Sensory Fun!

It has been so fun to watch my little girl grow, especially as of late seeing how much more coordinated and curious she is becoming. Back in college I got my associates in Professional Preschool Education and a Bachelors in Child Development. And as much as we covered things on younger children, my real hands on work ended up being the preschool age realm.

Now I know my little girl is still a ways from being that official preschool age of 3-5, but it has been fun to see how she is becoming more and more curious with playing with things and exploring them in realms that I learned in college.

So long story short, I thought it would be fun to put together a Sensory Table for my girl like we always had for the children in preschool. They were always a hit in my classes, because they loved feeling and exploring with their hands. Their senses at these young ages are so alert and ready to explore, so having things in a more contained environment (a table or bucket) can not only be fun for the kiddo, but for the adult, because then there isn't as much mess.

I saw these cute tables at Amazon, here and here, but as much as they looked great and fun, they also looked way out of my price range. So then I went to my next best option- the thrift store!

 I found this watermelon wooden basket thing for $2, and it has worked great, having the bigger, currently unused toys below, and it turned out to be the perfect dimensions to fit these little pink buckets neatly inside. When my little girl was born, she had her first bath in one of these little pink buckets in the hospital, and when you go home, they let you keep the bucket. Well I also saw lots of these at the store, I guess new local parents didn't feel a need to keep them. I probably didn't entirely "need" to get them all, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to get them just in case they brake, or to use for other variety of things. Long story short, the little buckets were only 50cents each!

 Then I found a little packet of summer "Sand toys" at the dollar store. She scooped those beans in and out of the small red bucket for close to an hour, and she loved every second of it!

Since I hate wasting food (even the dry stuff, we actually don't buy canned beans, we use the dry ones for our cooking, because they are lots cheaper and healthier!), I saved these beans in an empty #10 can, and we will only use them for her to play with. I plan on using these beans over and over, so that way they get a good use out of them, and they aren't entirely being wasted after one playing use. I think I will do the same with Rice and maybe even Flour (I know, a little risky, but I think she would LOVE playing with flour, and feeling the textures, and just having so fun!).

 Then since the watermelon basket was wood, I didn't want it to over do it's wear with water getting on it, so I found this random metal cage thing for $1, which works great for when she wants to do more water sensory fun. I think she had fun with the idea of playing with water and her bath toys without actually taking a bath (even though she loves baths, I think she liked the change!)

So total, with everything I bought for this fun little adventure in sensory explorations, I only spent $6, including the new toys. And she couldn't be more content loving this new set up!
Sure beats the $40 plus from the tables on Amazon especially since all these items are pretty compact-able and easy to stow away when they aren't in use, where the fancy official ones looked big and bulky, and I don't think I would know where to put it!

Now if you try this at home, I know you won't be able to find the exact set-up that I have, but stretch your mind a little, be a littel creative, and if you really want something for your kid, I know you could figure it out with random odds and ends either in your own stash of things, or putting things together at the thrift store. If you do, it will feel great saving the money, and letting your kid have a blast playing and exploring with their senses!

That's all for today!
Until next time!