A Summer Sensory Tub
Firstly I would like to say thank you very much to Claire
for hosting my guest post!
I first discovered sensory tubs when I read about them on
the Counting Coconuts blog – Basically, sensory tubs are a large container filled with all sorts of
different sensory materials for children to touch, interact with and explore.
They often have a theme – perhaps seasonal or based around a particular colour
or texture.
Many people prepare them for very young children, although I
didn’t make one for my son until he was at least three and a half. Although
it’s great for younger children to have the sensory experience, and my younger
daughter definitely enjoys sensory play, now that my son is a little older he
takes a lot more enjoyment from the sensory tubs that I make for him. They
entertain him for a great deal longer than they would have done when he was a
toddler.
The first sensory tub that I made was a beach sensory tubs I have made a couple more since. Now that summer is finally here, I created
this summer sensory tub for my children to play with.
I always use dyed rice as a base for my tubs. It’s really
easy to make. Just buy some plain white rice (the cheapest that you can find is
fine), place a good amount in a bowl and mix in some food dye. You can add more
colouring depending on how deep you want the colour to be. I’ve found that some
colours work better than others – yellow and red always come out well for me. A
squirt of antibacterial hand gel will mean that the coloured rice dries quickly
enough to use straightaway, otherwise you will need to spread it out on a
baking tray or similar and leave it to dry.
For this summer sensory tub I made some bright yellow rice,
to represent a sandy beach, and found some shells to place on it. I had some
mixed coloured rice left over from previous play sessions so I used that for
the other half of the tub. I usually try to include some kind of role play
activity, and so inside I also placed some cones of paper and some pom poms so
that the children could make pretend ice creams.
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| Summer Sensory Tub |
When giving the children a sensory tub I always raid the
kitchen cupboards and drawers for things that can be used to scoop and pour the
rice. This time I put out an ice cube tray, a small metal bucket, some seashell
chocolate moulds and a couple of spoons. Then I used an old tablecloth on the
floor underneath the tub, to at least try and contain some of the inevitable
mess!
Both children spent a lot of time playing with this. My
daughter (22 months) enjoyed spooning the rice in and out of the different
containers, and pouring it over herself. My son (4) invented a series of
different role playing games. The rice started as sprinkles on the ice cream, became
chocolates and sweets, and then he moved on to using it to recreate a cement
mixer pouring concrete which he had seen in action earlier in the day!
If you are looking for some sensory tub inspiration I can
thoroughly recommend having a browse through Counting Coconuts and The Imagination Tree where you will find some fantastic ideas for sensory play. Have fun!
(Do make sure that you supervise young children when they
are playing with sensory tubs – they can contain things which are very tempting
for little ones to put in mouths or up noses!)
Jennifer is Mum to two
and lives in West Sussex. She blogs about parenting, craft and travel at
Jennifer’s Little World
