1. Truck Wash Station
Materials: Water and liquid soap mixed, toy trucks, cocoa powder mixed with flour and oil. Small
brushes/sponges and hand towel.
Procedure:
- Add the flour and cocoa powder mix in one tub.
- Place the trucks in the flour mix.
- Add soap water to another tub.
- Demonstrate how to pick up a truck and scrub it with a sponge.
- Rinse off in the soapy water.
- Dry it with a hand towel.
- Allow child to explore freely. It’s okay if the child explores the given material differently.
Benefits: fine motor skills, emotion regulation, focus, concept of cleaning etc.
2. Family Photos Hide and Seek
Materials: Mixed Lentils, photographs of family members, brushes, scoops, spoons, bowls, funnel,
bottle, small tray.
Procedure:
- Pour out mixed lentils in a tub.
- Hide photographs under the lentils.
- Place tools (scoops, spoons tray etc) in another tub.
- Presentation to the child – brush off some of the lentils, find a photograph and exclaim – “I found dada,
let’s see who we can find next.”
- Encourage the child to scoop, transfer, pour and even scatter the lentils.
Benefits: Naming members of family, early STEM concepts, fine motor skills, extended attention span
etc.
3. Nature Soup
Materials: Sticks, flowers, leaves, seeds, mud, sand, water, spoons, bowls, ladle etc.
Procedure:
- Go nature scavenging with your child and collect the materials.
- Pour water in a tub and place all other materials separated in individual bowls.
- Allow child to add all the material in the water and mix.
- Use words like add, mix, stir, sprinkle etc. For example: “Mumma is going to give the soup a good stir.
Would you like to try?”
- Let the child pour the mix in bowls.
Benefits: Vocabulary building, understands components of nature, hand-eye coordination etc
4. Frozen Paints
Materials: Toxin-free paints, water, ice tray and Popsicle sticks or mini silicone Popsicle moulds, white
chart paper.
Procedure:
- Pour paints in mould and freeze them overnight
- cut chart paper and place inside a tub
- Present frozen paint to child and let them to paint on paper
- Allow them to touch the ice or paint their hands
Benefits: Stimulates the senses, boosts imaginative play, manipulation of material, early S.T.E.M concepts.
5. Play Dough Fun
Materials: All purpose flour, salt, coconut oil, food colouring, stamps, moulds, sticks, hammer etc.
Procedure:
- Make the dough by mixing and kneading the flour, salt, coconut oil and food colouring.
- Rest the dough
- Present the dough to the child in a tub
- Encourage the child to squeeze, press, hammer and poke the playdough.
Benefits: Sensory Stimulation, finger muscle strengthening, etc.
6. Animal Rescue
Materials: Masking Tape, Animal Figurines, tongs (optional)
Procedure: Scatter the animal figurines in one tub in the sensory table
-Add tape in a criss cross manner on top of the tub to look like a web.
- Demonstrate how to pick out an animal figurine from within the gaps without disturbing the tape.
- Allow children to try it themselves
Benefits: Concept of using gentle hands, fine motor skills, patience, extended focus.
7. Pom Pom Squeeze
Materials: Colourful large pom poms, lemon squeezer, water, bowls (optional)
Procedure:
- Fill a tub with water and toss in the pom poms
- Once the pom poms are soaked, demonstrate how to place the pom pom in the squeezer and squeeze
the water out of it by pressing the handles of the lemon squeezer.
- Allow child to try it himself.
Benefits: Strengthening of fingers and hand, fine motor skills, early S.T.E.M concepts.
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8. Pasta Stringing/Colour Sorting
Materials: Rainbow Penne Pasta, uncooked spaghetti pasta, play dough,
Procedure:
- Make balls of play dough and rest them in one tub or the table top.
- Poke the spaghetti into it so it stays upright.
- Allow child to string the pasta into the spaghetti
- You can gently suggest that the pasta can be sorted according to color too.
Benefits: Fine motor skills, concentration, identifying colors.
9. Dino Dig/ Fossil Find
Materials: Dinosaur figurines, earthen clay or plaster of Paris, sand, brushes and ear buds.
Procedure:
- Make clay balls and flatten them gently.
- Press the dinosaur figurines into the clay to get the dinosaur imprint.
- Let the clay dry out.
- Fill a tub with sand and hide the clay with the prints under it.
- Have children gently move the sand and pull out the ‘fossil’
- Make them brush the ‘fossil’ to see the impression of the dinosaur
- Both of you can try to match the dinosaur figurine to the print by carefully looking at the details.
- You can also paint the clay for extra fun.
Benefits: Introduction to basic concept of Dinosaurs, encourages pincer grasp.
10. Frog Pond
Materials: Plastic frogs, chia seeds, water, food colouring, leaves, sticks, scoops, bowls.
Procedure:
-Soak chia seeds in coloured water for a few hours
- Fill the tub with the soaked chia seeds.
- Add some leaves and sticks to look like Lily pads and logs and place the plasic frogs on them.
- Allow your child a free hand to explore the texture and enjoy.
Benefits: Gets comfortable with sticky and slimy texture, early S.T.E.M concepts.
