James very kindly brought me some beautiful flowers recently. I have enjoyed them in my kitchen for almost 2 weeks. They started to turn but before throwing them away I wanted to set up a sensory play activity for the children for when they returned home from school.
I don't know about you but that time between home time and tea time can be quite fraught. The children have had a busy day at school, they come home to a nice calm environment but sometimes their tiredness/being overwhelmed can take over and before we know it everything is up in the air.
Where I can I try to set up little activities that are fun and calming where they can play alongside one another. It really does keep things calm and is a lovely way to adjust to being back home after 6 hours at school.
I grabbed a towel and lay it on the floor, to protect it from any spillages. As silly as it sounds the colour of the towel can really make a difference to how the activity stands out. The first one I put down made it look quite dull and uninviting. I changed it for a bright floral one and straight away it became a very inviting activity.
I used an under the bed storage box for this activity. I've used them quite a few times in sensory play. They're not too bulky as Tuff Trays can sometimes be. They're deeper so great for liquids and my 3 children fit really well around it.
I placed it down on the towel and began to pull some petals off the stems. If the roses didn't have thorns I would have left this for the children to do. I pulled some petals off to scatter into the tray. I filled some bowls up and then I also pulled some heads off the roses and lay them out for the children to discover and pull apart themselves.
The good old kitchen utensils came out along with bowls and a culinder. It reminded me of the lovely coloured water activity that we did outside using the same tray in the summer.
More Nature Related Posts:
Thank you for helping me grow - Canvas Keepsake
Cardboard Heart Nature Collecting Hunt
Bumble Bee Tuff Tray
More Nature Related Posts:
Thank you for helping me grow - Canvas Keepsake
Cardboard Heart Nature Collecting Hunt
Bumble Bee Tuff Tray
I used the kettle to transfer over some warm water and the activity was all set and good to go. I told the children about the activity that was awaiting them whilst walking home and they couldn't wait to get back and have a look.
Their excited squeals when they walked in - all for a bit of water and some petals
Their excited squeals when they walked in - all for a bit of water and some petals
It was a great set up for the senses - the way the water droplets rolled off the petals, the smell was divine, the petals silky smooth and brightly coloured.
My eldest pointed out the lines she could see in the petals too!
My eldest pointed out the lines she could see in the petals too!
Hands were submerged, spoons were busy stirring, the petals became ingredients for cakes and then food for a dragon. Their imagination is always full of wonderful ideas and activities like this really help you to appreciate the importance of play.
There was sharing of utensils and bowls, they were being helpful in each others play. They sorted the petals by colour and used the colours to represent different ingredients.
They really enjoyed pulling the petals apart from the petal heads that I had scattered around the invitation to play. It was rather satisfying feeling them pull away from one another.
They were counting the petals and loved filling and emptying the bowls. They thoroughly enjoyed this activity. The great thing about it? It didn't cost a single penny to do!
There was sharing of utensils and bowls, they were being helpful in each others play. They sorted the petals by colour and used the colours to represent different ingredients.
They really enjoyed pulling the petals apart from the petal heads that I had scattered around the invitation to play. It was rather satisfying feeling them pull away from one another.
They were counting the petals and loved filling and emptying the bowls. They thoroughly enjoyed this activity. The great thing about it? It didn't cost a single penny to do!
Lets see this activity in action:
I have a 7 year old and two 3 year olds and they played contently at this activity for around 50 minutes, when their tea was ready. I was instructed at this point to leave it out as they wanted to continue playing with it afterwards too, which was great!
The activity was such a success that I am hinting at James already that it would be great if we brought me another bunch of flowers so we could do it again, although I may have to wait until next Valentines Day before he does - haha.
The activity was such a success that I am hinting at James already that it would be great if we brought me another bunch of flowers so we could do it again, although I may have to wait until next Valentines Day before he does - haha.
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