Tuesday, April 2, 2013

GOOP Easter Eggs

Hands down, my most FAVORITE messy tub play to date!
I made several small batches of goop, each in a different color. 

You make goop by mixing cornstarch with water. I just add the water a bit at a time until it is the consistency I want. You can use food coloring, kool-aid, or frosting creations to color and scent your goop.

For our eggs I used regular food coloring and some gel dye as well. 


Filling the eggs was a bit tedious, but WELL worth the effort!

*Note* make sure your eggs do not have holes in them.



These eggs sealed quite tightly so no goop was able to leak out. 
Baby Rex was quite surprised to see what was in the eggs!


I used small, medium, and large size eggs. This added another mathematical dimension to our play as well as provided more opportunities to introduce and reinforce vocabulary words. 
(Small, medium, large, big, little, bigger than, larger than, smaller than, littler than, etc.)




 Each egg was one goop surprise after another. I think opening the eggs to see the goop drizzle out was his favorite part. Rex even started decorating himself! 







The colors mixed together
 BEAUTIFULLY! 








 


Baby Rex made a new game stacking the eggs into a tower.
Clever boy!




 After a while of playing all the colors mixed together to make PURPLE goop!
Goop is one of Rex's favorite sensory play materials, once all the eggs were open he was more than happy playing in a his big pile of goop.

What is this stuff??



Look at it. It's craaaaaazy!


I LOVE GOOP!

  




Monday, April 1, 2013

Easter Sensory Bin


Set up was simple: shredded paper for grass, confetti, various sized plastic eggs, spring cookie cutters, and two felt baskets.


(I used paper Easter grass as it is safer for young toddler play.)




Baby Rex used his basket for collecting eggs and filling with Easter grass. Toddlers LOVE containers of any kind to make fill & spill activities!








Both boys were fascinated by pulling apart the shredded paper. 
 It is a really fun texture!



 
Like any typical toddler, Baby Rex believes sensory bins are more fun when you get in.






One of my favorite things about sensory play is watching the different ways in which Rex interacts with the materials. Some days he is wild and crazy, really excited, and very much a chatter box. Other days he is quiet and inquisitive, more intensely focused on the individual components.  


 Today he was all about the confetti, picking up each little piece, putting some inside the eggs, and collecting it into piles.



What we learned:
 sizes- small, medium, and large eggs
color matching and sorting
object permanence- look & find with eggs
exercised our fine motor muscles
cultural & religious traditions



Happy Easter!