Tag Archives: Invitation to Play

Super Mario Sensory Play Table

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Super Mario Sensory Play Table

Do you have a Super Mario Bros. fan at home? If so, they will love this Super Mario sensory play table. I remember getting the first Nintendo game system when I was a little girl (that was a long time ago lol). I can still hear the theme song in my head. It’s definitely an earworm!

I really enjoyed creating this sensory bin, especially since my son and nephew helped me to design it. An added bonus was that it cost me less than $5 to create this activity. Granted, I did have to put in a little time and elbow grease to prep everything.

Mario Sensory Bin

SUPPLIES FOR MARIO SENSORY PLAY BIN

Pasta (I used ditalini)

Wood Stars

Wood Mushrooms

Coins

Wood Blocks

Paper Towel and Toilet Paper Rolls

Paint and Paintbrush

Super Mario Figurines

Container or Sensory Table

Just a reminder to use your judgment on what items are age appropriate for your child. Some of these items may be choking hazards.

Super Mario Sensory Play Table

I purchased the coins, wood stars, and wood mushrooms from my local Dollar Tree store. The wood stars and mushrooms came as natural raw wood. I already had the wood blocks and Mario figurine.

For this Mario sensory play activity, I used the FLISAT table and TROFAST bins from IKEA. However, you can use any container that you may already have on hand.

Mario sensory bin

INSTRUCTIONS

I will warn you that there is some prep for this Super Mario sensory play activity. Since I was trying to stay on a budget, I painted everything myself.

1. Begin by painting the paper towel and toilet paper rolls green. These will be the tunnels from the game.

Upcycled Paper Towel and Toilet Paper Rolls

2. Next, paint the wooden stars a bright yellow. After they are dry, add eyes to one side. Do these look familiar to you?

3. Then, paint the mushrooms white with red tops. I added white dots to the tops of the mushrooms. These will be the mushrooms that make Mario grow.

Mushrooms and Stars

4. Gather some wood blocks to use for building. I received these wood blocks at my baby shower. Everyone who attended decorated them. I selected the most plain ones to use for this sensory bin.

Wood Blocks

5. Assemble all of the loose parts including some gold coins. I like to use a bin like this and small plastic bowls.

Loose parts for Mario sensory play table

6. Now it is time to paint the pasta. I feel like pasta was the perfect choice for a Mario sensory play bin. I used ditalini noodles.

To color the pasta, add the noodles to a plastic ziplock bag. Then, add the desired paint color. You do not need to use a lot of paint, just a squirt or two. Next, seal the bag and mix the pasta with the paint. After they are completely coated, lay them out to dry on a piece of parchment paper.

Super Mario Sensory Play Table

7. Assemble your sensory bin. I made an “M” for Mario out of the red pasta and then filled in with the blue pasta and remaining red. If you do not want to do this, you can either use a single color for the pasta or mix the two colors.

Mario sensory bin

INVITATION TO PLAY

I assembled the Super Mario sensory play table while my son was at school. Ben was so excited to see it when he got home. He said, “I’m so happy that you made this for me!” He got right to work playing with it. Of course, the first thing that he did was mix the pasta up.

Super Mario sensory play table

He built a tower out of blocks for Mario to climb. At the top were gold coins for Mario to collect.

Building a tower

The green tunnels were a big hit. He loved putting everything through the tunnels.

Playing with the tunnels

I will have to say that I think that this Super Mario sensory play table was a big hit. I will leave it up throughout the week for Ben to play with.

Sensory Bin

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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child’s parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child’s pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.

Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin

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Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin

Since Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, I decided to create an inexpensive sensory bin inspired by the holiday. We love sensory play in our household!

Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin

SUPPLIES FOR VALENTINE’S DAY SENSORY BIN

Rice

Food Coloring

Scoops and Cups

Muffin Tin

Fun Valentine’s Day Fillers (gems, hearts, beads, etc.)

The great thing about this sensory bin is that all of the supplies, and I mean ALL, came from the Dollar Tree. I love to shop at the dollar store for sensory and craft supplies!

Just a reminder to use your judgment on what items are age appropriate for your child. Some of these items may be choking hazards.

Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin
Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Dye the rice seasonal colors, such as pink and purple, along with some plain rice. I use a little white vinegar and food coloring to dye my rice. I will be making a post about how to dye rice in the near future. Keep an eye out.

2. Fill your container with the rice. This is your base layer. I then added some heart shaped containers and little white buckets.

3. Next, I used a muffin tin to separate out different fillers. I used glittery hearts, beads, plastic diamonds, and red kiss and heart gems.

4. Finally, I set out additional scoops and silicone heart cupcake holders.

One of the best things about this sensory bin is that I can reuse all of the materials to recreate this sensory bin or make new ones. I love to keep and reuse my sensory bases and fillers. I store my rice in a sealed ziplock bag.

Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin

INVITATION TO PLAY

I love setting out activities such as this Valentine’s Day sensory bin and letting Ben discover it on his own. As you can see, he dove right in and started to play. For this particular sensory bin, I did not have a specific purpose, and I did not give any directions to Ben. Therefore, I left him in control of his play and allowed him to use his imagination.

Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin

Today, he pretended that he was working in a bakery. The different fillers and rice were used as the ingredients to make cakes. I love seeing where his imagination takes him!

Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin
Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin

When his cousin came over to play, they pretended that they were mining for diamonds in the rice. This shows you how sensory bins create opportunities for open-ended play.

Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin

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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child’s parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child’s pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.

Space Sensory Tray with Stackable Astronauts

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Is your child as space obsessed as mine?! Ben has been fascinated with any and everything space-related. Today, I am sharing a simple space sensory tray. He had a blast helping me setting it up and playing with it.

3, 2, 1, Blast Off!!!

Full Bloom Creativity is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

SUPPLIES FOR SPACE SENSORY TRAY

Tray

Black Beans

Star Confetti

Small Planets

Aluminum Foil

Stackable Astronauts

I found these stackable wooden astronauts in Bullseye’s Playground at Target.

Just a reminder to use your judgment on what items are age appropriate for your child. Some of these items may be choking hazards.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Begin by assembling the space sensory bin. This could not get any easier. Ben loved helping to set this up. First, dump the dried black beans into a tray of your choice.

2. Next, tear small pieces of aluminum foil. Have your child help you scrunch them up into balls to make asteroids. Ben loved this step.

3. Finally, add everything else – stars, planets, asteroids, and astronauts. That’s it!

INVITATION TO PLAY

I love setting out activities such as this space-themed sensory bin and letting Ben discover it on his own. He had so much fun telling me all about the different planets. Ben will get into a heated debate about whether or not Pluto is a planet. He is a firm believer that it is, even though it is a dwarf planet.

His absolute favorite thing to do with this space sensory tray was stacking the wooden astronauts in different configurations. This kept him entertained for hours! He would stack them, then take a picture of them and show me. Then, he would do it all over again and again.

I absolutely love easy to put together sensory bins! This space sensory tray lead to hours of enjoyment, and only took a matter of minutes to assemble.

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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child’s parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child’s pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.

How to Make Winter Pine Oobleck

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How to Make Winter Pine Oobleck

I will start by saying that I have never made oobleck before. Therefore, I began by doing what everyone else does when looking for information and searched on Pinterest. As a result of my search for oobleck recipes, I came across the blog, Little Bins for Little Hands, and their post called, Evergreen Oobleck Science Winter Sensory Play.

Their oobleck was perfect! So, I decided to recreate it and add a few things of our own. If you haven’t checked out their blog yet, please do. They have lots of great ideas for STEM activities, especially slime.

How to Make Winter Pine Oobleck

In our household, we absolutely LOVE sensory play! I have been wanting to try oobleck before, but never have. Now was the perfect opportunity.

Making oobleck is a fun STEM science experiment. It is an object that is both solid and liquid. Have you played with oobleck before? If not, I highly recommend it.

Nature Inspired Goop

Oobleck Recipe

1 cup of Cornstarch

1/2 cup of Water

The instructions are very simple. All you need to do is mix the cornstarch and water together. I used a pie pan for this activity.

How to Make Winter Pine Oobleck

SUPPLIES

Pine Branches

Pinecones

Cranberries

Pie Pan

Spoon

Optional: Beans and/or Wood Blocks

How to Make Winter Pine Oobleck

On Ben’s little craft table, I set out the pie pan with the oobleck along with the pine branches, a bowl of cranberries, and some pinecones.

Nature Inspired Goop

INVITATION TO PLAY

At first, Ben just experimented with touching the oobleck. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. Then he started adding cranberries and pinecones.

He loved watching the cranberries sink into the goop. He also liked pushing the pinecones into the oobleck and pulling them out.

Nature Inspired Goop

Next, he involved a spoon. He tried to scoop the cranberries out of the oobleck. He discovered that it was hard to do. I also encouraged him to put his hands into the goop.

He tried pushing on the oobleck with his fist and found out that he had resistance. Solid. He also scooped some up with his hand and watched it drizzle between his fingers. Liquid.

How to Make Winter Pine Oobleck

As with any open-ended sensory play, Ben decided that we needed more materials to experiment with. He started by adding some wood blocks.

How to Make Winter Pine Oobleck

He discovered that if he pushed the end of the wood blocks into the oobleck that it would help support them. Then the building commenced.

How to Make Winter Pine Oobleck
Nature Inspired Goop

Last, but not least, he added black beans to the pie pan. He had a blast trying to get them out of the oobleck. This was great for his fine motor skills.

Nature Inspired Goop

As you can see, Ben had a great time exploring his winter oobleck sensory play. For being the first time ever making oobleck, it was super easy and simple to make and led to lots of fun. I am encouraging you to try this activity with your little ones. Happy Exploring!

How to Make Winter Pine Oobleck

As I said before, please check out the blog, Little Bins for Little Hands. It is full of great content. I want to thank them for sharing this activity on Pinterest. We had so fun fun recreating it!

For another oobleck activity, check out my blog post “How to Make Muddy Oobleck for Dinosaur Sensory Play.” Comment below with your favorite way to play with oobleck.

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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child’s parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child’s pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult9 supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.

Snowflake Sensory Bin Matching Uppercase and Lowercase Letters

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Snowflake Sensory Bin Matching Uppercase and Lowercase Letters of the Alphabet

For Christmas this year, I created three smaller sensory bins for our son, Ben. I picked up three clear 6 quart containers with latching lids from Target and filled them up with lots of fun items. Today, I am sharing the snowflake sensory bin that I created for Ben to practice his uppercase and lowercase letters.

Ben is fairly consistent with being able to identify all of the uppercase letters of the alphabet. Recently, the focus has turned more to identifying the lowercase letters. So, I thought that this would be a fun activity to bridge the gap.

Snowflake Sensory Bin Matching Uppercase and Lowercase Letters

SUPPLIES

Plastic Bin

Rice

Snowflakes

Glittery Styrofoam Balls

Recycled Water Bottle Caps

Paper

Markers

Optional: Scoops and/or Tweezers

I purchased most of the materials at our local Dollar Tree, which is one of my favorite places to shop for art supplies and sensory bin fillers.

Snowflake Sensory Bin Matching Uppercase and Lowercase Letters

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Begin by assembling the snowflake sensory bin. This could not get any easier. First, dump a bag of rice into the clear container. Then, add the snowflakes and small glittery styrofoam balls.

Snowflake Sensory Bin

2. Next, using a black permanent marker, write the uppercase letters of the alphabet on the recycled water bottle caps (one letter on each cap). After you have finished, add the bottle caps to the sensory bin.

3. Once the sensory bin has been assembled, it is time to draw snowflakes on the paper. The center of the snowflakes should be a circle that you can write the lowercase letters of the alphabet in the middle. I used three pieces of paper to get all 26 letters in snowflakes.

Matching Uppercase and Lowercase Letters
Matching Uppercase and Lowercase Letters
Matching Uppercase and Lowercase Letters

4. Finally, set everything out for your child. Explain how to find the bottle caps in the snowflake sensory bin and match the uppercase letter to the lowercase letter on the paper. Then let them take it from there. I also gave him a few different scoops to use in the sensory bin.

Snowflake Sensory Bin with Water Bottle Cap Letters

INVITATION TO PLAY AND LEARN

Ben absolutely loves sensory bins! He really enjoyed digging in to find the different letters. He did a great job matching the uppercase letters with the lowercase letters. However, he did need help with some of the harder lowercase letters.

Matching Uppercase and Lowercase Letters using Recycled Water Bottle Caps
Snowflake Sensory Bin

This was such a fun activity. After Ben matched the letters, he continued to play with the snowflake sensory bin. He even built a maze out of blocks and had the styrofoam balls navigate their way through it.

Matching Uppercase and Lowercase Letters
Matching Uppercase and Lowercase Letters using Water Bottle Caps

I hope that you give this sensory bin a try with your little ones, since it is both educational and fun. Yay!

Snowflake Sensory Bin Matching Uppercase and Lowercase Letters

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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child’s parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child’s pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.

Invitation to Play: Decorating Gingerbread Men Craft

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Decorating Gingerbread Men

Today, we decorated foam cutouts of gingerbread men. I love setting up open-ended activities for Ben. To begin, I assembled a tray of items to decorate the gingerbread men. I set everything out on a table and let Ben take it from there. This is an activity that entertained him for an extended period of time, and one that he kept going back to.

Decorating Gingerbread Men

SUPPLIES

Foam Gingerbread Men Cutouts

Glue

Decorations: Googly Eyes, Stickers, Beads, Dried Pasta, Beans, Pipe Cleaners, Pompoms, etc.

I purchased the foam gingerbread men cutouts, along with most of the other supplies, at our local dollar store. You could also cut your own gingerbread me now out of foam paper, brown construction paper, cardboard, or recycled brown paper bags. Above are the decorations that we used, but you could use whatever you have on hand or things that your children would enjoy.

Decorating Gingerbread Men Craft Set Up
Decorating Gingerbread Men Craft Set Up
Decorating Gingerbread Men Craft Set Up

INVITATION TO PLAY

1. Begin by gathering items to decorate the gingerbread men. We used googly eyes, pompoms, beads, gems, dried pasta, beans, stickers, and pipe cleaners. I twisted the pipe cleaners into bows. I assembled everything on to a divided tray. You can also use buttons, ribbon, glitter, markers, etc.

Decorating Gingerbread Men Craft Set Up

2. Set out the assembled tray of decorations along with the foam gingerbread men cutouts and glue on a table. Next, I invited Ben to come play. He took over from there.

Decorating Gingerbread Men Craft
Decorating Gingerbread Men Craft
Decorating Gingerbread Men Craft

This activity is great to work on fine motor skills, hand strength, identifying body parts, counting and so much more. Please tag us on social media if you try this craft out. Happy Holidays!

Decorated Gingerbread Men Craft
Decorated Gingerbread Men Craft
Decorated Gingerbread Men Craft

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

I love to pair books with the activities that I do with Ben. Sometimes I am inspired by the books themselves, and sometimes the activities inspire which books we read. Here are a few books that we have enjoyed that also complement decorating gingerbread people:

The Gingerbread Man

The Gingerbread Man

Written and Illustrated by Gail Yerrill

The Gingerbread Girl

The Gingerbread Girl

Written and Illustrated by Lisa Campbell Ernst

Gingerbread Baby

Gingerbread Baby

Written and Illustrated by Jan Brett

Catch That Cookie!

Catch That Cookie!

Written by Hallie Durand

Illustrated by David Small

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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child’s parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child’s pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.

Halloween Sensory Bin with Colored Spaghetti

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We absolutely love sensory bins in our household! How about you? For Halloween, I decided to make a spooky, slimy Halloween-inspired sensory bin with colored spaghetti. I can feel the slimy noodles sliding through my fingers even thinking about it.

SUPPLIES

Cooked Spaghetti

Olive Oil

Plastic Zip Top Bags

Liquid Watercolors (you can substitute food coloring)

Halloween Items such as Googly Rings, Skeletons, Spiky Balls, Monster Finger Puppets, and a Small Plastic Black Cauldron

Scissors, Tweezers and Scoops

Clear Rubbermaid Container (or something similar)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Boil Spaghetti

Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Then add your spaghetti. I used one box. Follow the instructions on the box for how long to cook the noodles.

Once they are done cooking, drain the water and rinse with cold water. Next, add a few splashes of olive oil and mix. This will help keep the spaghetti from sticking together.

2. Color Spaghetti

Next, you need to divide the spaghetti into three equal portions. Put each portion into a zip top plastic bag. You can use three separate bags or one bag and you rinse between each color.

Add a few drops of liquid watercolor paint to each bag in your desired colors. I used orange, purple, and green. Seal the bags and mix the color with the spaghetti until it is evenly coated. Add more watercolor if needed. You can use food coloring in substitute of the liquid watercolor.

The benefits of using liquid watercolor paint is that it is washable and it tends to be more vibrant in color.

Spread the spaghetti out on a sheet pan or plate to dry. Allow at least 45 minutes for drying before use.

Please note that the spaghetti is inedible with the liquid watercolor paint. If you want to keep it edible, you will need to use food coloring to dye the noodles.

3. Assemble Sensory Bin

In a plastic bin, place the spaghetti separated by color. Then add your Halloween toys and tools. That’s it!

Just a reminder to use age appropriate toys. Some toys may be choking hazards.

4. Play Time

Now comes the fun part. It’s play time! Invite your child to play. This sensory bin will help them with textures and fine motor skills.

5. Storage

I recommend storing your sensory bin in an airtight container in the fridge. If stored correctly, it can last for up to a week.

REFLECTIONS

This was my first time using spaghetti for a sensory bin. Therefore, I wanted to share some of my thoughts on what I would have done differently.

– I would have cooked my spaghetti a little bit longer. I cooked it for about 3-4 minutes in boiling water. The noodles were bendable, but a little too firm that they were breaking while I was handling them. I recommend cooking them as their packaging instructs.

– I did not have orange or purple liquid watercolors, so I mixed colors to make them. Next time, I would probably use the actual color instead of blending two together.

– I would have laid the noodles in a thinner layer to dry. It took longer than expected for them to dry.

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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child’s parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child’s pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.