Pink Sensory Bin

Materials needed: rice, food coloring, pom-poms, heart shaped beads, glitter, pink necklace, wiggle worm, craft sequins.

A little back story to explain why I made this particular bin- I bought one of these magical wiggle worms from the dollar store. It's the kind with the invisible string allowing you to make it do tricks. My kids fell in love, and I am not exaggerating. They made an entire back story for my blue worm (who they named Mike) and love to build him houses. They also decided he doesn't like it when kids are loud so they make sure to be quiet when he is out. Since Valentines Day is coming up, I thought that Mike needed love too. This is Mike's girlfriend, not yet named and her house. I'm interested to see what they will come up with. :)

Ocean Themed Sensory Bin

Materials used: water, food coloring, plastic coins, growing starfish, aqua beads, rocks, small bottle, netting.

I found all of the necessary materials at the dollar store. My favorite part of this bin would definitely have to be the water beads. I am not sure what they are actually called. (Some stores call them hydrating beads, but it depends on the store.) They are usually used to fill decorative vases. They are really fun to hold because they slip out of your hand and bounce. 

Cootie Art (Straw Blowing Paint Activity)

Materials needed: Paint (3-4 different colors), straws, cups, spoons, paper (the thicker the better), googly eyes, glue. 

The first thing you need to do is water down your paint. The white/purple/green cups show how much paint I started with. The orange/yellow/red cups shows how much water I added. Make sure you stir the mixture a lot. If the paint is too thick, this will not work at all. You want the paint to be really watery and smooth.

Bubble Blowing Art

Materials Needed: Bubble mixture, Bubble wand, Food coloring, Cups, Paper (Card-stock or thicker paper preferred) 

Instructions:

I did this two different ways. The first time I did this I turned a table on the side and taped a piece of paper to it. I figured if they were blowing bubbles onto the paper this would be the most natural way. However, most of the younger ones had a lot of trouble getting it to reach the paper. However, the kids still had fun and were excited to be able to blow bubbles inside. 

Homemade Lava Lamps (Video)

Materials needed: Bottle or Jar, Vegetable Oil, Water, Food Coloring, Alka-Seltzer Tablets

Instructions: 

Fill 1/4 of the bottle with water.

Add any color food coloring. We did red to look like lava and then made a blue one. 
Fill the rest of the bottle with Vegetable Oil. 
Allow it to settle for about five minutes. 
The water and oil should be completely separated with the oil on top. The bottles should look something like this. For the red bottle I ran out of Vegetable Oil, you can fill them almost to the top.

Fun Activities for Freezing Weather (VIDEOS)

1. Make Your Own Cloud

Materials needed: Boiling water, cup, temperature under 32 degrees.

We did this when it was 18 degrees outside. Ours ended up looking like a rain cloud.  The kids thought this was really cool. As soon as the water leaves the cup it turns to it's gas form before it hits the ground creating an almost instant cloud. Ours even rained a little after. However, if you do this in temperatures under what we had you will just get the cloud.

Video

Slime Creatures!

Materials needed: Water, two 4oz bottles of glue, 1 tsp of borax, food coloring, bowl.

Instructions: In a medium sized bowl, pour out two bottles of glue. Fill up those two bottles with warm water and pour those in. Add some food coloring and mix well. I used the gel kind of food coloring, but any kind will work. Mix well. 

In a separate cup pour 1/2 cup of water and 1tsp of borax. Mix until the borax dissolves. Pour into slime bowl. Mix with a spoon or tongs until it starts to clump.

Vinegar and Baking Soda Art (Mini Volcanoes)

Materials: 

• Baking soda
• Vinegar
• Food coloring
• Plates
• Cups
• Eye dropper. 

Instructions: Fill up cups half way with vinegar and add a few drops of food coloring. Have your kiddo fill a paper plate with baking soda. I decided to use Styrofoam because it was a little sturdier than a plain paper plate.  

Next, using an eyedropper have your child put drops onto the baking soda. They will enjoy watching and listening to the reaction. 

Pasta Play (Sensory Table)

Alright..kids will either really love this activity or hate it! My classroom was about half and half. I took a bunch of different types of pasta and cooked them. I left some uncooked, for a different texture. I gave the kids some forks to twirl the pasta with, along with some different sized cups. Most of the kids ended up making an ice cream stand that sold different types of ice cream. For easy clean up- tape a trash bag to the table. Simply wrap it up and throw it away after.

How to Make Your Own Memory Game

Recycle your old bottle caps!

Make your own memory game using recycled bottle caps  Kids can put whatever objects inside to match and decorate the tops however they want.

Materials: 

• Bottle caps
• Paint
• Glue
• Small items for matching

Snowflake Tutorial

I was surprised at how many people did not know how to make snowflakes! Most of the ones I've seen around just look like squares. Here's how to do them!

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse Activity

Make your own plastic purple purse! 

Materials needed: 

• Small plastic sandwich bag. (Not the sealed kind, you need the flap kind)
•  Construction Paper
• Tape
• Markers
• Glue
• Scissors

Instructions: Read Kevin Henkes' Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse to your child. Then have the child trace around a sandwich bag on the purple construction paper. Cut out slightly smaller so that you can fit it into the bag, do twice. Measure the flap of the bag and cut out a purple piece that will fit, add a white button out of construction paper. Cut out a handle shape and tape to back. I added clear tape over the top of my handle to give it a little more weight. 

Drawing with Shaving Cream

Tried this out with the kids today. They loved it. I only had one big piece of foam, so I sliced it in half and had two kids at a time. Other kids were so interested I had to let them do it on other tables, without the foam paper. For kids who don't like to get their hands messy or kids who don't like the texture of shaving cream- this whole project can be done in a big Ziploc bag.

Sailboats in a Jar

So, I found this idea in a craft book for preschoolers. I was beyond excited to make this with them because I knew they'd like taking it home. However, when I did my test run I could not get the sailboat to stay upright at all. It kept tipping to one side regardless of what I did. 

I went home, tried a few different things and finally found something that worked. Instead of using a magnet and a straw, I used two magnets and two paper clips. Now, even after shaking the jar my boat continues to readjust and float perfectly back up. 

Glitter Shakers for Kids

Glitter Shakers
Saw this idea on Pinterest and had to try it out. I found mini salt and pepper shakers at Michaels for 25 cents each. I bought a bunch and filled them with different glitter colors. This works perfectly for young kids who usually end up dumping half the bottle out. It's perfect for tiny hands and teaches kids to use glitter in moderation.

Perler Beads Necklace

Materials needed: 

• Perler beads
• Perler bead templates
• Iron
• Wax paper

Directions: Have the kids put the beads in whatever pattern they like. Make sure all the beads connect some way. Cover with wax paper, iron until beads melt together. Immediately peel of of wax paper so that it doesn't stick to the back of the beads, let cool and put string through it for a necklace.

10 Spy Bottles Ideas

Tissue Box Pig

Materials: Tissue box, pink and white foam paper, pink construction paper, one toilet paper roll, Sharpie, glue.

Instructions: Trace around the outside of the kleenex box on pink foam paper. Cut out four squares and glue to sides of kleenex box. Cut a toilet paper roll into fourths and cover with pink construction paper. Glue these to the bottom of the box.

Fingerprint Art

Fingerprint Art

Materials: Paper, ink pad, permanent markers.

Instructions: Show the kids some examples to work from. Once they get the hang of it, they will create their own!

Salad Spinner Art

Materials: 

• Paint
• Paper squares
• Glitter
• Salad spinner.

Instructions: Lay a piece of paper in the salad spinner. (It helps to tape it down a bit!) Have the child spoon drops of different colored paint onto the paper however they choose. Close the spinner and have them spin it. If they do not have the strength to do it on their own, have them try first then help them out at the end. If you want the kids to be able to do this independently, water down the paint a bit. Sprinkle glitter over the painting and spin again.

Rock Monsters + Houses

Materials: Rocks, Paint, Googly Eyes, To-Go Boxes, Markers, Scissors.

Instructions: Have the kids paint the rocks and add pipe cleaners and googly eyes. (I used hot glue, but regular glue should be fine if you let the paint fully dry.) While they are doing that, cut out some windows and doors for them on a take home box from any Asian restaurant. While their paint is drying allow them to decorate their rock monster's house with paint, glitter, markers, anything! 

Calm Down Jars

Calm Down Jar

Materials: Jar, Glitter Glue, Water

Instructions:Pretty simple, just fill up a jar with warm/hot water. Add a good amount of glitter glue. I used almost a full small bottle for my jar. (pictured above). Close and shake for a few minutes. If you want the jar to take more than 10 minutes to settle, just add more glitter.

Other comments: If you are using this as a replacement for a time out, I would suggest using a cool shaped water bottle vs. a glass jar. That way if the child is really upset and drop/throw it, you don't have to worry about it breaking. Also depending on your kids, you may want to hot glue the lid on! If you do not want to buy glitter glue, you can use water, clear glue, and fine glitter. However, I had a really hard time getting the consistency correct. You have to shake it a lot harder at the start and for a longer period of time. Good luck :)