I’ve been looking for some fun sensory activities to do
with Myka now that she’s older. However, she’s still pretty weird about foreign
textures, but she IS getting better about exploring new substances. I’d say
she’s made a vast improvement between the epic fail flour+water sensory
activity and the water beads we played with the other day!
Admittedly, it still took her like 5-10 minutes to
actually touch them more after she initially stuck her hand in and pulled it
back out right away. Lol That’s ok. I didn’t want to make her touch it after
making that mistake last time. Needless to say, there were no tears this time.
Haha!
You know what they say: Kids learn by example. John and I
messed with the water beads while she watched and decided to finally play with
them. We had 2 containers and she enjoyed dumping them all over the floor the
most. Lol I was also, and am continually, amazed at how good her fine motor
control is for her age. (It has been for quite awhile, actually.) Myka had very
little problems picking those water beads up. Those things slicker than snail
snot too! Even John and I were having a hard time grabbing them! Lol
This is a great activity to
help children develop:
-fine motor control
-hand-eye coordination
-problem solving (place
beads under container)
-plus they’re just fun to
play with!
Notes:
-Try to find un-dyed beads
OR rinse dye off of beads before play. If not you will end up with a dyed mess!
-Supervise children at all
times! If your child is still putting things in his/her mouth all the time, you
might skip this activity for now.
-Let beads soak overnight in
a bowl of water. It does take some time for them to soak it up. (With that
being said, make sure you get a large enough container to allow expanding!)
-Make sure fingernails are trimmed! It’s very easy to
accidentally puncture them with fingernails. Squeezing, however, takes a lot
more force before they break!
That looks like such a fun and easy idea! I bet you can add other things in (like other smallish toys) .
ReplyDeleteI've never thought about using water balls as a motor skills enhancer! What a neat idea! I'll have to tell my aunt about this one :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I never thought to try water beads! I'll have to go find some. Even though our kids are older, they all have fine motor challenges due to their special needs, so I'm always looking for activities like this to help!
ReplyDeleteWe got ours at Michael's craft store. They do sell ones that are already expanded, but these ones were cheaper and it might be fun for older kids to see how much they expand over time. :)
DeleteWhat a fun little activity fora kiddo! I have will to look for some water beads next time I am out.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic idea! I have seen these at different stores for decorating things, but never thought of the sensory projects we could do! Love it!
ReplyDelete