Young children are concrete learners.
This means that they learn through hands-on experiences.
They learn through active engagement of their senses.
At Child Central Station- we LOVE to make a mess and learn at the same time!
Here are some of our favorite sensory activities, follow the links to the recipes and/or enjoy the free download of my workshop handout!
Sensory salts are a simple and easy recipe that leave your room smelling delightful! Just a few drops of coloring and essential oil or extract added to epsom salt and voila!
Homemade paints are also another great sensory experience. The shiny paints are made with corn syrup and food coloring. You can also find our recipes for scratch and sniff watercolors and homemade finger paints on the blog.
Slime is one of our favorite things to play with! We decided to have a slime off to determine our favorite type of slime..... I don't think we came to a conclusion, but we did discover many similarities and differences in the various recipes.
These three slime recipes require you to cook them on the stove:
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| Colored Gems aka Sensory Salts |
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| Shiny Paints |
Slime is one of our favorite things to play with! We decided to have a slime off to determine our favorite type of slime..... I don't think we came to a conclusion, but we did discover many similarities and differences in the various recipes.
These three slime recipes require you to cook them on the stove:
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| Flubber/Slime made with fiber and water |
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| Super Sweet Stovetop Slime |
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| Kool-Aid Slime |
There are another couple of slime recipes we tested that did not require heat in order to make them:
If you add styrofoam beads and adjust the above recipe just a bit- you can create your own fabulous homemade floam!
We are always making all kinds of different recipes and contraptions to use in and out of our sensory table. You can find over a hundred different ideas in my workshop handouts here!
What is your favorite sensory activity (In or out of the table?) I'd love to hear about it! Please feel free to share your links in the comments! I'll be sure to share them on Pinterest and Facebook!
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| Gloop/Slime/Silly Putty/Slime made with laundry starch and glue |
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| Gak/Slime made with Borax and Glue |
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| Homemade Floam! |
We are always making all kinds of different recipes and contraptions to use in and out of our sensory table. You can find over a hundred different ideas in my workshop handouts here!
What is your favorite sensory activity (In or out of the table?) I'd love to hear about it! Please feel free to share your links in the comments! I'll be sure to share them on Pinterest and Facebook!
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| More About Amy |
Amy Ahola is the owner/operator of Child Central Station, group home daycare in Marquette, Michigan. She has been running her own business since 2005. Prior to that time, Amy worked in a childcare center and public school. In addition to her childcare business, Amy also provides educational training sessions. Amy earned a Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Northern Michigan University and a M.S. in Training, Development, and Performance Improvement. For more information about any of her programs, please visit Child Central Station, AmyAhola.com or Find her on Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, Twitter, or Tumblr!
SOOOO Love this post Amy!! You are so right this is how the brain learns best!! I will be sharing this all over for young children to get,
ReplyDelete"Sense-ational" experiences!
Thanks Deborah! We are always making a mess- we are actively engaged in learning and the children LOVE it!
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