When coloring rice or noodles for the sensory table, use Liquid Watercolor
from Discount School Supply. It's relatively inexpensive, goes a long way, makes
BRIGHT colors and dries easily. Simply put the rice or noodles into a Ziploc
bag. Add desired amount of liquid water color, squish around in bag until color
is evenly distributed. Lay out to dry if necessary. This has worked much better
for coloring rice and noodles for me! Also works well for coloring play-doh!
Name:
Carrie
carriepierce59@hotmail.com
3-12-01
Fill your table with water and antibacterial soap. Add sponges,
dishes from housekeeping, and lots of towels. My students had lots of
fun practicing washing and drying dishes.
Name:
Susan
Email:
sglennon1@aol.com
2-20-01
Rainbow Rice - I purchase regular dry white rice in bulk. Divide it
up into Ziploc bags. Add a different color food coloring to each
baggie. Zip shut very tightly and knead the bag to distribute the color
throughout the rice. Add more coloring if needed. I use good quality
food coloring (like Wilton) in a variety of colors - you can go "pastel"
or "bright"! Then lay the rice out on a cookie tray or something like
that to let it dry. Put the Rainbow Rice in the water/sand table with a
variety of tools - buckets, spoons, small cars, etc. If you don't have a
sand table, just put the rice in a large flat storage box, place on a
big blanket for easy cleanup and let the kids have fun. My children love
this activity!
Name:
Kitty
Email:
CLayster@AOL
2-20-01
We have labeled our sensory table "The mystery table". We change out
materials on a regular basis. Some ideas include: rice; fall leaves and
soil with block play woodland animals (autumn); rice and black beans
(Halloween), corn feed with a large and a small rock for crushing corn
(Thanksgiving); oiled brown paper bag in water with basters
(Thanksgiving); wrapping paper, small boxes, ribbon and tape (Christmas/Hanukah); Large block of ice floating in water
("iceberg"-winter), shaving cream, soil with child sized gardening tools
or rubber snakes, insects, etc; ice with rock salt and jars of liquid
water color and eyedroppers. Possibilities are endless!
Name:
Suzanne
Email:
STarlton1@msn.com
1-15-01
We've tried several different items in our sensory table (which we
call the "discovery table"). One of the best is straws of all different
shapes and sizes. At first, the kids like to simply scoop and pour them.
Then we started hiding things in them. Then we started stringing them
together. Finally, we cut them using scissors (tied to the table's legs
so they wouldn't get buried). My kids have been known to use these
straws for nearly a month without ever becoming tired! Another great
item is bean-bag filler (the little Styrofoam balls you put inside
beanbag chairs). We've used this like snow, and recently threw in some
metal-lined transparent chips that come with magnetic kits. We then used
magnetic wands and poles to go "ice-fishing". The kids loved it--they
really had to be quiet and listen for the "fish" to "bite" (the chips
make a small noise when it is attracted to the magnet and the filler is
a quiet "white noise"). Usually you can find huge bags of the filler at Wal-Mart or Meijer for about $10--and you only need half a bag!
Name:
Linda
Email:
paul.miller@sjsd.k12.mo.us
12-27-00
At Christmas, put a small artificial Christmas tree, garland, plastic
ornaments, etc. into your sand/water table. The children have fun
decorating and redecorating the Christmas tree.
Contact_FullName:
Michelle
Contact_Email:
mwatkins@ipa.net
11-7-00
Put fall leaves in your sensory table, and then put plastic bugs,
snakes, spiders, and/or the rubbery fishing lures (no hooks, of course).
There are worms, lizards, crawfish, and minnow shapes. The children love
to dig in the leaves for these items.
Contact_FullName:
Pepsi LaCamp
Contact_Email:
User953782@aol.com
11-5-00
My preschool uses a lot of different ideas, we use pom-pom and use tongs to
separate colors and sizes. We use package peanuts and hide things to find,
things hidden have to do with the theme were working on. We also use Easter
grass. Plastic Eggs to match. Rice, Beans, coffee grinds, macaroni, dirt, scrap
paper to cut or tear, oats, corn, and shaving cream with food coloring to teach
color concepts or science of mixing colors. Good luck, Its so much fun to make
changes, the children look forward to it.
Contact_FullName:
Angelia
Contact_Email:
Ahasselman@aol.com
10-16-00
While doing exploration of the different types of corn, I placed
feeder corn in the water table. I "shucked" some of the corn and also
placed some "unshucked" ears into the water table. The kids loved
"shucking", scooping, and measuring the corn and it was a fun and
different type of sensory activity in the water table.
Contact_FullName:
Jane
Contact_Email:
jwhjah@bmts.com
10-7-00
We just completed our fall unit and we put wheat in the sand table.
We put farm animals and the tractors, etc. in with them. The children
loved it and it was easier to clean up than sand. We bought a 40 pound
bag at our local farm store for $6.
Contact_FullName:
Kathy
Contact_Email:
kat3668@aol.com
10-6-00
For a new spin on regular water table play try lining the bottom of
your water table with aluminum foil! It adds a cool shimmer to the water
and the kids love it! You can add rocks, beads (Christmas tree garland
type) and other various items. Be creative! Have fun!
Contact_FullName:
Kathy
Contact_Email:
KAengel@aol.com
9-17-00
Everyone has plastic counting bears, they float in your water table! To add
math, fine motor and science, I have large plastic tweezers (the kind that come
in the Bed Bugs Game) and cups. The children pick up the bears with the tweezers
and put them in the cups. The children use all kinds of number words, counting,
and are really strengthening their little hands for writing.
Contact_FullName:
Karen
Contact_Email:
KJC530@aol.com
9-4-00
In the sensory table mix shaving cream and a bag of ice.
Contact_FullName:
Debra
Contact_Email:
debrab@ymcaboise.org
9-1-00
In the spring, we purchase a roll of sod and lay it out in the
sensory table. Add spray bottles with water so the children can "water
the indoor lawn" and scissors to cut the grass. Animals and People are a
great addition also. The children love to care for the grass, watch it
grow, trim it and the feel is great.
Contact_FullName:
Wendy
Contact_Email:
wendro@mail.com
8-15-00
Freeze large empty containers full of colored and clear water. When frozen,
put them in the sensory table with a few small containers of colored rock salt
(1/4 c. rock salt mixed with Liquid water color--Discount school supply has
it--microwave for 1-2 minutes). Let them discover (without you telling them
what to do or what will happen!) what happens with the two ingredients! Also,
colored rice can be made much more easily with the liquid water color, too. It
requires virtually no drying time, and is non toxic and non-staining. Other
sensory tub ideas: shaving cream, real clay with cups of water, cornmeal with
all sorts of recycled stuff--plastic food containers, etc., birdseed, black
and white beans mixed, Styrofoam with water--the possibilities are
endless:-)
Contact_FullName:
Lynne
Contact_Email:
Mrslynne@aol.com
7-18-00
We filled our sensory table with packing peanuts. The kind that are made of
cornstarch. We add pails, shovels, and measuring scoops. When the novelty of this has
worn off we add a small amount of water to these, the peanuts become sticky and
the children can mold them into many shapes! Much fun for everyone!
Contact_FullName:
Elissa
Contact_Email:
vinci93@hotmail.com
7-16-00
Go to a nursery and ask them for polymer crystals. take about a cup full and
put them in the bottom of the water table, add water. Let it sit for a while
(sometimes over night is good). They turn into a neat feeling Jell-O form. Add
water colors After it is ready for different colors. The children love the feel.
Add animals etc.
Contact_FullName:
Glenda
Contact_Email:
mkaufman@family-net.net
7-13-00
Put all of your unwanted scrap construction paper in the sensory table
with a couple pairs of children's scissors. They will tear, snip and cut
at their developmental level.
Contact_FullName:
Glendam
Contact_Email:
mkaufman@family-net.net
7-13-00
Get ears of shell corn from a local farmer or feed store. Let each
child shuck and shell an ear of grain corn. It's great fine motor and lots
of fun. After each child shells an ear of corn into the sensory table,
there's enough to play in. The empty cobs can be used for art projects.
(In the fall grain corn is very hard and dry, not soft like sweet
corn.)
Contact_FullName:
robin
Contact_Email:
robinv@delanet.com
7-9-00
I put old magazine pages inside and tie scissors to each corner. The
kids get to practice their fine motor skills and love it. It works best
with 2-3yrs, but even the 4's and 5's like it.
Contact_FullName:
Kathy
Contact_Email:
7-9-00
In our sensory table we added unflavored Gelatin and the children
injected food coloring into the Gelatin. ( We use medicine droppers). The
children enjoyed see the colors penetrating the gelatin.
Contact_FullName:
Kim
Contact_Email:
m1ssk1mmy@aol.com
6-12-00
Some ideas we have used & enjoyed include: colored pop corn seeds, split
peas, cheerios, frozen peas & carrots ( on a hot afternoon), poker chips,
& potato flakes. I save large clear container such as mouthwash containers
so the kids can fill and then screw and unscrew the large lids. The black
microwave meal trays are also the perfect size and color to fill and observe in.
Contact_FullName:
Megan
Contact_Email:
mhillary@yahoo.com
6-4-00
When doing various units with the sensory table we just use the regular
things like sand, rice, corn etc... But then we put in various items like Zoo we
put Zoo animals in along with the rice. For colors like blue we put blue things
in along with the sand etc...
Contact_FullName:
Megan
Contact_Email:
mhillary@yahoo.com
6-4-00
For our snow unit we used white cotton balls in the sensory table. The
2's&3's sometimes liked to experience the tasting of the snow or really get
rough with the items in the table, so the cotton balls worked well, cotton balls
were also used for our clouds.
Contact_FullName:
Kathryn
Contact_Email:
FlynnPhillips@home.com
5-31-00
Rock Garden - Collect many different rocks (Thundereggs, pumice, agate,
crystal, obsidian, river rock or slate). Place an inch and a half of water
in the sensory tub. Place the rocks in the tub. Provide scrub brushes and
dry towels. This is best done outdoors in the sun. The rocks quickly dry
in the sun. My children love to see the colors come alive with the water.
I use this with my dinosaur unit.
Contact_FullName:
Barbara
Contact_Email:
timminsrrb@netzero.net
idea
We can't use playground sand in the church our preschool
is in, so we make "SuperSand" out of coffee and cornmeal.
Contact_FullName:
Andi
Contact_Email:
andiruch@yahoo.com
4-15-00
I bought several Rubbermaid shoe box size containers when it was
suggested at a conference to use salt as an alternate to sand at the
sensory table, after a few days it got old for the kids so I took three
cups of sand in a Ziploc bag and added 10 drops of food coloring and
mixed it around until the salt was colored. The kids love it, we now have
six colors that we have used for sensory play and lots of art projects. We
will eventually mix it all together for a rainbow effect, but for almost a
month they have kept it separated and only one child has tried to eat
it!
Contact_FullName:
Vanessa
Date: 4-10-00
area
Sensory area
A great dry activity for the sensory area is shredded paper. Most
businesses are willing to give it away. The children love to hide toys in
it and most of all, wear it on their heads.
Contact_FullName:
Patsi Johnson
Contact_Email:
antbunny7@hotmail.com
Date: 3-11-00
Use cooked spaghetti in your water table. You can color it according to
your theme for the week. I used a little rubbing alcohol along with food
coloring to color the spaghetti. I then put a little bit of baby oil to
keep the spaghetti from drying out. It also let the children's hands soft
and smelling great! They had a blast! Don't forget the tongs, bowls,
etc.
Contact_FullName:
Michelle
Contact_Email:
imsosmrt@juno.com
Date: 3-8-00
One of the most fun things we have done this year in our sensory table
is to have different colored and sized pom-poms, mini muffin tins and
tongs. We thought we were providing a sorting activity and the children surprised us by 'baking' delicious muffins for us. We tool their cue and
read "The Muffin Man" and did a unit in baking!
Contact_FullName:
Kara
Contact_Email:
fehring@wans.net
Date: 3-6-00
I glue magnets onto cardboard shapes and have fishing poles made from
rulers (pole), pipe cleaners (line), and another magnet glued on the end.
The kids fish for whatever theme we have. Planets, stars, fish, colored
shapes etc.
Contact_FullName:
Laura
Contact_Email:
bossomk001@hawaii.rr.com
Date: 2-26-00
In my 4-year old class we try something new in our sensory table each week.
The children's favorite so far is colored rice, but when talking about animals
they enjoyed: feathers, birdseed with plastic Easter eggs, peanuts (real
peanuts) with zoo animal figures, various shapes of dog biscuits, hay and cedar
bedding. During transportation week we used trucks and sand, packing peanuts and
cotton balls to simulate clouds, and water for boats.
Contact_FullName:
Kathy
Contact_Email:
XbrandKX#aol.com
2-16-00
Sensory Table Turn your sensory table into a "bubble factory". Fill
with water. Add lots of soap {AJAX dishwashing liquid is the best} Add a
variety of bubble makers: berry baskets, toilet paper tubes, bubble wands,
straws, bowls, eggbeaters and some turkey basters. Encourage children to
experiment with the different ways to make bubbles. Have them wear smocks
and cover the floor with an old sheet. Big fun!
Contact_FullName:
Patricia
Contact_Email:
prpeace@eclipse.net
Date: 2-2-00
Two different ideas: Fill your sensory table with 2-3 inches of warm
water. Add two large blocks of ice and turkey basters. Watch the chemical
change of ice melting into water! Washable watered tempura or food coloring
(will stain) can be added. Another fun idea is to use aquarium nets to
"fish" with. Sink and float items are great to fish for. Don't forget the
ping pong balls!
Contact_FullName:
Tami
Contact_Email:
joys@radix.net
Date: 1-30-00
We keep various sensory motor, "touch" tables stored to use often. We
purchased 16x34x4" clear-plastic "Rubbermaid" tubs with lids. Our
preschoolers enjoy the "measuring table" which has flour, measuring cups,
measuring spoons, sifters, etc. to practice their measuring skills.
Another favorite is our "rock quarry" in which blue-chip stones have been
washed and stored in the container with hand-sized dump trucks, dozers,
backhoes, etc. Another favorite is the "pasta table" in which just about
any size, shape and color of pasta has been placed inside for the children
to explore.
Contact_FullName:
Adriane Logan
Contact_Email:
Date: 1-27-00
In our sensory table at preschool, we have included buttons (there is
so much to learn from them ... especially from the seconds!) We also have
included small gourds for Halloween and colored cotton balls. In the
Spring, we put coffee grounds in our sensory table and we give each child
some plastic plants to "plant in the soil." They have a blast!
Contact_FullName:
Mike
Contact_Email:
Bents416@aol.com
Date: 1-24-00
The children have been interested in snow lately. I put cotton balls
and glitter snow in the sensory table, along with shovels, cups and
various other items. They have been in there for three weeks now. The
children love it!
Contact_FullName:
Janet
Contact_Email:
missjanet59@yahoo.com
Date: 12-21-00
Dry beans of many colors are great, with an egg carton that has been
numbered 1-12 in each egg compartment. Children will be encouraged to
count out beans to put in corresponding "cup", beans can be sorted by
color, size, or just play in. Beans also provide an relaxing sound when a
handful is dropped from a few inches above container. Add Rubbing alcohol
to beans, rice, or sand and stir, the alcohol will prevent bugs, and
sanitize, too! Rice can be colored with several drops of food coloring,
then mixed well.