Sensory Tub Matching
Supplies Used
- Canister of oatmeal
- Small plastic (shoe box size) tub
- Different colored items, stickers, paper, etc.
- shovels, little cups, measuring spoons, etc.
Time to create/set up: Less than 10 minutes
Time used for playing: Possibly forever, Sam hasn't left the table yet!
Directions
1. Dump your sensory material in to a small plastic tub (a bowl, shoe box, etc would be fine too). I used (uncooked) oatmeal as my "sensory material" but there are limitless possibilities here (pasta, rice, cotton balls, ice cubes, marbles, sand, etc.)
2. Gather small objects of different colors. I raided the recycling bin, junk drawer, and toy box.
3. Label sheets of paper with the colors of the objects you are going to hide in the sensory tub. I used the same color marker as the word that I was writing since Sam (3) isn't quite reading yet.
4. Hide the items (or "tuck them in for bed" as Sam says).
5. Find the items at match them to their color. We talked about the color words while we did this and the letters in them, letter sounds, etc.
Variations:
Alphabet Matching with chipboard letters I have in my scrapbooking supplies.
Halloween Matching with some stickers Sam got from Aunt Meagan. I used two sheets of stickers. One sheet I stuck on paper in nice little rows. The other sheet I stuck on cardstock and cut up in to little squares to toss in to the oatmeal.
Endless matching game possibilities! (oh, and Sam is still playing in his little tub of oatmeal...)
We did this with rice last week and it is so entertaining! My oldest two played for hours. We even added food coloring :) I think I might use oatmeal next time so that my 18 month old can play too. He was eating the rice by the spoonful. At least with the oats it's easier to digest. We spread ours out on a big table cloth on the floor and it makes for super easy clean up and nothing thrown off the table onto the floor. (We tried the table too, but the floor seems to be less messy.) Great idea for the matching game too! Aimee
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