Over the weekend I set up an invitation to play that involved magnets. I had wanted a set of wands and chips for a long time and now we stock them in the shop I've managed to get my hands on a set for us and they're brilliant! 

We have been having a blast in the garden using ice as a canvas to paint on! We have been trialling different ways to add colour to the blocks of ice - paint sticks and watercolours!

I'm not sure if I'm with the majority here or the minority but I just don't rate pom poms for crafts as much as I rate them for Sensory Play! Their texture is light and fluffy and when submerged in water they feel even better! They absorb the water and are great for little hands to squeeze and watch the liquid pour out from the Pom Pom. It gets their little hands really working and is a great way to explore cause and effect.

I am sharing on our stories on Instagram lots of simply play ideas so make sure you're following us over there too.

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. 

There have been a few birthdays lately between friends and family. The boys have been watching us celebrate. They have spoken A LOT about the cakes and they've started to mutter along to the Happy Birthday song which is beyond adorable. I have noticed as they play they keep using objects to pretend they're cakes. They will pretend to put candles on the cake and proudly present it to who ever is about wishing them a happy birthday and asking them to blow the candles out.

They showed me during the Duck Small World that they had an interest in making cakes so today - that's exactly what we did.

Recently we were kindly sent a box of goodies from Zimpli Kids. It was this box and the boys current interests that inspired this activity - Sensory Cake Making. 

Considering how much my children have loved dinosaurs - this is the first time I have created a small world in a tuff tray with this theme. As I was putting it together - I couldn't quite believe I'd not done one before. This was inspired by a new product that was gifted to us by Zimpli Kids. I shall reveal all about the product used at the end of this post. 

With the boys taking a real interest in numbers and loving Nursery Rhymes - today we've gone for a bit of sensory play combining both. Now the warmer weather is here we are loving lots of messy/sensory play out in the garden. 

I want to share with you a wonderful, quick and easy set up today that doesn't cost a penny. You can use materials you already have at home!

With young children around, convenience is often essential to keeping the day as stress free as possible. This activity took me just 2 minutes to gather the materials, the set up was done by two 2  year olds along with the clean up!

Oh and the bonus? It kept two very busy boys with usually fleeting attention busy and engaged for over 40 minutes!

I know lots of you follow us on Instagram and watch our stories. If you got round to watching them recently you will know that the boys have started to spot ladybirds/ladybugs whilst out and about exploring the great outdoors. I wanted to build on this once we were back at home so I set a little sensory play up for them. 

I follow lots of inspirational people on Instagram. I was inspired by a wonderful set up by - Makes Sense Toys . It was the perfect time to give it a go and as always was well received by the children.

We have had so much fun using water beads. They really do provide a mesmerising sensory experience for the children. They are super smooth balls that have been soaked in water and have absorbed it. Running your hands through the cool beads as they bobble and bounce is quite captivating and I can assure you, as adults it will be hard for you to resist temptation of getting stuck in too!

My favourite thing about I do is the inspirational people I meet along the way. I recently came across the fabulous work by sisters Kerri and Amy who are childminders, rated Outstanding by Ofsted in Kent. The way they present activities for the children is pretty special and I am over the moon that they will be joining us on Learning and Exploring Through Play.

Today I am sharing an outdoor mark making activity using Nature and recycled materials.

Following on from all the lovely heart themed activities we have been enjoying as of late, today I am sharing another one we had fun with today.

Pom Pom Heart Sensory Play

Water Bead Heart Sensory Play

Now the boys are getting a little older they seem to be really gravitating towards sensory play. They have such fleeting attentions usually but activities like this are really keeping them engaged.

After a recently activity that proved to be very successful at holding the boys attention:

Frozen Water Bead Hearts

I wanted to create more opportunities for Sensory Play throughout the day. This was an activity I could prepare in just a few minutes one evening. It wasn't something that was in the way and provided a back up activity that I could whip out to do if a moment of calm and focus was needed. 

I used resources that we already had in the house so it didn't cost me anything either. I shall add some links at the bottom of the post providing some of the resources I used. If I've not been able to source the exact same, I have added the closest thing to it. 

You may remember a very popular post I did in the Summer last year - Frozen Water Beads. The twins lived in the garden over the Summer and I tried to bring a variety of different experiences for them out there. Water Beads are something I love using outdoors but today I was brave and set up Sensory Play using them inside!