sensory play

I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve had enough of all of this rain. I know it’s important and all that, but it’s really gotten in the way of our pool, beach and amusement park plans over the last few weeks. We’ve spent a lot of time in the house, and I’m not gonna lie, many hours on screens. Here are some great activities to keep your kids active, learning and having a great time, even when you can’t escape the house!

15 Rainy Day Activities for Active Kids and Toddlers:

Get Messy in the Bath– The bath tub is one of the best places to get messy because clean up happens naturally. I love these homemade bath paints from Parenting Chaos.

Jump That Energy Out– Small trampolines like this one from Fisher Price take up very little space, but keep little ones endlessly entertained.

Create Your Own Snuggle Fort– I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling like fort-making was one of the highlights of my childhood. I love a good fort! It’s free and keeps kids busy for hours.

Dance it Out with Scarves– These colorful scarves from Amazon are so much fun to dance with or throw up in the air and catch.  I’m always amazed by how long they keep my children entertained.

Go Fishing– I love this laundry basket fishing idea from Munchkins and Moms. Kids love sitting in them so much, why not make a fun game out of it? You can use magnetic fish and fishing poles if you have them, but feel free to get creative like the blogger below.

Paint the Easy Way– Little ones love to paint, but they might not have the ability to grasp a paintbrush yet. I love this cotton ball painting idea from Domestic Mommyhood that makes painting easy for toddlers.

Make it Rain– These rain sticks from Happy Hooligans are colorful and easy enough for toddlers to help make. Let them practice their fine motor by picking up the corn, rice or other small noise-making items and putting them in the paper towel roll.

Host an Animal Pool or Ice Skating Party– How cute and easy would it be to freeze water in a small tray or even a foil pan and make animals their own indoor ice rink like this pic below from I Can Teach My Child. If you don’t have time for the freezing, make the toy animals their own pool or bubble bath.

Become a Sorting Expert– Color sorting is so easy and fun for kids, while also being a great learning opportunity. I love this Cereal sorting mat from I Can Teach My Child. For a more active color sort, give kids a color and have them run around the house with a basket collecting everything they can find that matches the color you chose.

Create a Pillow Roadway– I love this fun idea from Hands On As We Grow! Collect all of the pillows and couch cushions in your house and lay them on the floor to make an indoor roadway for kids to run around on.

Make Child-Sized Art– Get a large piece of paper or poster board and trace the outline of your child’s body. Next, have them color and decorate the inside. This is a great activity to do year after year to see how they grow and how their drawings mature.

Photo credit: Passionate Homemaking

Experiment with Sensory- I love the sensory activities we made last week for playgroup. Check the recipes out here. Another option is an easy sensory bin filled with corn, rice, or anything else small and fun to scoop up and pour out. The yellow sensory bin below is featured on Every Day Chaos and Calm.

Stack ’em Up– How easy is this, but I swear, it keeps them busy! Experiment with cups of different sizes to see what works best for your child.

Photo credit: Everyday Chaos and Calm

Make a Busy Bag– There are so many variations of busy bags, but basically they are engaging activities that kids and toddlers can complete mostly independently, and they are stored in bags so they are ready  to go at any time.  The Teaching Mama does a great job listing some great examples on her blog. Check out her great color sorting bag below.

Have Your Own Mini Toddler Obstacle Course- This is similar to what you’d see at a toddler gymnastics class, an obstacle course that little ones can go through over and over again to work on their gross motor skills and spatial awareness. How fun would it be to create your own obstacle course at home? It just takes some creativity. Start by finding some things that your kids can go under, step over and step on and some bean bags to throw into bins or to balance on their heads. Whatever you do, make sure you model it for them, step by step.

Photo Credit: How to Run a Homemade Daycare

∗ I also have to include this amazing list of 45 age-appropriate indoor learning activities for the littlest of learners, 18-24 month olds.

Hopefully the skies will part and the sun will come shining through again before we know it! Until then, keep your sanity by keeping the little ones occupied and having fun…..and be sure to stock up on wine.

♥ Erin

All this rain we’ve had in RVA lately has left me scrambling to find fun, indoor things to do with my three kids, especially the littlest one who needs a lot of help staying out of trouble. Sensory play is a great indoor activity for kids of all ages, even my eight year old can’t get enough of playdough and slime. However, it’s especially beneficial for little ones because it keeps them busy while also promoting their growth and development.

Three Main Benefits of Sensory Play

1. It promotes the development of many skills including: oral language skills,  fine and gross motor skills,  memory skills and problem solving skills.
2. It helps to relax anxious children.
3. It teaches children to use sensory characteristics (sticky, gooey, dry, cold).

Here are five of my favorite taste-safe sensory play activities: 

Banana Pudding Slime

• 1/4 cup instant pudding mix
• 1 cup corn starch
• 1/3 cup warm water

1. Add instant pudding mix and half of your cornstarch to a mixing bowl. Add 1/3 cup water and stir until slime begins to form (it will be pretty sticky at this point)
2. Slowly add the rest of your cornstarch, stirring as you go. When slime thickens and is hard to stir with a spoon, finish kneading by hand.
3. Making slime isn’t an exact science, and sometimes I need to add a bit more water if the slime is dry, or a bit more corn starch if it is sticky. I’d compare it to making bread: sometimes you need to keep working in flour until you have the perfect consistency.

From The Soccer Mom Blog

Homemade Kinetic Sand

• 1/2 cup flour  
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 Tbsp. oil (any kind) 
• 1 Tbsp. corn syrup.

If it runs a touch on the drier side add a touch more oil in your next recipe.

From Surviving a Teacher’s Salary

Pumpkin Pie Play Clay

• Canned Pumpkin
• Cornstarch 
• Pumpkin Pie Spice

1. Take your pumpkin and stir it until it’s smooth.
2. Add enough pumpkin pie spice that it smells delicious.
3. Slowly add cornstarch and stir.  Once the dough starts drying out, you’ll want to switch to kneading.  You want the dough to roll into a ball, but it should not stick to your hands.
4.  If it is sticking to your hands add a bit more cornstarch; if it is so dry that it won’t form a ball and is crumbling instead, add a small amount of water.

∗The amounts of cornstarch will vary depending on the brand and quantity of canned pumpkin you use. The dough will keep for 2-3 days sealed in the fridge.

From Fun At Home With Kids

Yogurt Silly Putty

• Corn starch
• Yogurt- Make sure it’s a yogurt without chunks of fruit.

1. Mix together 1 cup of yogurt and 3/4 cups of corn starch
2. When the mixture is no longer sticky, pick it up and roll the putty into a ball (to further mix the yogurt and corn starch)
3. If it’s too sticky, sprinkle in additional corn starch. If it’s too dry, add a bit more yogurt

From Smart School House

Ooblek

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups of Corn Starch
• 1 Cup of Water
• 10 Drops of Food Coloring (optional)

1.  In a shallow bowl, combine the corn starch and water.  The mixture will be thick and hard to stir, so mix the ingredients by hand.

2.  Add the food coloring and mix well.  We used green food coloring to look like the Oobleck in the Dr. Seuss book, but you can pick any color.

From ABC’s of Literacy

Other great things to use for baby sensory play:

Rice Crispies/Cheerios or other cereal that isn’t a choking hazard

Boxed Mashed Potato Flakes

Ice

Colored Rice

Tapioca Pearls

Gelatin

Sensory play is so much fun for the whole family, and many of the items I used above you probably already have in your pantry. Summer is a great time to experiment and get messy with sensory because, when you’re done, you can throw them in a baby pool in the backyard for easy cleanup. If you try any of the recipes, please let me know how it goes. Let’s get messy!

♥ Erin

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m getting a little tired of all of this rain!  My three kids have spent way too much time indoors, and that’s made for some really long days. Keep your kids busy and avoid the “I’m bored!” chorus with these inspired indoor ideas.

The sun may come out tomorrow, but if it doesn’t, try one of the ideas above and have some indoor fun.

♥ Erin