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Looking for a fun Saturday activity!? Check out this 5 Senses Learning Experience. We used a variety of different food to practice all five senses.
Banana - Sweet
Lemon - Sour
Avocado - Soft
Dog treats - Stinky
Cherry Tomatoes - Dark
Cookie letters - Good
Squash - Hard
This taste-safe playdoh was so easy to make and it was so soft and fluffy! And better yet, you don’t even need to measure anything. Just mix frosting, confectioner sugar, and cornstarch. Continue adding sugar and corn starch until the frosting is no longer sticky. Add food coloring to create these awesome pastel colors. I recommend this pastel food coloring if you want soft colors like these!
Are you looking for a thrilling and educational Halloween activity for your little ghouls and goblins? Look no further than our Haunted House Halloween Sensory Play! This interactive sensory experience will not only captivate their imaginations but also stimulate their senses and boost their vocabulary. Read on to discover the spooky decor, engaging activities, and a list of 25 vocabulary words perfect for ages 3-6.
The Haunted House Halloween Sensory Play is all about creating an immersive experience for your child. Start by printing a haunted house template, complete with spooky details, and place it as the centerpiece of your play space. Hang a ghostly sign and a flag with eerie symbols to add an extra touch of spookiness. Don't forget to scatter cutouts of bats, spiders, eyeballs, candy corn, and witches hats throughout the area. These decorations will create an engaging and visually stimulating atmosphere for your little ones.
To heighten the sensory experience, prepare two sensory bins filled with black and orange dyed quinoa. The contrasting colors will create an exciting visual effect, making the play session even more captivating. The quinoa's texture enhances fine motor skills and encourages exploration. Hide the cutouts within the filler and provide pinchers for your child to dig them out. This activity promotes hand-eye coordination and the development of fine motor control.
In addition to the sensory bins, incorporate matching games using flashcards into the play session. Create flashcards featuring the same spooky cutouts found within the sensory bins. Encourage your child to search for the corresponding flashcard once they've uncovered a cutout. This engaging activity helps develop cognitive abilities like memory, attention to detail, and pattern recognition.
Sensory play offers numerous developmental benefits for young children. It stimulates their five senses - sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste - as they explore different textures, colors, and shapes. This type of play enhances cognitive skills, such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity. Moreover, sensory play engages children's fine motor skills, promoting their hand-eye coordination and dexterity.
As your child revels in the Haunted House Halloween Sensory Play, they will also build their vocabulary. Here is a list of 25 spooky words, perfect for ages 3-6, to enrich their language skills through this activity theme setup:
1. Ghost
2. Skeleton
3. Vampire
4. Witch
5. Bat
6. Spider
7. Mummy
8. Haunted
9. Candy
10. Pumpkin
11. Cackle
12. Cauldron
13. Broomstick
14. Trick-or-treat
15. Boo
16. Costume
17. Cobweb
18. Jack-o'-lantern
19. Potion
20. Moon
21. Monster
22. Fangs
23. Ghoulish
24. Eerie
25. Spooky
Introduce these words during play, associating them with the corresponding cutouts and flashcards. By incorporating vocabulary into this Halloween-themed sensory play, you can foster a love for learning and expand your child's language skills.
This Halloween, make learning spooktacularly fun with the Haunted House Halloween Sensory Play! Engage your child's senses, promote cognitive development, and expand their vocabulary with this thrilling activity. Get ready for a hauntingly good time!
Rainbow noodles are a staple of sensory play. We decided to mix it up from the regular spaghetti and do lots of different types of noodles. And because Sofie likes to mouth everything, I did cooked pasta this time! We paired this activity with our color cards and rainbow color placemat for a matching activity which was great because Sofie still mixes up some of her colors!
Today we did a fun and simple Pink Dinosaur setup using some goodies from some of our favorite shops:
Are you looking for an engaging and educational activity to captivate your toddler's imagination? Look no further than our pumpkin patch themed dramatic play kit! This immersive experience is not only fun for little ones but also offers a multitude of developmental benefits. In this blog post, we'll explore the advantages of dramatic play and delve into the delightful Flisat play table decor, showcasing a vibrant awning, banner, flag, rows of sunflowers, cut-out pumpkins, and a build-a-scarecrow activity. Additionally, we'll share three sensory play bins suitable for different age groups (0-1.5, 1.5-2.5, and 2.5+) and discuss our middle age group's favorite sensory bin filler - granola, which not only adds texture but also doubles as a tasty snack. Lastly, we'll unveil how my daughter adored this activity, pretending to scoop and sell granola at her very own pumpkin patch. Let's dive in!
Dramatic play, also known as pretend play or imaginative play, is a crucial aspect of a child's development. It allows toddlers to explore the world around them, express their thoughts and emotions, develop social and cognitive skills, and enhance their creativity. Engaging in imaginative play helps promote:
1. Language and Communication Skills: Through role-playing, children learn to use words to express their thoughts, communicate with others, and practice conversational skills.
2. Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking: When children engage in dramatic play, they encounter various scenarios that require problem-solving, decision-making, and critical thinking. They learn to adapt and make choices while developing their cognitive skills.
3. Social and Emotional Development: Dramatic play encourages children to interact with their peers, promoting cooperation, empathy, and understanding. It allows them to explore different roles, perspectives, and emotions, developing their sense of self.
Our pumpkin patch dramatic play kit features a stunning Flisat play table decor arrangement that will transport your toddler to a magical fall wonderland. With an awning, banner, flag, rows of sunflowers, cut-out pumpkins, and a build-a-scarecrow activity, this setup sets the stage for an immersive and authentic pumpkin patch experience. The vibrant colors and charming design elements will ignite your child's imagination and bring the pumpkin patch to life in your very own home.
1. Ages 0-1.5: For our youngest pumpkin patch enthusiasts, we recommend a sensory play bin filled with soft fabric squares of different textures. This tactile experience enhances sensory exploration, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination.
2. Ages 1.5-2.5: Toddlers in this age group will delight in a sensory play bin filled with colorful play dough, small plastic pumpkins, and natural materials like leaves and twigs. This sensory bin encourages imaginative play, sensory exploration, and fine motor skill development.
3. Ages 2.5+: For older toddlers, a sensory play bin filled with dried corn kernels, mini plastic shovels, artificial sunflowers, and small containers promotes sensory exploration, fine motor skills, and imaginative play.
In our pumpkin patch themed dramatic play kit, we've introduced a sensory bin filler that not only adds texture but is also a delicious snack - granola! This wholesome choice appeals to the senses, providing a unique tactile experience while allowing children to satisfy their hunger during the activity. As they scoop and sell granola at their pumpkin patch, toddlers develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, numerical awareness, and entrepreneurial spirit.
Watching my daughter engage with the pumpkin patch themed dramatic play kit was an absolute joy. She loved pretending to scoop and sell granola at her very own pumpkin patch, donning a smile that radiated her excitement. Her little hands skillfully picked pumpkins while sifting through the sensory delight of the granola-filled bin. It was a truly unforgettable experience that not only entertained her but also contributed to her development in numerous ways.
In conclusion, our pumpkin patch themed dramatic play kit offers a fantastic opportunity for toddlers to engage in imaginative play, fostering their language, cognitive, social, and emotional development. The vibrant Flisat play table decor, combined with the various sensory play bins suitable for different age groups, creates an immersive and educational experience. And the inclusion of granola as a sensory bin filler adds an element of taste and texture to the activity. So, why wait? Unleash your child's imagination and let them embark on a whimsical journey
Today we played pretend Pumpkin Patch and we had an absolute blast making up all of the things that we did at the real pumpkin patch this year. We used our Flisat table and filled the sensory tub full of granola and buried some pumpkins underneath to dig them out. We pretended to buy slices of pumpkin pie and eat them. And we of course built our own scarecrow and our own jack-o-lanterns with the printable kit.
If you’re like me, you’ve accumulated a lot of sensory play materials over the years and you struggle to keep up with storing and organizing all of it. Well, I finally got the time to get it all organized and here are some of my favorite tips and tricks to keep your playroom tidy while enjoying lots of fun (and sometimes messy) sensory play. In this room, I store over 200 sensory play activities along side a multitude of other toys and books.
Okay okay. I know Montessori moms love the open and accessible shelving units for kids to have play items accessible and visual. And of course they’re great for toy rotations. But I find they just aren’t practical. Not all of your child’s toys need to be out and available and if we’re talking aesthetics, not all of them are pretty toys. So have a mix of open and closed shelving so that toys are at the ready but also there are some drawers to tuck away items not in use. We love our Aspect Modular shelves from Crate and Barrel. You can make a custom configuration that suits your room.
The Skadis pegboard from IKEA has been a lifesaver for us. I can easily store and display small parts and accessories for sensory play. We have our resin letters from @busylittles, we have our emotions pieces from @thesensoryexperience, and our resin pieces from @busylittles all stored neatly in these little containers. Plus we have our wool balls from @wonderyearsshop and our memory games from @bannortoys. Everything is sorted yet accessible so that we can pull them out at a moments notice.
This is a great way to store the sensory fillers that you’re going to use pretty regularly. Wool balls, kinetic sand, grapat and mandala toys, buttons, washi tape, and more. We also use the mesh wire bins to hold our GoodnightFox flashcards — the sets that we pull out most are Letter Sounds, Letters, High Frequency Words, and Emotions.
Resin Letters & Gems by Busy Littles
Emotions pieces by The Sensory Experience
Wool balls by The Wonder Years Shop
Dinosaur Bones by Creating Adventures Co
Rainbow Wooden Crayons by Oak & Co
Rainbow Chickpeas by Curious Wren
Alphabet Clips, Nuts & Bolts Erasers, Letter Erasers from Target Dollar Spot
Grapat & Mandala pieces from Amazon
Silicon Silly String from Amazon
Acrylic Characters by GoodnightFox
Flashcards by GoodnightFox
Playsilks by Sarah’s Silks
Peg Occupations Dolls by TinyMountainMovers
Resin pieces from Little October House
Most of our storage is in our closet. We store by theme in our Sterilite 15qt bins and our 4qt bins. We put toys, printables, flashcards, materials / fillers in these bins by theme. And our favorite hack is using our GoodnightFox flashcards at the front of each bin so that we can remember what the theme of each bin is.
These work great for larger items and then for fillers and smaller materials, we use these free containers from the bulk foods section at WholeFoods. It’s so great because they’re free and come in two sizes so that we can easily store multiple colors of rice, chick peas, and other fillers. And they work great for keeping snacks and cereal from going stale!
Creating organized, themed storage solutions for small sensory play items is a game-changer in toy organization and playroom storage. I discovered an amazing hack using clear plastic photo storage boxes for this purpose. These 4x6 boxes are perfect for keeping tiny parts together and sorted by theme, allowing for quick and easy access to specific sensory play items.
What makes these storage boxes even more incredible is how 16 of them neatly fit into a portable case. This feature is a lifesaver for on-the-go activities, as you can easily keep them in your car for spontaneous play sessions. Whether it's a long road trip or a quick visit to a friend's house, having these boxes at hand ensures endless fun without worrying about missing pieces.
You can snag these on Amazon or wait for them to go on sale at Michaels!
I found these in the target dollar spot one day and absolutely couldn’t resist. I have so many legos and I wanted to organize them all by color and essentially turn them into decor for the room instead of loose parts to hide and shove somewhere. You can store these containers on a shelf or use command strips to fix them to the wall. You can even use them for other things like sensory fillers (I use them to store chickpeas) but you can also store fillers like sand, corn, peas, beans, foam and more!
If you have room on your walls and you’re looking for a creative storage solution, you can easily use command strips to stick these to your walls damage free while making it easy for kiddos to reach in and grab what they’re looking for. Since I have so many rainbow colored legos, it was a no brainer to use these as both decor and storage.
For even more great storage solutions follow some of my favorite accounts:
Follow Teaching by the Mountains for tips like this Maple & Lark zipper pouch organizer
Follow The Home Edit for great tips like arranging your books by rainbow color
Five tips for getting toddlers interested in Family Contributions.
Create a checklist. I honestly had no idea this was going to be such a game changer in our house. I always assumed that since Sofie can’t really read or write, she’d never take to a checklist, not least of all a list of “chores”. But after creating a physical list and attaching it to a clipboard with a pen, Sofia took to checking off items like they were going out of style. She got so much gratification out of checking them off that it was super simple to encourage her to do the next thing on the list. I designed this Routines Checklist one just for two year olds and you can find it in my Etsy shop!
For more great tips on how to create the best morning routine check out this Genius Mom Hacks article about Creating Effective Morning Routines.
take time for training. This may sound super obvious, but I will admit I totally missed this step. I never really took the time to explain to Sofie how to do the steps of each task let alone why we do them, what outcome we’re expecting, and how it benefits our family. So no wonder the weekends always felt like me following Sofie around Playing while trying to get as many chores done as I could. This too is all about breaking what we know down into super easy step by step instructions.
visualize the outcome. It’s hard for toddlers to know what you mean when you say things like “go clean your room” if they haven’t already grasped the concept of clean. To you their room looks like a giant mess but to them it just looks like all of their toys are out and ready to play. So practicing in advance with visual cues can really help. This was big for us when it came to bed time and morning routines as well. Once we started using the Routine Cards, Sofie had a visual reference for what we were asking her to do and it made it much easier to move through the flow.
make them toddler sized.
I learned pretty early on that if Sofia couldn’t be involved in what we were doing, tantrums would abound. This was especially true in the kitchen — we would be cooking at the countertop and she would climb on draw handles, hang on the counter ledges, whatever she could do to see what was going on any be in the action. So this tip is all about making things accessible to tiny humans who will do whatever they can to feel big.
Buy a kitchen helper stool: This was a game changer for us in the kitchen. Suddenly not only was Sofie able to see what we were doing but she could participate in it. She could help take the stickers off of fruit as we put away the groceries. She could pull grapes off the stems and put them in a bowl.
Cleaning toys: Sofie was naturally drawn to the vacuum early on and would always want to help but it was so hard and awkward to try and walk around with her clinging to it. But the moment she got her own child sized cleaning set for her birthday, she was able to do all of her own cleaning tasks. From dusting shelves to sweeping up little messes and pretending to mop the kitchen, having her own set that she can easily manipulate made it much more fun for her to get involved.
child-sized Sink: Knowing what I knew about Sofie, I had a feeling the Lovevery Playkit sink was going to be a hit. But I had no idea how much she would love it! It instantly become her favorite activity and she requests it all of the time. We used to have to distract Sofie after dinner with a dance party or coloring so that we could clean up the dishes and kitchen. But since getting her own sink, she stands right next to me washing her dishes while I was the rest. She looks forward to “doing the dishes” every night after dinner. So much so that throughout the day she’ll ask me if she can wash dishes and I’m usually the one that doesn’t want to!
Today I’m sharing my favorite of all of the rainbow sensory activities that I’ve put together for Sofie. These were so much fun to do and I’m sure your kiddo will love them too.
Rainbow Cloud Doh
Rainbow Pancakes
Rainbow S’mores
Rainbow Kinetic Sand
Have a shop that specializes in baby gifts? I'd love to feature your shop and products in one of my weekly roundups. Email me at goodnightfoxstudio@gmail.com.
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