Easter Sensory Tub & Playdough

I'm getting this out just in the nick of time!

Our niece, Tia, is here visiting and she and I had so much fun making our Easter sensory goodies.

PlaydoughWe made a big batch and then separated it into thirds to create a few colors for James to mix and match. There's blue with glitter, purple with glitter and a cinnamon scent, and lime green with a citrus scent. And of course there are lots of Easter themed cookie cutters.


Sensory Tub
Tia thought of some very clever and creative ways to incorporate the religious aspect of Easter into our tub.

::Pink and green rice
::A wooden egg cup filled with stones (to symbolize the boulder in front of Jesus' tomb)
::Bits and strips of palm leaves (in honor of Palm Sunday)
::Confetti doves and crosses
::A wooden spoon
::A little shovel
::Some puffs
::A knitted egg
::Some pretty red beads
::Plastic egg filled with more puffs

Tia also thought of putting a piece of linen in there for Jesus' shroud, some branches (instead of thorns) for his crown and some blunt end screws (instead of nails) to symbolize Jesus being nailed to the cross. We didn't have any linen and I vetoed the screws, but the branches were a great idea - I just forgot to add them.

March Sensory Tub & Playdough - St. Patrick's Day

Hooray for St. Patrick's Day! I have a special place in my heart for all things Irish after having spent some time in Ireland studying Irish literature several years ago. Such a beautiful country rich with history.

St. Patty's Day Sensory Tub

Included in the tub:

:: 3 bags of split peas
:: Bits of gold chenille sticks snipped into 1/2 inch pieces
:: Shiny rocks I've collected during my travels over the years
:: A small gold pill box from Ireland
:: Some plastic gold coins
:: A wee wooden bowl and scoop

James really, really likes this month's tub. Yes, a fair amount of the peas ended up all over the floor, but that's part of the fun (for him anyway!). He scooped and poured, he collected and sorted, he put everything down his shirt and giggled when it all fell out. :)

Green & Glittery Gold Playdough

This is much prettier in person what with all the gold flecks against the dark green. I put together a collection of rainbow colored cookie cutters for James to use and right away he made a batch of green "coins".
~Linking up to Kid Friendly Friday~

February Sensory Tub & Playdough - Valentines Day

First a quick word about Valentine's Day: Over the next couple of weeks you'll be seeing a lot of V-day activities over here on Counting Coconuts. But, I must admit, I'm not really a Valentine's kind of girl - the cards, the forced "I love you's"... it's all so contrived. Paul and I have never needed a holiday to show or tell how much we love one another. Little notes, flowers, hugs and kisses - there's so much you can (and should!) do all year round. However, I do quite like all the pink, red and CHOCOLATE that accompanies this holiday, so that's where my inspiration is coming from. :)

Valentine's Sensory Tub

I had several ideas in mind for this tub, but ultimately I decided on pink wool for the "base"; it has such a nice feel to it. I always try to find things that have varying textures and there's quite a range in this month's tub. Also, James really likes to "collect" things so I included several sets of objects for him to gather.

In the tub:

• Heart shaped beads, stickers, foam cut-outs, and erasers
• Feathers
• Plastic crystals
• A little box with heart shaped "gems" in it
• A BIG pink pom and several smaller ones
• A pipe cleaner shaped into... what else? A heart!

Chocolate Playdough

This cocoa scented playdough smells di-vine! I guarantee you James will at least try to take a nibble of this. Thank goodness it's homemade with safe products!

January Sensory Tub & Playdough - Snow

Happy New Year, everyone!!

Guess what I did on New Year's Eve? I organized our school supply cabinet! Oh no, don't feel sorry for me - anyone who knows me knows how much I seriously enjoy a good night of organizing! {And to be honest, I prefer quiet, relaxing evenings at home to wild parties and hangovers anyway. :)}

I was anxious to hit the ground running after a couple weeks sans Tot School, so tonight I made my monthly sensory tub and homemade playdough, too...

the sensory tub

I have SO much fun creating these tubs. They're like little works of art to me. :) I'm really pleased with how pretty this one is.

Here's what's inside:
Cotton balls (aka snow) - I've seen this on lots of blogs
Small red sparkly pom-poms (aka berries)
Cinnamon sticks
Pinecones (one big, one small - James is really into comparing things right now)
Walnuts
Twig ball
A few wooden peg people
Small snowflakes

the playdough

This is another unoriginal-all-over-the-blogosphere idea, but I first saw the idea on My Montessori Journey. I know from the picture it looks like a big ol' blob of off white dough, but look closely...

there's a bit of glitter in there, too. I also added some almond extract to enhance the sensory experience! :)

December Sensory Tub & Playdough - Christmas

I LOVE this time of year and am so excited to get going on all the fun holiday activities & crafts! I'm hoping to blog a bit more often to get in all I want to share. :)

First up... homemade playdoughI scented the dough with peppermint extract - yum!! James is going to be SO excited to see (and smell) his new red dough and Christmas cookie cutters.

Next... the Christmas sensory tub! I've been so anxious to make this since I planned it out months ago. :)
Truth be told, it didn't turn out exactly as I expected. I planned on making red and green rice, but I just couldn't get the colors I wanted and instead the rice looked more like something for Easter. So, I went with just plain white (think snow). :)

Here's what I put in the tub:
White rice
Colored jingle bells
Mini candy canes (pipe cleaners bent and curved)
Bowtie pasta dyed red
Buttons
Pom poms
Mini wrapping bows
Tiny (fake) tree lights
A wee little angel
2 "boxes" (Santa and Christmas tree) - James is going to LOVE these!
And finally a little present, which I wrapped. I put a jingle bell in it so it makes noise when James shakes it. :)

If any of you end up making a sensory tub, let me know - I'd love to see it!

PS: I added a new slideshow to my sidebar - it shows many of the trays I've made during our Tot School journey thus far. Check back often as I'm always adding more!

Homemade Playdough

I recently found a GREAT recipe for homemade playdough. It was so easy to make and turned out perfect. So long, store-bought-plastic-smelling Play-Doh, we've found something better!
I added orange food coloring and pumpkin spice to give it a holiday feel. I plan on making a new themed playdough ball each month. I don't know how long it'll all keep, but so far it's as fresh as when I first made it (a few days ago).

James played with this dough much longer than the store bought kind. I think it was the smell that kept him involved.

I gave him some Halloween cookie cutters to use - he did a great job making these.

*Update: keep playdough refrigerated. I made the mistake of storing it at room temperature and it got kind of mushy.