Sensory Play to the Rescue With Creative Jane Art Studio
Finding creative ways to keep our kids busy at home seems to be our new mission in life. Many of us are learning how to homeschool our children and our new ‘normal’ is not a welcome one. Forget the screens and the books for a minute and take a Big. Deep. Breath. It’s time to PLAY!
Experiences that stimulate our children’s senses are key to building cognitive skills that help them explore the world. Engaging their senses strengthens the brain and creates pathways for learning more complex tasks or ideas…like math and science!
Through art and sensory play children have the opportunity to identify and sort, touch and smell, and practice fine motor skills. Playing should be a priority!
Here is a fun art and sensory play idea that you can do at home with children of all ages. It engages all the senses! They’ll be so busy playing that you might even be able to get some work done.
Ice Excavation
You’ll need:
Small plastic animals, bouncy balls or other small toys
Medium sized plastic food container
Water
Glitter or food coloring
Salt
Containers to squirt, spray, etc.
Tools for digging
Fill the container with all the ingredients and freeze overnight. The next day, dump the ice block onto a tray or bin and give your child items to “excavate” the animals! Any safe kitchen tools will work. Also give them some salt and any containers you might have that they can use to slowly add water to the ice block. This will speed along the process of melting and help them “rescue” their toys.
Questions to ask:
What do you hear? (when they put the salt on the ice you can hear it crackling)
How does the ice feel? Hard? Soft? Cold? Hot?
What happens when the ice is melting? Solid to liquid.
If you used food coloring - have them squirt another color onto it- for a color mixing lesson!
Becky Vlaming
Owner, Creative Jane Art Studio
Becky owns and operates Creative Jane Art Studio, a children’s art studio in Winter Park, Florida. When there is not a pandemic- she hosts Toddler Art Play, Open Studio and Maker Classes every week. They are currently making and selling art and sensory kits to keep the creativity and play easy for families through this crazy time.
For more sensory play ideas you can follow her on Instagram @creativejaneorl and check out their kits at www.creativejaneart.com
Susan Robins, PT
Pediatric Physical Therapist
susan@collaborativecorner.org