Space Sensory Tray with Stackable Astronauts

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!!!

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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

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.