With just a muffin tin and some fine motor tools you can use household ingredients to work on counting and motor skills! Because we have been working on winter-themed projects, we used cotton balls and marshmallows as our counting materials. I like to use tweezers and large tongs for
Arctic Small World Play
Continuing our ice and snow exploration for January, we put together an arctic small world complete with a block of ice, water, ocean animals and ice skaters. A small world is simply a miniature play scape intended to evoke imaginative play. We used the freezing temperatures outside
Peppermint Rice Sensory Bin
Sensory bins are a great way to open conversation about holidays or special events, all while providing opportunities for learning through play. This peppermint rice sensory bin is one that we use around Christmas. It has a wonderful scent and color, and is perfect for the holidays. *This post contains
Sugar Cube Igloos
We are continuing our ‘winter’ activities and started discussing igloos today! Whenever I’m unsure of how to explain something like how ice can be insulating and create heat to a 3 year old I turn to children’s books…much easier! Curious George Builds an Igloo to the rescue. So once we
Christmas Sensory Bath with Homemade Bath Paint
Sensory play is not only important for kids, but it is also a fantastic way to keep them occupied, especially on cold days spent indoors! One of our favorite seasonal activities to do is a sensory bath. I love to keep foam sheets on hand (from the dollar store) to
Gluten-Free Spiced Holiday Playdough: Pretend Cookie Shop
I can’t believe I actually attempted another gluten-free playdough after our very wet pumpkin playdough experiment…but I did and actually succeeded! I wanted to set up a pretend gingerbread cookie making station for the kiddos today. We had some cold, wet weather and I was
‘T’ is for Turkey Thanksgiving Craft
This fun Thanksgiving turkey craft uses the letter ‘T’ to combine some early reading and letter identification with arts and crafts. This super simple ‘T’ is for Turkey craft is so much fun for holiday preparation! We were inspired by this turkey craft and added our spin on it with handprints. My
Gluten Free Edible Pumpkin Sensory Play
This project was a bit of a failure considering what we had intended to create, but evolved into some great pumpkin sensory play instead! My daughter has recently been placed on a gluten free diet so our whole house has been cleaned out of all things gluten. I hadn’t even considered
Back to School Sensory Bin with Colored Pasta
This school sensory bin uses colored pasta as a base and a wooden bus, school and people toys for kids to play with. A great way to prep for back to school. When my kids started preschool, our favorite way to prepare for the day was through play. We
Learning with Sidewalk Chalk and Paint
Learning letter and sight words is something that often occurs through play. When introducing these topics, have kids use their entire bodies and gross motor skills to explore the letters, this helps really wire those connections in the brain. Check out how we are learning with sidewalk chalk! Learning