Mar 06 , 2023
HOW TO BUILD A SENSORY BOX
We are right in the middle of the exploring years in our household at the moment. We have a one year old who is obsessed with touching, feeling, and shaking things, and a 4-year-old who is learning about language, science, and action/reaction concepts. Therefore I always reach for sensory box ! These are incredibly simple to make, useful, perfect for indoors or outside, and adaptable to whatever it is that we are learning about.
Yet, WHY should you prepare these for your kids?
For young children, sensory boxs are fantastic hands-on tools! They educate a kid about touch, smell, and sight as well as their surroundings. They can help to calm, inspire, focus or entertain a child for hours.
The following are just a few advantages of using sensory boxs:
Understanding your body / senses – Items that develop and activate at least a couple of our senses can be found in a sensory box (touch, sight, taste, sound and smell). A child will gain a better understanding of their own body and their role in the world by using these senses. Let's look at one of the simplest Rainbow Rice sensory box inclusions. Feel the rice move between your fingers, hear it clatter against one another, take in the vibrant colors, and inhale the aroma of the rice (this might work better if you include some essential oils). Only taste is lacking in this situation, but you can add other things to hone that skill.
Exploring elements in daily life – Adding a "theme" to your trash can can help you further this. For instance, your child might be interested in construction and trucks. See how the trucks can move the sand and construct a new environment by adding some sand, some trucks and diggers, some imaginary trees, and so forth. Is spring on the way? Place some tree branches, toy eggs, and flower cuttings in the box. It's pouring outside. Let's have some fun in the water!
Emotional development – Adding a "theme" to your trash can can help you further this. For instance, your child might be interested in construction and trucks. See how the trucks can move the sand and construct a new environment by adding some sand, some trucks and diggers, some imaginary trees, and so forth. Is spring on the way?
Language development – When you play with a sensory box, the dialogue won't come to an end. Discuss what you Believe might happen, clarify what they are doing, go over what you are doing, and role-play your actions using toys to examine your feelings.
Fine motor skills – Have you tried picking up even a single grain of rice? It's more difficult than you may imagine! Use a sensory box to hone those abilities. also includes spatial awareness, problem-solving abilities, and hand-eye coordination.
HOW DO YOU MAKE A SENSORY BIN ?
Select your box - Although we prefer clear ones, you may use anything from a shoe box to a large storage container, as well as anything in between, depending on how much space you have.
Select your base filler - We like to use rice (both colored and plain), rice puffs, sand, water, dry pasta, and birdseed as bases, but we have also seen people use pebbles, rocks, leaves, pom-poms, and flour. Indeed, the possibilities are endless!
Pop in your scoops, mixers, tongs and containers - Any container will suffice; we typically just use measuring cups, spoons, and ladles from the kitchen.
Theme - You can include anything you want to do this if you choose to investigate a theme. Here are a few of our preferred trash can themes.
Alphabet – We use cups or tongs to pick up hidden letters from our alphabet puzzles so that we can create words. These alphabet toys are used by us.
Construction – Create your own town by adding some automobiles, trucks, diggers, rocks, and building blocks.
Zoo – To wander about the zoo, use flexi humans, wooden animals, and pipe cleaner fences. You may also mimic the sounds made by the animals, which is wonderful for sound.
Colors – We investigate how combining shaving foam and a few drops of food coloring results in unique hues. For my kids, adding a few drops of essential oils like lemon or lavender really makes this activity enjoyable.
