sensory

Sensory Balloons

~ Melanie ~ Leave a comment

Sensory balloons – otherwise known as stress balls – are a great addition to sensory play. You can mold, squish and manipulate them. I love when my kids bust them out because they’re a great stress reliever for me, too!

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Sensory Sniffing Jars

~ Melanie ~ Leave a comment

Smelling jars are a great way to allow your child to explore their sense of smell. We love sensory activities in our house, but often times we forget about the sense of smell. These smelling jars are so easy to put together and can be played with anywhere.

Sensory Smelling jars are a great way to incorporate the sense of smell into play. Oftentimes when we do sensory activities, we forget about the sense of smell! These smelling jars are so easy to put together and can be brought anywhere.

If you are a regular reader around here, you know that I love sensory activities. I will spare you with the details as to why because I’m pretty sure I’ve shared that 100 times.

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2 Ingredient Moon Sand

~ Melanie ~ 1 Comment
2 Ingredient moon sand is so ridiculously easy – much like most of my activities you can find here! You probably have the ingredients on hand and it can be made in seconds. Give your kiddo a bowl of it and let them go to town!
2 ingredient sensory moon sand

Ohhh sensory play. Sweet, sweet sensory play.

Just when I think I am going to do an activity that does not involve sensory play, something comes to mind from when I was teaching. And I can’t. Pull. Away.

baby playing with sensory moon sand
Close up of child playing with moon sand in a glass bowl with plastic utensils

When we played with this stuff, Dylan of course turned it into good guys and bad guys (because he’s a boy. And 4 years old). But he asked me to help him roll them into balls so he could cut them open with the plastic utensils I gave him. He also really enjoyed making it with me. He loves to measure things out and count with me. He especially loves pouring the ingredients into the bowl.

Please pay no attention to our outfit choice. He woke up wet so he was running around in a shirt and new dry underwear. I told him if he wanted to go outside, he had to put pants on. So he kept his pajama shirt on. Whatever.

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Something that he mentioned during this one though that he never has was how it smelled. I think he really enjoyed the baby oil smell. I also added a few drops of a “Cheer Up Buttercup” essential oil blend. It smelled really good with the baby oil.

We were watching my mom’s dog and my sister’s dog when we did this activity. My mom’s dog really loved eating it. Like, really loved eating it. It was gross. I had to put him inside because he was having way too much fun eating this flour. He’s a strange, strange dog that will pretty much eat anything and will fight you for it. Actually, he’s a lot like Reagan.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup baby oil
  • Few drops of essential oil (optional)
Close up of child playing with 2 ingredient moon sand

Mix everything together with a spoon or your hands. I found it a lot easier to control with my hands. If you need it to be a little more wet, just add more baby oil.

smiling baby with moon sand on her face because she tried to eat it

Reagan snacked on it also. I don’t recommend this. I kept taking it out of her mouth and trying to redirect her but it was a lost cause.

I promptly took it away and she got a sippy cup instead.  Obviously she’s bothered by it.

bird's eye view of a glass bowl of moon sand

This was the aftermath – definitely an outside activity.