Sensory play activities provide babies, toddlers and preschoolers fun learning opportunities for self-directed and guided play. These activities encourage a variety of different skills to develop. Through the manipulation of different  materials ie. pouring, molding, lifting, carrying and sorting children will improve their fine and gross motor skills. Sensory play does not come with instructions, it’s just fun, open-ended activities that children can enjoy, just remember that these activities do need to be age appropriate. Through the years I have stored up endless ideas and I can’t wait to introduce them all to Kaili. That being said, Kaili has been interested in different textures lately, sand being one of her favorites. Unfortunately “taste” is also a favorite sense for babies and toddlers so I wanted something she could play with that didn’t make me cringe when it went in her mouth. That is when I decided to use cornmeal, sort of the same texture as sand but harmless if ingested.

I bought a big bag of cornmeal from the bulk bins at Sprouts. I poured some into a container and added different “tools’ for her to manipulate. Measuring cups, a strainer, pouring cups, ping-pong balls and 2 toy fish. I am not as brave as some mothers so we took this activity outside.

I think the next sensory activity we will try will have something to do with cold, cooked and colored noodles. Fun!