hide-n-(sensory)-seeking

Last year Zak got some water beads in one of his science kits. And he played with them several times. Eventually, they got lost, swept up, left outside, etc. At the store the other day, I happened to notice several boxes of them on a shelf in the toy area. We bought two boxes, each containing three different colors, and totaling 1000 beads. The color sets we chose were: Pink, purple, clear and Red, yellow, green On Wednesday evening,  while Daddy and the big kids went to the fair, Kit and I soaked some water beads. She wanted "Pink!" Each color comes sealed in a small plastic bag of 150 beads. In the box there were three packets of purple, two of clear, and two pinks. We let the water run in the sink until it got warm, because I was guessing they might grow faster in warm water and patience is not Kit's most shining attribute. I filled a plastic container with about an inch of warm water. Snipped of the top of the bag with s...

We haven't had a sensory bin for a couple of months now. Mostly because I just didn't have the energy to supervise or sweep up beans eighty times a day. But, it was noticeable that Kit missed it. I hadn't realized how many times a day/week/month that she actually occupied herself with it, quite happily, for good chunks of time. Without the bin, those chunks of time were harder to fill than sweeping up beans eighty times a day. It is a very soothing activity for her as well. Today she leaned in over the bin and massaged the beans up and down her belly. She so wanted to be swimming in dry beans! Despite my low tolerance for sweeping over the summer, I did keep the bin in mind, and anytime I was at the dollar store, or Target, or Wal-Mart, I always rummaged through the sale racks for items that can be used in our bins. And I found many wonderful treasures, which I store in a special box to pull out and add to the bin as needed. Kit has been especially passionate about color...

  This weeks theme:   SEA SHORE SORT        Supplies:   sea shells   decorative glass beads   craft fuzzy balls   craft feathers   foam sticker fish   small plastic containers for scooping, sorting, dumping, etc.   feel free to add anything that you might find on a beach, this was just what we had already, so the whole thing cost $0!   Tip: If your kiddos need a new twist on it, this one can easily be changed up by adding water, just like at the beach!   And bonus, no sunscreen needed!!