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!