Musical Balloons

My girls love their balloons.  We've been having a blast with the luminary balloons.  Those things can get expensive, though!  I was trying to think of something different we could do with them that didn't cost so much money!  After looking back at posts from 2011 I revisited our Sensory Balloons post.  I thought I would put a little twist on it.  It led me to this...

All you need are some balloons and various objects to stick inside.  We used 12 inch balloons.  They were very easy to fill. I did set up an invitation for this that you will see below.  However, my girls had so much fun just dancing around with these and shaking them.  

After 30 minutes of dancin' and shakin' the questions starting rolling in.  "Mommy, what is inside of there?  Do you hear that?  What does that sound like?"  

The invitation

We had six balloons.  I placed what was inside each balloon in a small container.  These containers were purchased in a pack of six at the Dollar Tree.  

Top row from left to right: Marbles, bells, and lentils

Bottom row from left to right: Pony beads, sand, and water

My 22 month old placing her bell balloon on the bell container.  She was right!  My oldest had to check all the ones my 22 month old did to make sure they made a match.  There was a lot of switching going on.  LOL  I left the tops to the containers out so that they could shake the container and make a comparison.  I wish I had more pictures of this but my youngest was up.  Speaking of that... depending on what you put in the balloons, this activity is LOUD!  At least if your children are anything like mine with the shaking.  :-)  

All matched up.  

After 5 or 6 rounds my oldest asked to cut them open.  They cut them over a bin to contain what was inside.  

Watching the balloon deflate.

"Bells!!!!  I made a match!!!"

"I think this one needs to be switched.  Those are marbles"

Cheater!!!!!  LOL LOL  

My 22 month old loves the scissors now, too.  

RL

Bathroom sink turned sensory "box"

We use the bathroom/kitchen sink often as a sensory "box".  This is great when I am trying to give my oldest a bath and my middle child wants to play with me... or vice versa.  I can be present with both of them while still keeping it fun!  Who knew you can have so much fun in a bathroom.  :-)  

This is a great solution for a shower for mommy as well!  :-D  I have 3 girls that often do not nap at the same time.  My 22M old loves giving her animals a "shower" while I take a quick shower myself.  

Lastly, this also works great at the kitchen sink while you are cooking dinner.  

Here are a few things we play with in the sink.  Clean up is a breeze!  

RL  

Colored bubble bath for their animals... their favorite one by far.  

Ice cubes and liquid watercolors. 

Rubber ducks and boats

Water balloons.  My oldest loves sliding these on the countertop.  

Water beads.  

Just make sure these don't go down the drain!  They love scooping them out of the water.  

Water Beads and Tubing

We first blogged about water beads back in the beginning of June, and since then - WOW - they have really taken off with parents, caregivers, and schools!  AWESOME!  If you haven't played with these slippery little suckers yet,  you are really missing out.  Its a great sensory experience for ALL ages.

Click HERE to see our original water bead posts.

Yesterday I bought some clear plastic tubing from a local hardware store ($1.40 per foot).  This morning we had a ton of fun using them with water beads.  The pics speak for themselves.

 "Its like a roller coaster."

 Putting water beads in the tubes - great for fine motor skills  (and confidence, patience, resilience, etc).

 water beads inside the tubes....he wanted to fill them up before dumping them

 I tired to get a pic of him dumping the beads.....they came out too fast.

 of course, he incorporated the gutter

 pouring the beads

 "Everything is blue."

- AK (MESE, MECD)

Cloud Dough

Recipe:

8 cups of Flour

1 Cup of Baby Oil or Canola Oil

Christmas Sensory and I Spy Ornaments

I LOVE how these turned out....but more importantly, my son LOVED the process of making them, which is saying a lot because in all honesty, he's not big on "art projects".  I have put these clear glass ornaments from Michaels in my cart on more than one occasion and I always end up taking them out....until the other day.  My son and I were reading the Christmas I Spy book and it inspired me to make these.  (We also made sensory ornaments).  LOTS OF PICS....

Things you need:

• Ornaments from Michaels (they were on sale for 99 cents)
• Decorative embellishments (also from Michaels)
• Filler - We used colored Epsom Salt, poly-fil pellets, and fake snow (amongst other things)
• Funnel

(The first step is to color the Epsom Salt.  All you do is add food coloring and mix with your hands.)

 The Invitation

 These are the decorative embellishments (from Michaels)

 Filling the first ornament with colored Epsom Salt

 Adding embellishments - for this one he added one or two of everything....except letters....true to form, he didn't TOUCH the letters at all during this activity.  LOL

 I SPY

 Moving it around and telling me "I spy....." (all of the things he sees).  He loved this!

 Another ornament - Epsom salt

 To this one he added ALL of the snowmen and snowflakes and told me it was his "snowy ornament"

 "Snowy Ornament"

 Checking it out

 Adding fake snow.  The snow didn't fall like the salt, so he used a pencil to poke it all down....quite a process and he was so focused!

 Adding bells and candy canes

 The last I SPY ornament was full of poly-fil pellets and the embellishments 

 checking out the ornament with poly-fil pellets and telling me the things he sees

I SPY ORNAMENTS

 Making sensory ornaments.  He chose cotton, dry garbanzo beans, bells, and acorns.  We had one ornament causality....the one with the bells broke while we were listening to the sounds....and that's ok.  He told me "Mommy, this one is broken" when he shook the ornament with cotton balls inside, which I thought was hilarious.  LOL  For the others he said, "its like there's music inside!"....and we talked about the sounds.

 "We need to put them downstairs for a little while."

**TIPS - Dont put anything too hard in the ornaments....they are fragile.  For those of you with curious little ones, you might want to glue on the tops.  These are too heavy for the tree...and they sell acrylic ones (mine are glass) at Michaels as well.**

- AK (MESE, MECD)