Spelling Sensory Sink

Our kids love sensory play activities! We used an indoor sensory sink as an invitation to explore letters and work on spelling. 

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UNO Movement Game for Kids

We play outside as much as we can but lately the weather hasn't been cooperating. What is a parent or teacher to do when stuck inside with active kids who need to move? We turned the classic card game of Uno into a indoor gross motor game! 

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Active Games for Kids: Fun Gross Motor Ideas from A to Z

We all need active play ideas for kids! Whether it's to burn energy during cold or rainy days or to work on gross motor skills for indoor recess, we have a collection of activities and games to get children moving.

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Cars Play for Letter Recognition

Yesterday I needed a quick activity for both kids after lunch, but before nap time.  E wanted to play with her daddy's vintage micro machine cars, so I dug out the masking tape to make some roads for her.

I put some tape pieces on D's hands and then his feet for him to explore.  This, of course, was only done under close supervision.  

Next, we added a parking lot.  It was great fine motor practice for E to line up the cars and park them.

Then, I remembered this post from Juggling With Kids using cars to learn sight words.  I adapted it to E's level by tailoring it to what she needs to work on currently: lower case letter recognition (especially the letters that don't look the same as their uppercase counterparts).

I would say, "Can you park a pink car on the letter h?"  We practiced the letter sounds by saying them while we drove the cars to their parking space, too.  The most realistic letter sounds for this were /r/, /g/, and /z/.  The /s/ sounded like he needed to put air in his tires!

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St. Patrick's Day Sensory Bin

We made a St. Patrick's Day sensory bin!  It was one of our most favorite sensory experiences yet!

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Cake Mix Sensory Bin

We loved this sensory bin idea from Growing A Jeweled Rose: A Cake Mix Sensory Bin!

We picked strawberry for Valentine's Day. My girl loved it because it's PINK!

We added heart sprinkles for extra fun.

D was sad because he can't play yet.

Our kitchen smelled delicious!

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Play Time 2.0

Play time looks different now.

On one side, E (with lipstick on) playing in her corn sensory bin.  Nannie gave us the extra corn after she made this bin for E's friend X.  There is nothing better for a tired, un-creative momma then practically getting a sensory bin handed to you!

I added some calico corn (sorry, but I don't like the term Indiana corn) that we could pull off of the cob, tweezers, spoons, containers to scoop and pour.  We talked about sounds.  Dropping the corn back into the bin sounds like popcorn popping or rain.

This was a great afternoon of fine motor practice.

Meanwhile, D was on my other side exploring his play mat.

Life is so much better now.

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Bathtub Learning

Lately, I've been taking some time when E is not in the bathroom to clean her artwork off the tub walls.  Then I add my own art for her to find!  I did animals for pretend tub play during our farm theme.  She colored them in and fed them for several days.

We use these crayons which we got during the holidays.  They've lasted all year and wash off well:

Last night after she went to bed, I washed the animals off.  I added uppercase letters, her first and last name, shapes, and numbers.

During her bath, I asked her to find and circle letters and numbers.

After we did a few of those, she started erasing them with a wet brush, saying, "Bye bye E!  Bye bye L!"

Numbers, too!

She also erased her name, spelling it as she did so.

She loved this activity!

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