “will you marry me?”!

Valentine's Sensory BinWe had a few friends over to make crafts and play and as always, the sensory bins were very popular with the kids. Our farm sensory bin also got played with a fair bit because I haven’t finished disassembling it.

Valentine's Party CollageThe kids and their friends danced, ate, guessed how many conversation hearts were in the container (214), made crafts, played in the sensory bins, and played with the chocolate playdough. Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you are looking for information on making sensory bins, you may be interested in my book. The Ultimate Guide to Sensory Bins

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Valentine’s Chocolate and Strawberry Playdough

By Sharla Kostelyk

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To create this Valentine’s sensory station, I used strawberry and chocolate playdough. I added other items to encourage imaginative play. This playdough invitation to play held the attention of my kids and I loved the creative ideas they came up with. Strawberry and Chocolate Playdough Valentines invitation to play #sensoryplay #chocolateplaydough #playdoughinvitationtoplay #playdoughStrawberries and chocolate are something I think of when I think about Valentine’s Day. Chocolate playdough was easy to make. I used red glitter in the dark pink playdough to make it look like strawberry.

Supplies for the invitation to play:

  • pipe cleaners
  • gold foil candy cups
  • heart cupcake liners
  • various heart shaped cookie cutters
  • heart treat mould
  • lollipop sticks
  • rolling pin
  • chocolate and strawberry scented play dough (recipes below)

I was so surprised at what the kids created with the playdough! They are much more creative than I am.

They made cake pops, heart shaped lollipops, bon bons, little creatures, desserts, and cookies. Einstein even made a cookie that looked like someone had taken a bite out of it!

Valentine's Sensory PlayHere are the recipes for the play dough. Both recipes can also be found in my Sensory Bins ebook.

Chocolate Playdough Recipe:

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 cup salt
  • 1/2 cup cocoa
  • 2 Tbsp. cream of tartar
  • 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 2 cups water

Stovetop instructions:

Add all ingredients to a saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until it forms a ball and your arms are ready to fall off! Scoop it onto wax paper and allow it to cool. When cool enough, knead it and it is ready to play with.

No cook instructions:

Add the flour, salt, cocoa, and cream of tartar to the KitchenAid mixer. With the dough beater (the flat one), begin mixing on low and add the oil. As it mixes, pour in 2 cups of boiling water and continue to mix on low until it resembles playdough texture.

Remove the dough from the mixer and knead it by hand for 30 seconds to a minute.

The smell of this chocolate playdough is amazing!

This dough keeps soft for months if stored in an airtight container or resealable bag. 

Strawberry Playdough Recipe:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 cup salt
  • 2 tsp. cream of tartar
  • 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • red food coloring or pink food paste
  • red glitter
  • optional: 3 drops of strawberry essential fragrance oil

Stovetop instructions:

Put all the ingredients except for the essential oil and glitter into a pot and stir. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it forms a ball. As soon as it goes into a ball, take it off the heat and dump it onto the counter on wax paper.

When it is cool enough, add essential oil and/or glitter and knead it until it is nice and soft. Store in an airtight container or resealable bag.

No cook instructions:

Add the flour, salt, and cream of tartar to the KitchenAid mixer. Using the dough beater, begin mixing on low and add the oil, food colouring, and essential oil. As it mixes, pour in 1 cup of boiling water and continue to mix on low until it resembles playdough texture.

Take the dough out of the mixer and knead it for 30 seconds to a minute. Add the glitter in at this point and mix through by kneading.

The scented strawberry and chocolate playdough create a sensory experience that includes olfactory, tactile, and proprioception sensory systems.

If you are looking for other sensory activities, you may want to join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

Check out some of our other play dough invitations to play:

Peppermint Essential Oil Playdough Snow Playdough Snow Playdough and invitation to play

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Filed Under: Crafts and Activities, Sensory Tagged With: playdough stations, sensory play

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