Gardening sensory play with fake flowers

We have had alot of fun doing the sensory bins since it has been cold and yucky outside. So today we did a fun garden sensory bin. I gathered some digging toys and placed in the sensory bin with some potting soil.

The kids had alot of fun. After they played alittle I filled the watering can up and let them water the flowers.

Materials:
Large container (we used our cement mixing bin from Home Depot.....$5.00)
Potting soil/dirt
Fake flowers (got ours at Dollar Tree)
Potting containers (Dollar Tree as well)
Garden tool(You can sometimes get these at Dollar Tree as well)

I know some people will not do this inside, I placed a big tarp under them and then just folder it up when done. You can also use an old tablecloth.

If you like sensory bin play be sure to check out some of our favorite ones below.

Make your own snow

Scented cloud dough play

Snowman sensory play

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5+ things you can do with salt for sensory play

Salt is so inexpensive you can get 26 oz for $.040 at the grocery store, so that makes for alot of cheap play and experimenting not spending alot of money.

Below are some of the fun experiments we have done and had fun using salt.

1. You can make pretty ice art pouring salt on the frozen ice and then adding food coloring turns out so pretty and there is alot of things you can do with food coloring.

2. You can make your own scented glitter ....this is fun for art projects.

3. Make your own colored sand using chalk.

4. Practice writing in salt great fine motor skill for kids.

5. Make your own scented sand just using kool-aid. You can also use Duncan Hines Frosting packets

6.  Make your own glowing sand now this is fun play, "J" LOVED this.

7.  Then make your own Scented puff paint.

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Fizzing and bubbling goop kids science

When playing around making our own scented goop  I came across this fun fizzing and bubbling science for the kids to try.

I mixed our goop up and then added a  kool-aid packet to it for a fun smell and it started fizzing and bubbling like a volcano.  It looked so cool and smelled so good.

We made rainbows, the kids explored color mixing, and made fireworks. They had alot of fun.

One of the best things about this science play is it is super inexpensive.

Materials:
Cornstarch.....you can get this at Wal-Mart for $1.00 12oz
Baking soda....Wal-Mart as well 16oz for $2.00
Kool-aid packets....$0.20 at Wal-Mart
Tray or pan for the goop
Little containers for the kool-aid (optional) I had the kids use a little spoon to scoop the kool-aid powder onto the goop. (You only need to sprinkle a little bit at a time, but doesn't always happen with the kids.) 


How I made the goop:
2 cups of baking soda
1 cup of cornstarch
1/2 cup water

After you make the goop then you sprinkle kool-aid powder on it and that is when you get the bubbling and fizzing science fun.


NOTE: You want to have more baking soda then cornstarch cause the bubbling and fizzing happens due to the baking soda and the citric acid in the kool-aid packets when combined.  I just noticed when adding more baking soda to the goop on the tray it seemed to bubble and fizz more.

You can tell by "J" face expressions that it was fun and cool.

"C" she was so into it. As she was doing the colors I would tell her the colors of each one and have her repeat it cause we are working on colors with her.

We love doing fun science experiments, so be sure to check out some of our favorites below.

Lava Lamp

Coke explosion

Make your own snow play

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Make your own scented goop

The kids love science play and mixing things together. If you like messy play you have to try this fun scented goop. "C" loves to get her hands all into the play, while "J" on the other hand doesn't like the mess on his hands unless it is cooking.

When you mix cornstarch and water together, you get a goopy substance that you can squeeze as a solid, but when you release your hand, it will slip off your hands like a liquid. However, if you let your hand settle on it, it would sink into the goop. 

If you have never tried this you have to it is a fun experiment.  It's something you just HAVE to feel. It's pretty awesome stuff for a kid, or an adult.

New way to make goop: 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup of cornstarch and 1 cup of water and a packet of kool-aid.

Above in the pictures you can see, your hand sinks into the goop, then when squeezing it is hard and then turns to a liquid when dripping off you hands. The feel you can't describe you have to try it.

Be sure to check back this week cause we have some really fun science with Fizzing Goop!! LOTS of fun!!

We love mixing fun scents into our play so be sure to check out some of the other fun things we have done here.

Fun play with scents added

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5 fun ways to add scents to your child's play

Kids love when you add fun smells to play their play, weather it is bath play, art play, pretend cooking, or just for fun.

Below I gathered and listed how we have had fun adding scents to our play. The list is endless and fun at the same time.

We love using kool-aid with play cause it is very inexpensive to use and you don't even have to use a whole packet with some play.

At Christmas we loved using peppermint extract but you can use all kinda of extract for great scents.

You can also use scented oils

And  spices for pretend play or even use it for fun art work.

This is a new one we have been having fun with since Fall time, Duncan Hines Frosting creations. There is alot of fun you can have with this powder packet. I love the variety you have with using these powder packets, there are over 15 scents.

We also made  kool-aid bath paints and the kids had a blast.

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Alphabet treasure sensory learning play

My kids love pirate play and we have lots of fun with sensory bins so I put together a fun and super easy alphabet learning bin.

This bin cost less than $5.00 to put together. I used the pirate toys we had around the house and then to make the dirt I just used a container of dry oatmeal and mixed in dry instant coffee to make it have that dirty look.

The coins, necklace,and  letters I got all at the Dollar Tree. You can even get the oatmeal and instant coffee there as well. 

"J" knows his letters but I still like to practice doing them so he doesn't lose track. The fun thing about this sensory bin is you can do numbers, letters, or even words. 

We love to sing and play music, so I like to come up with games that have songs when trying to get "J" to follow along. It helps him to get into the game and keep his mind off that he is learning.

Song we sang: (Tune is to Are you Sleeping?)

Digging for treasures

Digging for treasures

One by one

One by one

Found letter (blank)

found letter (blank)

Now lets have some fun 

Then after we got a letter I would ask what is something that starts with that letter or you can ask what sound does that letter make.

Then you start over again.

This is a fun game to play with kids in preschool or even in kindergarten.

Love "J" face he was so excited when he came downstairs this morning and saw this.

 "C" was really into the treasure box, they played for over an hour.

Materials used:
Large container of oatmeal($2.00 @ Wal-Mart)
Instant coffee($1.00 @ Dollar Tree)
Magnet letters($1.00 @ Dollar Tree)
Rest of the things were from around the house

Also the sensory bin we use is from Home Depot is a cement mixing container $5.00.

After the kids play with the coffee oatmeal mix can be placed in a baggie and reuse it. Can get multiple uses out of this for less than $5.00.

If you like to play games with songs be sure to check out some of the other fun ones we have done.

Fall number tree

Picking apples

Counting ghost

Also, make sure you check back next week cause I have a dinosaur and construction one coming.

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Make your own kid safe scented oil paint

I am always exploring new ways to come up with things for the little ones to explore sensory play, fall time I saw this new Duncan Hines Frosting creations in pumpkin flavor and so we used it to make our scented pumpkin pie craft and the kids loved it.

So I thought about using it to make a fun oil paint for the bath for the kids and it worked great and smelled so good. You can also use it on white paper for kids to make fun pictures.

Materials:

Cooking oil (we used vegetable oil)

Duncan Hines Frosting creation pack(can find at most grocery stores down the baking aisle) 

To make I mixed 2 teaspoons of cooking oil and couple sprinkles of scented Duncan Hines frosting mix.

"C" loved smelling the paint brush, she kept saying "yummy momma, yummy" I liked doing this cause it gives you a better variety than kool-aid  cause there are 15 different scents to use.


Today we used  Cotton Candy, White Chocolate Raspberry, Strawberry Shortcake and Orange Creme

If you like to make your own simple, inexpensive, scented paints check out our kool-aid paint.


If you like to add scent to you play with kids be sure to check out some of the other fun things we've done.

Cinnamon apple craft

Scented play dough

Scented glue art

Kool-aid fun

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Make your own "Fake" sensory snow

So the other day Play Create Explore had a post on how to make fun Ice cream dough. When I saw that I had to try it with the kids cause we love Ice cream play.

That was then when I was inspired to use hair conditioner and mix it with baking soda instead of cornstrach. WOW!!! This stuff felt just like real snow, cool, damp, soft and even molds.

I was so excited cause I have been wanting to have a fun snow play with them using their Penguin play toys.

This is a MUST try sensory play. The kids had a blast and there is so much more you can do with this fun "fake" snow.

I even had fun playing in it with them, it is so soft.

To make the snow you need baking soda and hair conditioner. I got both of them from Dollar Tree.

How to make "Fake snow":
Mix 3 cups of baking soda to 1/2 cup hair conditioner

I tried 2 different hair conditioners and both worked great, the only thing is I would use the white conditioner so the snow is white. The 1st batch I made smelled great I used strawberry conditioner, but it had a pink tint.

"J" and "C" had so much fun playing in this snow. Be sure to check back cause I have some other fun things that we will be doing as well.

This play is great cause they can use their imagination, great fine motor play with making snowballs and also a great way to teach about the animals.

***This is something that can be used over again, you can place in a sealed baggie or if it dries out you can just add more conditioner to it and make it snow again.***



We love doing fun sensory bin play be sure to check out some of the other fun ones we have done below:

Moon dough sensory

Dinosaur volcano sensory

Magic rainbow snow science

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Snowman sensory winter bath fun

The kids had so much fun with our building Frosty bath and "J" asked when we were going to do another fun Frosty bath.

So I pulled out the Frosty foam set I made and added some scented shaving cream to the bath to make snowmen. Then they added the foam stickers to the shaving cream pile and loved it.

I also added alittle blue food coloring to the bath.

They had so much fun playing with the shaving cream adding their foam bath stickers to it. You can also do this sensory play in a plastic storage container to if you don't want to do it in the bath.

We love mixing up fun and learning in the bath be sure to check out some of our other bath times below:

Magical Disney bath

Fall leaf counting

Alphabet puzzle bath

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Make your own moon dough NEW sensory play

We love to mix and explore around the house to make fun sensory play. My kids love cloud dough but it doesn't always stick together to mold very easy.

So the other night I was experimenting and mixed corn starch and hair gel together to see what it would do. Well it made some AWESOME moon dough(that is what I am going to call it)

It molded GREAT and was also soft. This is a must try sensory play for kids.

No joke "J" who is 4 y/o spend several hours playing and had so much fun.

"C" had alot of fun playing as well, big brother was just taking over.

Materials are very inexpensive:
Corn starch $1.00 for 16oz from grocery store
Clear Hair gel $1.00 for 12oz from Dollar Tree, I got unscented cause we like to add scents to our play.

There is alot of sensory fun play you can have with this DIY....MOON DOUGH.

 We added black beans in as rocks for the construction site sensory bin.

How to make:
Mix 32 oz of corn starch and 1 cup of hair gel together. We also added a little brown tempra paint in to give it that dirt look.

The bin we use for alot of our sensory play is from Home Depot it is a cement mixing tub cost is $5.00. Well worth the money and will get lots of use of it.



Be sure to check back next week cause we have another fun twist that we will be adding to this for some more sensory play.

Thanks for stopping by to see what fun stuff we are doing. If you like what you see please come and follow us over on FB and Pinterest, would love to have you. Also, please feel free to share the fun things you are doing with us.