Ready, Set, PEEPS!!!

It is time to race!

Ready, Set, PEEPS!

 

 

We made these adorable (and yummy) cars out of Twinkies.

We used half of a large marshmallow to make each wheel and a pretzel for the steering wheel.

So simple and fun to make with the kids!

 

 

Christmas Sensory Tub

 

With Christmas right around the corner, I put together a Christmas Sensory Tub for my son.

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.

This sensory tub is loaded with all things Christmas!

 

 

 

There is fake pine needles, little presents, little beaded candy canes that my son made, bells, and more!

 

I used Christmas shaped pasta as the filler.

 

For added fun and exploration, I added a Santa hat, reindeer ears, and a Rudolph nose.

My son wears these as he plays.

Do you have a toddler or preschool aged child? Put together a simple Christmas Sensory Tub for them! You'd be surprised  how easily you can throw one together with items that you already have!

 

Merry Christmas!

Easy to Make Doc Mc Stuffin's Stethoscopes

We are working on putting together a Community Helpers Sensory Tote and one of the items I decided to make was a stethoscope. I used headbands, ribbon, and felt. I picked up all of the materials from the Dollar Tree-- the headbands were 6 for $1, ribbon was $1 for the roll, and the felt was a pack for $1. I made 6 of these stethoscopes for $3 and still had felt and ribbon leftover! I cut long rectangles of felt, wrapped them around the end of the headbands, and hot glued them into place for the ear pieces. I used about a foot long piece of ribbon for the strap and cut out 2 circles out of felt and glued them together with the tip of the ribbon in between them. I then cut a small band aid out of felt to glue on top. You can even add a small heart on the band aid if you like! The kids are really enjoying these, my son takes it out every time we watch Doc Mc Stuffin's on TV. I will definitely be making more of these for Christmas presents!

Sports Sensory Tub

 

My son absolutely loves his sports sensory tub that I put together for him! It is loaded with all things sports! I had a lot of fun putting this one together, most of the items were found around the house or I picked them up at the Dollar Tree.

 

 

A very talented friend of mine made these bean bags.

 

 

I used these little foam beads as a filler--

perfect!

 

New Testament Sensory Tub-- A Fun Way to Learn About the Bible!

 

Today, we put together a New Testament Sensory. I thought this would be a fun way to teach my youngest a little bit more about Jesus and the bible. I put this sensory tub together with the help of some very talented women, we recently swapped items to collectively create an awesome tub. It has 3 foam crosses, a lamb mask, a painted lamb, a cave, a felt river, doves, palm, a basket of bread and fish, a crown of thorns (made out of toothpicks, baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph peg people, a grown up Jesus peg person, and more.

 

 

 

Here is a close up of some of the items.

 

If you like this sensory tub, be sure to check out my others!

Our Dino Dig

 

My son wanted to a dino dig, so I decided to put a small one together for him. I combined sand and coffee grinds in a container and then hid some dinosaur skeletons in the mixture. I gave him a paintbrush to help dust the bones off after he found them.

 

 

He had a lot of fun digging for dinosaurs over and over again! I love when an activity that takes me minutes to throw together brings hours of fun!

Our WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE Literacy Basket

 

I recently participated in a swap with a group of very talented women, in which we exchange items to help us create a Literacy Basket for the book Where The Wild Things Are. A literacy basket (or bag) is basically a basket (or bag) filled with items, such as props and activities, that can be used in conjunction with a story.  Our Literacy Basket includes a small wooden Max, a felt crown, Monster Feet(made out of cardboard), some popsicle sticks characters, a felt monster face, painted trees, and Max's ship. My youngest is having a blast with this! All of the props take the story to a whole new level!

Swamp Play WITHOUT the Swamp!!

 

My kids had a blast playing in the swamp in their sand and water table!

It was so simple to set up and they had hours of fun with it!  All I did is prepare 2 packages of Lime Jell-O by following the directions on the box.

 

After the Jell-O was refrigerated and reached it's Jell-O consistency, I dumped it in one half of the table and added some plastic frogs and bugs.

 

 

I filled the other side of the table with water and added some plastic tadpoles, fish, and frog eggs. 

 

They had so much fun playing with the Jell-O!  

 

Lemonade Stand Sensory Tub

 

Just in time for summer, we put together a Lemonade Stand Sensory Tub. 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. My son is really enjoying this one!  He even made me promise him that we would make real lemonade this week! The tub contains a bunch of different lemons in a plastic produce basket, felt lemon wedges, clay lemon wedges, cups, yellow pom poms, yellow pony beads, tongs, straws, mini drink umbrellas, play money, lemon juicer, a lemonade mixer, play money, a yellow "table cloth" (I gave him a yellow microfiber towel that I picked up at the dollar store for him to use to cover his work space)  and more!

 

He cuts the lemons....

 

Squeezes and juices them too...

 

and serves them!

 

I must say,  he serves up the best pretend lemonade that I ever had!

Check out our recipe for real lemonade-- it is amazing!!

Moon Dough-- Make Your Own in Minutes!!

Moon Dough is so much fun to play with and it couldn't be easier to make it yourself! My kids whipped up a batch in minutes today. With only 2 ingredients, your kids will be enjoying it in no time!

All you need is:
1 Cup of Baby Oil
8 Cups of Flour

Directions:
Combine ingredients in a large bowl or container. You can mix with a spoon or be hands on and mix and knead it with your hands. It's play time!!

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! 

 

 

 

Freeze Dough Ice Cream Pallor-- Keep Cool and Play!!

 

Let's Play!!! To set up your pretend ice cream stand, all you need is an ice cream scoop, some ice cream cones (I picked mine up in the dollar store), and some Freeze Dough!

Freeze Dough is basically frozen shaving cream in a container. We kept it simple and only made "vanilla ice cream" to play with, but you can easily add food coloring to the freeze dough to make different "flavors."

 

 

I gave him an ice cream scoop and some ice cream cones to play with and placed my order...

 

Before I knew it, my order was up, his hands were dirty, and he was nice and cool!

 

Next time, we are going to make a bunch of different "flavors" to play with!

 

Let's Play with Mud!! Clean Mud That Is!!

 

My son's new favorite thing is playing with mud! Luckily, for me, it is clean mud! It is so simple to make and great for inside contained play or outside play. All you need is a few boxes of baking soda to act as the dirt and some water! Pour the baking soda in a bowl or container and add water until your "mud" reaches a mud-like consistency. You can add in few drops of food coloring if you like too. It really feels just like mud! This brings my kids hours of enjoyment and isn't difficult to clean up. You can even wash the mud down the drain, it is completely harmless and will even clean your sink in the process-- that's my kind of clean up!

Vegetable Garden Busy Bag

 

 

I made this busy bag to go along with our Vegetable Garden Sensory Tub that we are working on for next month. I printed the free printable, which you can find here, along with other great free garden themed printables from Home School Creations.  After it was printed, I laminated and cut the pieces out. I added magnets on the back so that it can be used on a magnetic board as well. We are using it for vegetable recognition. Can you add the squash to the basket? How about the cauliflower? My son loves his vegetables, but he doesn't know the proper name for all of them. With this, he is learning and having fun too!

Peg Monkeys

I made these wooden peg monkeys to go with our Caps for Sale Literacy Basket. They were pretty easy to make, considering that I can draw or paint if my life depended on it. All I did was draw the face on with a thin black sharpie marker and then painted the rest of the peg brown. I painted a tail on the back after the brown paint dried.

Music Fun Sensory Tub

 

Our music sensory tub is set up and the house is anything but quiet!! It contains a bunch of different homemade instruments, including a popsicle stick harmonica, a straw flute, and a few egg shakers. There are some wooden instruments that I found in Target's Dollar Section, an inflatable microphone, a recorder and a tambourine.  I used beans for a filler. This tote is a fun and noisy one! LOL

A Rainy Day Band with Homemade Musical Instruments!!

We gathered all of our homemade musical instruments today and had a rainy day band! Our band was loud to say the least and was made up by a variety of musical instruments.

We had a popsicle stick harmonica, bells on a ring, straw flute, and egg shakers. We also had a set of wooden cymbals, some shakers, a drum, a den-den daiko drum (like the one from the Karate Kid) and a giaro (a Spanish instrument). All of these instruments are sure to end up in our Music Sensory Tub that we will be setting up in the next day or two.

30 Second Homemade Egg Shakers!

 

I made these egg shakers for our Rainy Day Band and to add to our Music Sensory Tub. All I did was take some leftover plastic Easter eggs (I love the animal print designs on these), put some beans in them, and glue them shut with glue gun. If you put different mediums and amounts of mediums, they all will sound a little bit different.

Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus Peg Family

 

 

We are working on creating a New Testament Sensory tub. Peg Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus are the newest addition to our tote. I plan on making the Three Wise Men, the Shepard, and possibly an angel as well. I will be sure to post the completed project.

Colored Rice for Fun Sensory Play!

My kids love to play with colored rice, especially on a rainy day like today. It makes for the perfect indoor "sandbox!" It is a great filler for Sensory Tub too!

The best part is, it is super easy to make!

All you need is food coloring or acrylic paint and rubbing alcohol. Put your rice in a gallon size Ziploc bag and add equal parts of paint or food coloring. Close the bag and mix it all up. Add more paint/food coloring and alcohol until you achieve the color desired. Dump the rice onto a baking sheet and let it air dry.

 

My son loves to play with it in his sensory tubs, but his favorite way to play with it is in a container with his men! He loves to pretend that the rice is quick sand and bury his men in it!