The Kinder Korner
Each week we feature information to assist parents of pre-school children in areas of
school readiness.
Another child engaging (and warm indoor activity) idea we’d like to share with you is
Sensory Tubs. This idea has long been used in classrooms for little hands and the children
just love it. Sensory tubs allow children to explore and figure things out using their senses.
For example, some concepts children can explore are sinking, floating, volume, weight, and
texture.
How to make a Sensory Tub
Ideas for sensory tubs are endless. The basic idea is to fill tubs with sensory items for
children to explore and play in. Sand, rice, corn kernels, and beads are examples of dry
ingredients for sensory tubs. Shaving cream, Flubber, and Oobleck make fun gooey sensory
tubs. Cotton balls, packing peanuts and pom poms make great fluffy sensory tubs. Water
with a few drops of food coloring is always a favorite for a liquid sensory tub. Water with
bubble bath or dish soap is a delight as well.
A variation on the sensory tub is a Feely Box. (This box makes a great sensory activity. A
Feely Box is a small box with three openings: an opening on each end for a child to put
their hands inside and an opening on one side for a parent to view the child’s hands. (See
picture). Parents place an object inside the box (without child knowing what it is), then the
child places his hands inside the box and tries to guess what the object is based on what it
feels like. This is also a good opportunity for your child to practice their communication
skills to describe how the object feels.
How to use Sensory Tubs
Children can look for objects buried in their sensory tub substances. (I have buried
several things that begin with the letter s in a sand tub for example that my students have
to find and place in a box labeled with a letter s.)
Sensory tubs can also make great language experience activities as children can give
descriptive words for what they are feeling. For example, Flubber feels cold, gooey, sticky
and slimy, so playing with it makes for some great language expression and vocabulary
building.
A variety of water proof objects can be used for a lesson on things that float and things
that don’t! But children also like to explore results of what happens to things that are not
water proof when they land in water, (e.g. tissue paper, cotton balls, shaving cream).
Another fun idea with a water sensory tub is exploring volume, for example: When I pour
all the liquid from the full, small cup into the large cup it doesn’t get full. Why?)
Clean up
As you can imagine some ingredients can be messy. Being prepared is the best way to
proceed. Have towels or vinyl table cloths under tubs for play. Stock up on paper towels
and have a sink or extra tub ready for quick hand washing. Talk to your child before you
begin and let him know your behavioral expectations. Sensory items are not to be put in
mouths or ears, or thrown, etc. Be sure to stop the activity if children are not behaving as
expected. Let them know that they need to play correctly or the tubs get put away. This
will carry over into their classrooms. Also, whenever possible, have children help with the
clean-up. It is an important lesson in responsibility.
All sensory tubs give children an opportunity to explore the many textures in their
environment. Exploring textures helps build awareness, vocabulary and expression. We
hope you give several of the ideas a try! Good luck! Make it fun!
This week I’d like to include a recipe for Flubber. Watch for other fun sensory tub recipes
in future articles.
Flubber: Ingredients:
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1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cups Elmer’s glue
food coloring
1 1/3 cups hot water
3 teaspoons borax
Directions:
1. In one container mix 1 1/2 cups warm water, white glue and a few drops of food
coloring.
2. In a second container stir 1 1/3 cups of hot water and Borax until dissolved.
3. Stir the Borax water into the glue mixture until combined. (There may be some
liquid in bottom of container).
4. Place Flubber on a tray and let stand for a few minutes before playing with it!
5. Store in air tight container.
*I do not recommend touching powdered Borax with bare hands. I wear protective gloves when
mixing.
Preschooler Toby Stanton loves Flubber!