Who Wants To Play With Bugs? Our Bug Sensory Tub

 

I am not a huge fan of bugs, but my son has been begging me to put together a bug sensory tub for him. A sensory tub/tote is a tub or a bin that you fill up with various items to let your child play with and be hands-on. Sensory activities provide children with another meaningful avenue of learning. Our bug sensory tub has a few pound of dried beans on the bottom and is covered with a variety of bugs. There are glow in the dark bugs, plastic bugs, stuffed bugs, and foam bugs-- plenty bugs to go around!! I added in a magnifying glass, plastic tweezers and a little bug carrier. My son is loving it and I am thankful that he is playing with fake bugs! 

 

 

 

Our Butterfly Sensory Tub

 

 

My son was so happy that we set up his Butterfly Sensory Tub today!

It has anything and everything to do with butterflies and caterpillars!

There are plastic, fabric, foam, and felt butterflies. A beaded butterfly that my son made himself, a pom pom caterpillar, some flowers, a felt caterpillar and more.

We colored some rice yellow for the filler.

Eventually, we will combine these items with our Spring Sensory Tub and make it on huge sensory tub.

 

For those of you that do not know what a sensory tub/tote is, it is a tub or a bin that you fill up with various items to let your child be hands-on. Sensory activities provide children with another meaningful avenue of learning.

Number Snakes--Fun & Educational Ways to Upcylce Plastic Easter Eggs

Last week, I picked up a bunch of plastic Easter Eggs that were on sale for 25 cents. When I got home, I found some pipe cleaners, googley eyes, and a black Sharpie and got busy.

 

The eggs with the two holes on the top were perfect to make some counting caterpillars or snakes. I am participating in a Busy Bag Exchange with 12 other people, I figured the counting snakes would be perfect for this exchange. The snake is fun to play with and it allows the kids to practice number recognition and sequencing.

 

 

I used a permanent marker to number the bottom half of 10 eggs with the numbers 1-10.

 

 

I took a red pipe cleaner and tied a knot in it towards one end.

 

 

I glued a pair of googley eyes on the egg with the number 1 on it and laced the numbers in order onto the pipe cleaner. The knot in the pipe cleaner keeps the eggs from sliding off.

 

I trimmed the tongue down a bit...

 

 

I wrapped the end of the pipe cleaner around a paper clip to help keep the egg pieces together.

 

Pretty simple, huh?

 

When the kids want to play with it, all they have to do is take the paper clip off and slide the eggs off and put them back on in order.

 

 

I didn't want to waste all of the tops of the eggs, so, I used them to make a snake for play. I made it the same way, without the numbers and instead of using a paper clip to keep the eggs together, I glued the end on.

 

 

I decided to make my son a snake that goes up to 20. I also made him a set with the alphabet.

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Story Retelling Ziploc Activity

I am working on, creating a Book Tote for The Very Hungry Caterpillar , filled with activities and props that go along with the story. I am participating in a swap with 11 other woman to create this together. Last night, I finished up my final contribution, a Very Hungry Caterpillar Story Retelling Ziploc Bag Activity. This was so simple to make and my son had a ball with it this morning! All I did was download and print the free file from the Teaching Heart Blog, which can be found here.

 

 

 

I laminated the pieces to make them more durable, if you don't have access to a laminator, I'd recommend printing the file on cardstock. I cut out all of the pieces, including the holes for the mouth and the stomach.

I taped the caterpillar onto a sandwich sized Ziploc bag and cut an opening in onside of the bag for the mouth. Nice and simple and ready to play with! You can use this in conjunction with the book or on it's own to see if your child can retell the story. In order, slip each piece of food into the caterpillar's mouth and you will see it in his belly. Too cute!