I am always looking for things that my
toddler can do to entertain himself throughout the day. I am especially happy
when I find something that can occupy both my 4 year old and my 2 year old for
longer than 10 minutes. This week has been a bit rainy and I thought I would
head over to my bag of tricks and try to come up with an indoor rainy day activity for my boys.
We took
a trip to our dollar store and picked up some beads, glow in the dark toys, and
aloe for this little craft. Once home we got busy making our window sensory
bag. The boys had fun dumping everything in the bag and they had even more fun
with this activity once it was stationed at the window. We call this our No Fuss Window Must Sensory Bag, as it
was no fuss to make and no fuss to take down. There was essentially no clean up
and it provided hours of entertainment.
What you need:
Ziploc bag
Tape
Aloe {a clear soap would work just as well}
Sensory objects {flat toys, small beads,
glitter, buttons…}
Paper {optional – if you don’t want to look
at the Ziploc logo or through the window}
How to Make It:
Take the aloe and dump it into a large Ziploc
bag.
Take the sensory objects and place them in
the bag as well.
Close and seal the bag, making sure to get
rid of air pockets by compressing the bag as you close it.
{Optional} Tape a piece of paper to the logo
side of the bag.
Tape the bag onto the window. I taped all
four sides down to discourage my children from ripping it off the window.
Let the kids play!
This was a big hit, as the kids could play
with this whenever they wanted. They liked the fact that it was on the window
for the whole day for them to come and play with whenever they wanted. They
played with it together and they took turns… taking turns seemed to work out
better for everyone though.
Sensory bins/bags are a big hit in my home.
The kids like to dig in and use their hands to manipulate things. Placing the
bag on the window was something they really liked – as it meant they were not confined
to the kitchen table. They also happen to like looking outside. Some of the
objects in the bag glow in the dark – but not very brightly… or at least not
very brightly so far. They have not yet been exposed to a full on sunny day.
I really enjoyed this activity, but I think
that next time I will do multiple bags with various colors and just one object
per bag. That way both of the boys can easily play with the sensory bags at
once and there will be more material to work with.
Have you ever created a sensory bag?
