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8 Sensory Table Benefits for Kids

March 11, 2020 By sensoryplay Leave a Comment

Here are 8 sensory table benefits, along with how to set up a sensory table space in the classroom or at home. Make sensory play easy and manageable!

Using a sensory table at home or in the classroom has multiple benefits for kids. From educational to social skills, playing on a sensory table is incredibly important for children. And, children of all ages can reap these benefits. 

We know the importance of sensory play in general, but read on to see how having an established area such as a sensory table can really benefit kids. 

What is a sensory table?

A sensory table is a designated table that hosts sensory bins, messy play, or other materials that encourage children to learn with all 5 senses. 

It is meant to encourage children to explore by touching and experiencing the materials that have been presented to them. This is an open-ended, creative and imaginative process for kids. 

One of our favorite messy play activities at a sensory table is oobleck! See how to make oobleck here. 

How to set up a sensory table space

Having a space for sensory play in the classroom or the home helps keeps sensory play manageable with kids. When parents or educators hear the words sensory play, they often equate that with mess. 

This can be as simple as a small table with sensory bins on it, or a table built in bin areas, or a large tub-style sensory bin on legs that multiple children can stand around. 



While messy play is often a component of sensory play, the mess doesn’t have to take over. By setting a clearly definite space, like a sensory table, children automatically understand some boundaries around their play, such as keeping materials in the designated area, or the number of children allowed to play in the area at a time. 

It can also be helpful to keep a tarp or a high chair splat mat under the sensory table to contain the mess as well. 

Keeping sensory play open-ended is essential, but providing rules and boundaries around the sensory table play keeps the process manageable for educators and parents and more peaceful for children. 

By setting up a sensory table area and setting some boundaries, you can really allow children to reap the benefits of sensory table play! 

8 Sensory Table Benefits for Kids

Here are a few reasons why you might want to entertain the idea of setting up a sensory table in your space.

Fine motor skills: pinching, grasping, and pouring are all excellent for little fingers. These are fundamental to pre-writing skills too! 

Critical thinking: what will happen if I move these materials here, or what will sound will dumping this make? These are the kinds of thought that children will experiment with and test. 

Language skills: children will work together and engage in conversations about what they are playing with. They will build their vocabulary as they are exposed new materials, and they will engage in pretend play play talking through different scenarios. 

Social skills: having a sensory table space that allows multiple children to play with together encourages discussion, collaboration and teamwork.

Calm down tool: sensory play is great for decompression and  overstimulation. Playing with sensory materials often has relaxing properties as well. 

Creativity: sensory play is meant to be open-ended and allows for creativity and imagination in the play.

Multi-sensory learning: setting up your sensory table to go along with a concept you are teaching, or a theme such as a holiday, provides children with the opportunity to learn more about the material through a multi-sensory approach.

Math skills: add measuring cups to teach measurement. Add tall and wide containers to teach conservation (the idea that amount of a material stays the same despite the way it arranged). Encourage counting, addition and subtraction at the table! 

The benefits of a sensory table are awesome

As you can see, not only is sensory play incredibly fun for kids, but it’s also incredibly beneficial to development! By setting up a sensory table as a designated space in your classroom or home, sensory play will be manageable and fun for all. 

For some ideas of play in a sensory table:

Sensory play for 1 year olds include activiites such as sensory bags, sensory bottles, sensory bins and edible sensory play. A list of oobleck activities for sensory play with kids. From glow in the dark oobleck to fun crafts with oobleck, there is something for everyone.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Pumpkin Spice Oobleck Recipe for Fall Sensory Play

August 22, 2019 By sensoryplay Leave a Comment

This pumpkin spice oobleck recipe is perfect for Fall sensory play for kids. Oobleck is squishy and goopy, and edible (though not tasty), making it perfect sensory play for babies and toddlers too.

Pumpkin Spice Oobleck Recipe

The words pumpkin spice and Fall have seemingly become synonymous with one another. My own kids here me order pumpkin spice lattes at various coffee shops, so they are familiar with the terminology as well.

This pumpkin spice oobleck recipe is wonderful for sensory play as it entertains so many of the senses. The bright color stimulates sight, the pumpkin spice has a wonderful smell, and the texture of oobleck is so fun for little hands.

What you need for the pumpkin spice oobleck:

4 cups of cornstarch (or cornflower)

2 cups of warm water

orange food coloring

2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice powder (or cinnamon and nutmeg)

large bowl

spoon

How to make the pumpkin spice oobleck:

Oobleck is so easy to make, kids can do the majority of the creating on their own. Allowing kids to measure, scoop and pour is a great play-based method of practicing math and fine motor skills!

Begin by measuring and pouring the cornstarch in a large bowl.

Add the water and mix the two together. At first, it will feel clumpy and can be difficult to work with. The more kids mix and blend, the better the oobleck will come together.

If the mixture is too dry after mixing thoroughly, add more water; conversely, if too fluid, add more cornstarch. The right consistency should look like a liquid, but when squeezed with the hards, will create a solid in your grip that ‘melts’ back to a liquid quickly. It’s the magic of this non-Newtonian fluid! 

Once the oobleck consistency is correct, start turning the white goop into pumpkin spice oobleck.

Add a couple drops of orange food coloring and the spice blend then mix.

The mixture will look like pumpkin pie and smell delicious! Have so much fun playing with this pumpkin spice oobleck recipe.

How to Store Oobleck

This sensory play recipe is so much fun to play with, your kids might want to play over and over again! So, can oobleck be stored and re-used?

Oobleck can be stored in an air-tight container or ziplock bag and re-used at another time. It will ned shaking up to play with and might dehydrate over time, but adding some water to it will turn it back into oobleck quickly.

What is the Science Behind Oobleck?

Oobleck got it’s name from the popular children’s book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck. It’s a substance that can mimic both a solid and a liquid, cool right?! Made of cornstarch and water, it becomes a ball when held in the hand, and liquefies when the hand is opened. It can be a really fun sensory tool for many children who enjoy messy play.

child's hands playing in pumpkin spice oobleck

More fun oobleck recipes:

  • Pot of Gold St. Patrick’s Day Themed Oobleck
  • Lavender Oobleck Recipe: The Perfect Calm Down Activity for Kids
  • 20 Oobleck Activities for Sensory Play
  • How to make Oobleck and why it’s educational

Pin this:

fall pumpkin oobleck for sensory play

Filed Under: oobleck, Sensory Play Activities

Pot of Gold St. Patrick’s Day Themed Oobleck

March 17, 2019 By sensoryplay Leave a Comment

This pot of gold St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck is perfect for young children to engage in play-based learning. The gold rocks and pots of gold add a fun dimension to a classic oobleck recipe.

Yesterday, my kids had a sensory play-filled day. First, we went out and played in the forest. They threw rocks, stomped in mud puddles, and splashed in the river.

Then, we made St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck. And finished off and cleaned up by making soap foam.

The St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck had them squealing with joy and playing for over an hour.

This morning, my two-year-old headed outside to play with the oobleck again.

This pot of gold St. Patrick's Day themed oobleck is perfect for young children to engage in play-based learning. The gold rocks and pots of gold add a fun dimension to a classic oobleck recipe.

We love this St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck because it:

  • prompts scientific discovery,
  • is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day,
  • has all the benefits of sensory play,
  • is soothing to play with,
  • is taste-safe for one-year-olds,
  • can have essential oils (like peppermint) added to it.

This pot of gold St. Patrick's Day themed oobleck is perfect for young children to engage in play-based learning. The gold rocks and pots of gold add a fun dimension to a classic oobleck recipe. #oobleck #sensoryplay #kidsactivities #stpatricksday

What you need for St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck

  • 4 cups of cornstarch
  • 2 cups of water
  • Green food colouring
  • Small rocks
  • Terracotta pots
  • Black acrylic paint
  • Gold acrylic paint

How to Make St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck

  1. Paint rocks 1-2 coats of gold paint on rocks.
  2. Let paint fully dry.
  3. Paint terracotta pots black.
  4. Mix water and food colouring.
  5. Add coloured water to cornstarch.
  6. Mix well.
  7. Add gold rocks and pots.
  8. Have fun!

Store oobleck in an airtight container. Add water if it has started to harden. It can be kept in a fridge and reused for months.

When we made this, I had a warm bowl of water and a towel nearby. The clean up was easy.

Other awesome St. Patrick’s themed activities

Find out how to make the best glitter slime recipe. It’s fail-proof and such fun sensory play. Plus there’s a fun add-on for St. Patrick’s Day. Click here to see more. 

This digging for gold edible sensory play set up is perfect as a St. Patrick’s Day activity for kids. Baby-safe edible play is so much fun! Click here to learn more.

This shamrock slime uses a gold slime base with an addition of green glitter. Adjust the recipe to make the slime moldable and kids can make shamrock shapes. Click here.

We hope you enjoy these St. Patrick’s Day themed activities as much as we did.

Filed Under: oobleck, Sensory Bins, Sensory Play Activities Tagged With: kids activities, oobleck, sensory bins, sensory play, st patricks day

Spring Flower Sensory Bottle for Toddlers

March 16, 2019 By sensoryplay Leave a Comment

Such a simple and colorful Spring flower sensory bottle perfect for sensory play with babies and toddlers. Perler beads and silk flowers make this beautiful.

 

Sensory bottles make excellent activities for babies and toddlers. They are a mess-free way to engage in sensory play with this age group, while still stimulating senses such as sight, touch and sound.

Spring Flower Sensory Bottle

This Spring flower sensory bottle is beautiful to look at, and fun to listen to. The sound of the beads falling around the plastic bottle sounds a bit like rain on the windows. Additionally, toddlers will love to shake this one around, making music!

What you need to make the Spring flower sensory bottle:

Empty plastic bottle (Voss water bottles are great)

Colorful perler beads

Fake flowers

Flower confetti

Funnel

Hot glue (optional

 

How to Make the Flower Sensory Bottle

Wash and dry the plastic bottle before use.

Using a funnel, pour the perler beads into the empty bottle. Fill about halfway with the beads so that there is plenty of room to move about the bottle, this will create a fun sound for little ones.

Add the flower confetti and shake to mix. To the top of the beads, place some silk flowers.

Secure the top of the bottle by hot glueing the cap so that they small beads don’t fall out posing a choking hazard for babies.

Kids can roll this around or shake it up, either way, it’s such a fun sensory activity for kids! 

To Use the Flower Sensory Bottle with Older Kids

This is such a fun sensory bottle for babies, but older kids love sensory bottles as well! These make excellent calming tools for older children.

Watching beads or items fall around a bottle can have a mesmerizing and calming effect. Included in our calm down area are sensory bottles of all types, and it’s always a first choice for my kids.

In addition to being used as a calming tool, they can be fun for a game of I-Spy. Children can shake the bottle and inspect the contents to find hidden objects.

With this sensory bottle, kids can shake the bottle, and hunt for the flower confetti, counting the number and color of flowers found with each shake.

Have so much fun with this Spring sensory bottle perfect for kids! 

Sensory play for 1 year olds include activiites such as sensory bags, sensory bottles, sensory bins and edible sensory play.

Filed Under: Sensory Play Activities

The Best Glitter Slime Recipe – Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day

March 5, 2019 By sensoryplay Leave a Comment

Find out how to make the best glitter slime recipe. It’s fail-proof and such fun sensory play. Plus there’s a fun add-on for St. Patrick’s Day.

My daughter loves all things glittery and gold. So when she came home after school, I had an idea.

One of our favourite ways to unwind and avoid after-school meltdowns is through sensory play. After all three of my kids played with foaming soap, we decided to try our hand at making gold glitter slime.

My daughter was so excited to make something beautiful.

The only problem?

We encountered two slime fails before perfecting the recipe.

First, I tried making gold slime using this vibrant gold acrylic paint we have. Because white school glue is less temperamental than clear glue when making slime, I tried combining white glue and gold paint.

The result? Dripping, gross tan looking slop.

Take two, I tried clear glue with acrylic paint and it just looked weird.

Take three was… well perfect. My daughter said this is the best slime we’ve ever made. And, it’s gorgeous.

This is the best glitter slime recipe because it’s:

  • stunning,
  • fail-proof,
  • stretchy,
  • gooey, and
  • slimy.

(if ever you’ve made clear slime before, you know how easily it can go wrong).

To avoid a slime fail, make sure to:

  • Use equal parts water to clear glue.
  • Mix the glitter before adding the activator.
  • Add the activator very sparingly.

 

In honour of St. Patricks Day, we made a pot of gold for the slime. We purchased three terracotta pots at the dollar store and painted them with acrylic black paint.

Find out how to make the best glitter slime recipe. It's fail proof and such fun sensory play.

 

Materials make the best glitter slime

  • 1/2 cup clear school glue
  • 1/2 cup water
  • Glitter
  • 1/2 tsp Borax
  • 1 cup warm water

Instructions to make the best glitter slime recipe

  1. Mix equal parts water and clear school glue. The more slime you want to make the more you will need of both.
  2. Combine as much glitter as you would like. Mix well.
  3. In a separate glass or container, mix 1/2 a tsp of Borax into warm water. The hotter the water, the faster the Borax will dissolve. This makes the activator. If you don’t have Borax, follow this recipe.
  4. Slowly add the activator to the glue-glitter mixture. We added 1 tbs at a time until we reached desired consistency. Unlike white glue slime, if you add too much activator to clear slime, it won’t be stretchy.
  5. Remove from bowl, add to the pot of gold and enjoy!
  6. Store in an airtight container for future use.

My daughter gave this recipe two thumbs up!

If you’re worried about slime clean up, click here.

For more great slime recipes, check these out:

Filed Under: Slime Tagged With: glitter slime, sensory play, slime, st patricks day

Digging for Gold Edible Sensory Play for Kids

February 25, 2019 By sensoryplay Leave a Comment

This digging for gold edible sensory play set up is perfect as a St. Patrick’s Day activity for kids. Baby-safe edible play is so much fun!

Sensory play is so beneficial to kids. By engaging the senses and exploring materials tactilely, children remember information better and are able to process learned materials with greater ease.

This edible sensory play is a fun activity for St. Patricks’s Day with kids, or for any other time of the year as well! Bonus, it makes great sensory play for 1 year olds and older children alike.

 

Digging for Gold Edible Sensory Play

This edible sensory play uses pudding as a base, making this a great choice for baby safe sensory play. Children can squish and explore the pudding with their hands, get messy, and dig for gold!

What you need:

  • pistachio pudding
  • plastic gold coins
  • large plastic bin
  • tablecloth or towel

How to set up the edible sensory play:

Make the pistachio pudding according to package instructions. If you have instant pudding mix, this should be fairly quick. However, other pudding mixes might take longer to set, so keep that in mind for the prep of this activity.

Place plastic gold coins at the bottom of a tupperware bin, and place the bin on top of a towel or plastic tablecloth, this one is bound to get messy!

Once set, scoop the prepared pudding on top of the gold coins and spread. This will hide all of the gold coins under the green pudding.

Invite the children to go on a gold treasure hunt! They can dive into the pudding, using their hands to squish and move the pudding, uncovering the buried treasure.

Why is Edible Sensory Play Important?

This is such a fun messy play activity for kids! Babies and toddlers (and older children too) like to explore material with their mouths, which is important. A baby’s mouth has more nerve endings than any other part of the body. If they really wants to find out what something feels like, they put it in their mouth!

Finding baby-safe material is critical to engaging in  sensory play with this age group, which keeps the play open-ended and easier for them to explore.

Troubleshooting this activity for use with babies

A couple of safety notes:

  • This activity uses pistachio pudding for the edible sensory play base. This pudding does contain pieces of nuts which could be troublesome for 1) very small babies and 2) those with nut sensitivities. As an alternative, use vanilla pudding with green food dye (we like to use the natural food coloring).
  • This activity uses plastic gold coins to dig for. These are fairly large, but could still pose a choking threat if children were to place the in their mouths. Omit the gold for small children where this might be a concern, and simply allow them to play and get messy in the pudding!

Have so much fun digging for gold in this St. Patrick’s Day edible sensory play activity! 

Filed Under: Edible Sensory Play, Sensory Play Activities

Shamrock Slime: Green & Gold St. Patrick’s Day Slime

February 19, 2019 By sensoryplay Leave a Comment

This shamrock slime uses a gold slime base with an addition of green glitter. Adjust the recipe to make the slime moldable and kids can make shamrock shapes


Slime is such a fun sensory material for kids. Not only is is fun to play with, it requires math, science and fine motor skills to make. So many amazing benefits!

This shamrock slime uses a gold slime base, and then adds some green glitter for color. This slime has a bit of extra activator making it firmer and more moldable, so that kids can create a melting shamrock shape out of it.

This shamrock slime uses a gold slime base with an addition of green glitter. Adjust the recipe to make the slime moldable and kids can make shamrock shapes #kidsactivties #slimerecipe #shamrockslime #sensoryplay #stpatricksday #slimeforkids

Shamrock Slime

St. Patrick’s Day is a fun holiday for kids to celebrate. From rainbows to pots of gold and sneaky little leprechauns, children love to find ways to have fun with St. Patrick’s Day.

Sensory play is always a favorite of ours, and slime is typically a must when celebrating a holiday. This shamrock slime would be fun to do with a group of kids at a party as well.

To Make the Shamrock Slime

Watch the video below of the shamrock slime making:

We used this gold slime recipe as a base for our shamrock slime. The recipe in the post calls for clear glue, water and activator to make the clear slime.

This shamrock slime uses a gold slime base with an addition of green glitter. Adjust the recipe to make the slime moldable and kids can make shamrock shapes #kidsactivties #slimerecipe #shamrockslime #sensoryplay #stpatricksday #slimeforkids

Pre-made activator is an easy way to replace contact solution and baking soda or borax in your slime recipe, and makes slime making a bit more fool-proof for kids.

We followed the recipe closely, but then added just an extra 1/2 ounce of activator to stiffen up the slime just a bit. This allows for a more moldable slime for kids to make a shamrock out of!

This shamrock slime uses a gold slime base with an addition of green glitter. Adjust the recipe to make the slime moldable and kids can make shamrock shapes #kidsactivties #slimerecipe #shamrockslime #sensoryplay #stpatricksday #slimeforkids

From gold to green!

Once you have a nice gold slime that is still clear, add some green glitter!

Be generous here, the glitter will transform your slime from clear and gold to green and gold, and will be even more sparkly.

This shamrock slime uses a gold slime base with an addition of green glitter. Adjust the recipe to make the slime moldable and kids can make shamrock shapes #kidsactivties #slimerecipe #shamrockslime #sensoryplay #stpatricksday #slimeforkids

Additionally, the slime should be slightly thicker than traditional slime. The extra activator plus the gold foil confetti will make for a stiff slime that melts and stretches slowly.

This shamrock slime uses a gold slime base with an addition of green glitter. Adjust the recipe to make the slime moldable and kids can make shamrock shapes #kidsactivties #slimerecipe #shamrockslime #sensoryplay #stpatricksday #slimeforkids

Children can mold shamrocks out of their slime by making three balls of slime (or 4 for a lucky four leaf clover!) and adding a slime stem.

My children enjoyed making shamrocks out of slime, holding them in their hands, and letting them slowly melt between their fingers before molding them all over again.

This shamrock slime uses a gold slime base with an addition of green glitter. Adjust the recipe to make the slime moldable and kids can make shamrock shapes #kidsactivties #slimerecipe #shamrockslime #sensoryplay #stpatricksday #slimeforkids
This shamrock slime uses a gold slime base with an addition of green glitter. Adjust the recipe to make the slime moldable and kids can make shamrock shapes #kidsactivties #slimerecipe #shamrockslime #sensoryplay #stpatricksday #slimeforkids

Have so much fun making and playing with this shamrock slime, and celebrating St. Patrick’s Day through PLAY!


Filed Under: Slime Tagged With: slime, st patricks day

Fail-Proof Valentine’s Day Clear Slime

February 12, 2019 By sensoryplay Leave a Comment

Find out how to make fail-proof clear slime for Valentine’s Day. And, also find out how to troubleshoot clear slime fails.

How to make clear slime for Valentine's and how to troubleshoot clear slime fails. #sensoryplayforkids #sensoryplay #slime #slimerecipe #kidsactivities #STEM #science

My kids are on a major slime kick.

My daughter has made her own versions of glow in the dark slime, soft pink Valentine’s slime, and orange slime.

We have tried our hand at clear slime before and sadly, it was a miss. The composition is a bit different and therefore it reacts quicker to the activator making it not-so-slime-y. It was almost brittle.

However, with our second snow day this week, I decided to give Valentine’s Day Clear Slime a try.

The first thing we did, was watch this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2kX3VtuXlw

Key tips for fail-proof clear slime:

  • Use equal parts water to clear glue – you may even want more water than glue.
  • Add your activator very slowly – less is more.
Everything you need to make clear slime for Valentine's Day

What you need for Valentine’s Day Clear Slime

  • 1 bottle of clear school glue
  • Equal amount of water as glue
  • 1 cup hot tap water
  • 1/2 tsp borax
  • Heart confetti
  • 2-3 drops cinnamon essential oil (optional)

If you want to know more about the safety of Borax, watch the video here.

Dissolve Borax then set it aside
Fully dissolve Borax, then set it aside.

How to Make Valentine’s Day Clear Slime

  1. Dissolve Borax into 1 cup of hot water (this is your activator solution). Then, set this mixture aside.
  2. Empty one bottle of clear slime into a seperate bowl.
  3. Fill empty bottle of glue with water. Shake the bottle well to remove excess glue.
  4. Pour into bowl.
  5. Add Valentine’s confetti.
  6. Mix.
  7. Using a tablespoon, slowly add activator solution until slime starts to form.
  8. Then, enjoy!
  9. Store in an airtight container for future use.

Note: The slime will be a little sticky at first. This is okay. If it’s no longer sticky there is too much activator. To correct this, break up the slime into small pieces. This will be easy as it will almost be brittle. Add a half cup of water and let the slime sit for about 30 mins. Repeat as many time as necessary until the desired clear slime consistency is reached.

Don’t have Borax? Use 1.5 tsp baking soda and 3 tbs of contact solution containing Boric Acid. This will create the same activating solution.

Looking for more great slime recipes and more ways to play with slime?

Check these out!

Filed Under: Slime Tagged With: sensory play, slime, Valentine's day

Lavender Oobleck Recipe: The Perfect Calm Down Activity for Kids

February 6, 2019 By sensoryplay Leave a Comment

This lavender oobleck recipe is the perfect way to teach kids about science, promote the benefits of sensory play and help kids calm down. This screen-free kids activity is perfect for one-year-olds, preschoolers, and grade school kids alike.

This lavender oobleck recipe is the perfect way to teach kids about science, promote the benefits of sensory play and help kids calm down. This screen-free kids activity is perfect for one-year-olds, preschoolers, and grade school kids alike. #sensoryplay #science #STEM #STEMlearning #sensoryplayforkids #kidsactivites #babysafe #toddlers #earlychildhoodeducation

After school can be very touch-and-go in our household. Either my kindergartener bursts out of the school doors and jumps into my arms happy. Or, he is so bone tired he acts as though carrying his backpack is too much to do.

Because of this, I have two plans of attack to avoid after school meltdowns:

  1. We head to a park with lots of snacks and blow off steam there.
  2. I set up a sensory play activity to promote calmness.

This week, I decided to whip up one of my kids’ favourite sensory play activities – oobleck.

This lavender oobleck recipe is the perfect way to teach kids about science, promote the benefits of sensory play and help kids calm down. This screen-free kids activity is perfect for one-year-olds, preschoolers, and grade school kids alike. #sensoryplay #science #STEM #STEMlearning #sensoryplayforkids #kidsactivites #babysafe #toddlers #earlychildhoodeducation

This lavender oobleck recipe is awesome because it’s:

  • inexpensive,
  • easy to whip up,
  • a great way to teach kids about science (check out why here),
  • promotes all the benefits of sensory play,
  • smells amazing,
  • taste-safe,
  • perfect for one-year-olds, and
  • calming.

Because oobleck can get messy, here are our favourite clean up tips:

  • Make your lavender oobleck recipe outside, on top of a disposable table cloth or old sheet.
  • Have a bowl of warm water beside your set up to easily wash hands.
  • Only use toys and utensils inside the lavender oobleck that are easy to wash and don’t have small crevices.
  • Store lavender oobleck in an airtight container and refrigerate.
  • Use soapy water to clean up any remaining oobleck.
  • Dried oobleck scrapes off easily. Use a butter knife to remove any excess, then wash with soapy water.
Lavender oobleck recipe. What you need is a bin, cornstarch (corn flour), essential oil, water and food colouring

Lavender Oobleck Recipe | What You Need:

  • 2 cups corn starch
  • 1 cup water
  • plastic bin
  • Lavender essential oil
  • Food colouring (optional)
Lavender oobleck recipe

How to make the Lavender Oobleck Recipe:

  1. Dump 2 cups of corn starch into a bin,
  2. In a separate container combine approximately three drops of lavender essential oil, water and food colouring. You can add each ingredient into the oobleck recipe separately. However, we have found it is easier to disperse the oil when it’s already in the water.
  3. Mix with a wooden spoon, kitchen utensil of your choice or your hands.
  4. Enjoy!
  5. To enjoy this lavender oobleck again, store in an airtight container in the fridge. You may want to add a little more water to get desired consistency. The mixture should last in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
This lavender oobleck recipe is perfect for after school or as a calming activity for young kids. Kids procure all the benefits of sensory play, it's cheap and easy to set up.
#sensoryplay #oobleck #kidsactivities #playbasedlearning #learningthroughplay #toddlers

Lavender has calming effects including:

  • Reducing stress,
  • Increasing positive affect,
  • Increasing relaxation.

My kids came home from school and my almost two-year-old joined in. They played outside on our deck for almost an hour. As the sun went down, I was pleased. Not only had they enjoyed screen-free time, but they were also quiet, played calmly, and there were no after-school meltdowns.

For more great oobleck recipes, check out:

A list of oobleck activities for sensory play with kids. From glow in the dark oobleck to fun crafts with oobleck, there is something for everyone.

20 Oobleck Recipes for Sensory Play

Filed Under: oobleck, Sensory Play Activities Tagged With: activities for one-year-olds, how to make oobleck, oobleck, oobleck recipe, sensory activities, sensory play

Pink and Red Colored Rice Sensory Bin

February 4, 2019 By sensoryplay Leave a Comment

This pink and red colored rice sensory bin adds heart and fine motor tools for a fun and educational themed sensory bin perfect for kids.


Sensory bins are a really fun and inviting way to display new material or themes to children. Engaging the senses in play helps children remember material better.

This pink and red colored rice sensory bin uses dyed rice as a base with some pink hearts and fine motor scooping tools for play.

This pink and red colored rice sensroy bin adds heart and fine motor tools for a fun and educational themed sensory bin perfect for kids. #sensoryplay #redsensroybin #coloredrice #preschool

How to Make Colored Rice

Dying rice is super simple to do, and tons of fun for kids to help with! The shaking of the bags is always a huge hit in our house (bonus points if you do it during a dance party!).

This pink and red colored rice sensroy bin adds heart and fine motor tools for a fun and educational themed sensory bin perfect for kids. #sensoryplay #redsensroybin #coloredrice #preschool

What you need:

  • plain white rice (uncooked)
  • vinegar
  • red and pink food coloring

What to do:

Separate the rice into zipped plastic bags to dye.

This pink and red colored rice sensroy bin adds heart and fine motor tools for a fun and educational themed sensory bin perfect for kids. #sensoryplay #redsensroybin #coloredrice #preschool

Add the desired amount of rice to the baggies and add food coloring, and a splash of vinegar.

This is the fun part, secure the bags and SHAKE!

This pink and red colored rice sensroy bin adds heart and fine motor tools for a fun and educational themed sensory bin perfect for kids. #sensoryplay #redsensroybin #coloredrice #preschool

Once all the rice has been colored, lay on a baking sheet to dry.

To assemble the pink and red colored rice sensory bin:

This pink and red colored rice sensroy bin adds heart and fine motor tools for a fun and educational themed sensory bin perfect for kids. #sensoryplay #redsensroybin #coloredrice #preschool

Once the colored rice has dried, add it to a plastic bin for play.

We like to use these plastic scrapbook containers for play as they are wide enough for a few children to play in, but also contain the mess. And, they have a lid so the rice can be stored away after play to bring out another day.

To the colored rice bin, add some heart shaped buttons and fine motor tools.

Kids love scooping and dumping, and this transferring skill is an important one for kids to practice and develop.

A silicone baking tray like this heart shaped one is perfect for the theming of this sensory bin. It also gives the sensory bin a fun Valentine’s day feel, making this the perfect February activity for kids as well.

This pink and red colored rice sensroy bin adds heart and fine motor tools for a fun and educational themed sensory bin perfect for kids. #sensoryplay #redsensroybin #coloredrice #preschool

We found these heart shaped felt stickers in our craft stash and placed them into the hearts on the mold for more discussion on colors and shapes with the kids!

Example, “oh, I see you filled the yellow heart!” or “the pink striped heart is half full”.

Have so much fun with this pink and red colored rice sensory bin for Valentine’s Day, a heart theme, or for any time of the year!

This pink and red colored rice sensroy bin adds heart and fine motor tools for a fun and educational themed sensory bin perfect for kids. #sensoryplay #redsensroybin #coloredrice #preschool

Filed Under: Sensory Bins, Sensory Play Activities

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