Activities

Ultimate List of Fun and Easy Outdoor Games for Kids

By Marnie Craycroft Leave a Comment Filed Under: Activities, Outdoor Education Tagged With: Easy & Inexpensive This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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Looking for some fun outdoor games? Below is a select list of outdoor games for kids. I researched and vetted my sources and these games come out on top!

Check out these amazing outdoor games for kids!

Why Playing Outdoors Matters

Richard Louv introduced the concept of Nature Deficit Disorder years ago. It is the idea that kids (and adults for that matter) are spending less time outdoors. As a result, kids' brains are developing differently (without the multi-sensory experiences and learning) and there is an increase in a wide range of behavioral problems such as ADD, ADHD, anxiety, and depression.

So, the conclusion is to get outdoors, play outdoors, and move our bodies in the fresh air. If we can achieve this goal, we'll all be happier and lead more balanced lives.

Fun and Easy Outdoor Games

Minute to Win It Camping Games

These outdoor games for kids are creative, fun, and engaging! I can't choose our favorite – balancing gold balls or the watermelon card throw challenge! Seriously easy and so much fun!

Playground Scavenger Hunt

This tree swing hooked me the moment I saw it! Not that a playground needs to be ANY more fun but why not mix it up a bit with an outdoor scavenger hunt?

Water Bucket Relay Game

Seriously, does it get any more exciting than a relay race? This relay race is particularly awesome because it involves water and my boys love water play! Large groups will enjoy this outdoor game! Divide kids up into two teams and let them race!

Sidewalk Chalk Games

Easy and inexpensive, sidewalk chalk is the gift that keeps on giving. These sidewalk chalk games not only engage kids but teach them along the way.

DIY Backyard Obstacle Course

Obstacle courses are a mainstay in our home. Work those gross motor and creative skills to build an outdoor course for kids to enjoy! Creating an obstacle course is a great option for an outdoor game for large groups.

Leaf Hunt Alphabet Game for Toddlers

We love leaf activities and this one takes the cake! Introduce toddlers and preschoolers to their letters while running around outside! Learning and movement go hand and hand with brain development. This outdoor activity is a great example.

Build a Stick Maze

This fun outdoor game might possibly win prizes for its simplicity. Kids go on a hunt for sticks, create their very own maze, and then walk the maze. There is so much fun with this outdoor game that kids might not even know they're exercising their problem-solving skills!

Park Bingo

Again, not that a park needs any insertion of pure joy but why not mix it up a bit! Park Bingo is a sweet outdoor game for youth that packs a big punch!

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Keep the element of surprise alive with a nature scavenger hunt! Go ahead and create your own list or borrow from others, there really is no limit to the creativity and imagination of a scavenger hunt!

Outdoor Imagination Games

I adore this list of outdoor pretend play games for kids!

Nighttime Outdoor Games

This list includes 10 games to play outdoors at night!

Go on a Fairy Hunt

What list of outdoor games for kids would be complete without a fairy hunt activity! This children's book is our absolute favorite book about imagining, building, and discovering fairy houses!

Learn Patterns Outdoors Activities

Check out these fun and easy ways to learn about patterns outside! Nature offers loads of patterns for us to explore and discover! Patterns are a great early reading and early math activity for young kids!

Gross Motor Color Game for Kids

This simple game gets kids moving and helps them learn their colors. All you need for this activity are colorful cones and your loud voice!

List of Outdoor Games for Kids

Kick the Can is a classic outdoor game for kids! It combines tag, hide and seek, and capture the flag. What could be better? A person or a team is “it” and must go kick a can that is placed in an open area without being tagged.
Rainbow Tag is a new one for me but I love it! According to the Ultimate Camp Resource website, rainbow tag is a game with “a designated area are different colors of paint in little cups with a Popsicle stick. The children must run around, find the paint and put a stripe on their arm. The person who is ‘it' has a sponge. When they tag someone, they wipe the paint off of their arm.” This game is perfect for large groups.
Sack Races with Pillow Cases
Animal Hide and Seek is a twist in your standard hide and seek game. However, in this version, each person adopts an animal sound and must call out that animal sound in order to eventually be found!
Water Balloon Activities

Helpful Resources for Outdoor Activities

20 Easy & Inexpensive Montessori Infant & Toddler Activities

By Marnie Craycroft 1 Comment Filed Under: Activities Tagged With: Easy & Inexpensive, Infant & Toddler This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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This post includes 20 easy toddler activities!

Children who have a creative outlet will feel less frustrated and throw fewer tantrums than children who have no way of expressing themselves creatively.

It may be easier than you think to create an environment for your toddler to learn and enjoy different ways of expressing his or her ideas, even before being able to speak in coherent sentences. The following ideas are easy and cheap to incorporate into any environment and the tips include practical ways to reduce mess.

Montessori Toddler Activities

Bringing Montessori into your home or classroom doesn't have to break the bank. There are simple and inexpensive ways to put together and to present Montessori Infant & Toddler Activities. Here are a few ideas for one-year-olds and two-year-olds!

Toddler Activities

#1 – Discovery Bottles

Sensory bottles are wonderful material for toddlers and infants. Plus the use of sensory bottles begins to ingrain important lessons of mindfulness that will help with anxiety later in life. Babies' are mesmerized by discovery bottles. These bottles ignite the senses Isolating a quality is a great way to approach bottles whether with sight (e.g) color, sound (loud versus quiet), texture (soft versus hard), and even smell.

#2 – Nature Basket

Bring nature indoors with a nature basket or nature table filled with various items preferably you and your child have collected over time.

#3 – Hole in a Box or Can

Recycle a box or can, cut a hole in it, and experiment with different items like Pom Poms, coins, beads, beans, or pasta.

#4 – Sand & Water Play Toddler Activity

Go to the beach, go find a sandbox at a park. Let your child get his fingers, hands, and feet dirty. Give the opportunity to explore with tools for scooping, sifting, and pouring. Water play can be as simple as taking a bath. I sometimes lay out a towel or shower curtain with a medium sized container of water for my infant.

#5 – Textured Balls

My one year old can't get enough of these textured balls. Great for sensory exploration, playing, and early science concepts. If your child enjoys the sense of touch, make texture cards or rough & smooth boards.

#6 – Pounding

There are a number of hammering or pounding materials available for infants and toddlers. My sons like this hammering toy. Pounding works those hand-eye coordination skills. My son also enjoys “making music” with the pounding sounds.

#7 – Finger Painting Toddler Activity

There are plenty of safe finger paints to buy off the shelf but also try mud and these amazing homemade fingerprinting recipes from Tinkerlab. Learn Play Imagine has a great round-up of all sorts of painting fun for infants and toddlers.

#8 – Real Life Tools for Toddlers

Yes, you read correctly. Young children can explore with real tools. Obviously, don't hand a child a chainsaw but the basics are a good start. Make sure you introduce and demonstrate how to use the tool (whether he takes your lead or not!) in a safe environment where the child isn't going to break anything or injure anyone.

Montessori Services offers a Tool Set for Young Kids. The whole set is not infant and toddler appropriate but a few items, like the small hammer and the stubby screwdriver, are perfect for that stage. You could also go to your local hardware store and purchase large nuts and bolts (to avoid choking hazards and help those little hands develop) to screw on and off. You can also make an easy nuts & bolts tray with a simple trip to your local hardware store or toolbox!

#9 – Montessori Music Basket

This one is so much fun! Our music basket is filled with a mix of “toy” instruments (like Melissa & Doug's Band in a Box, which we love!) and real instruments I found at a local thrift store. Score! Add a few fun books and you're good to go!

#10 – Climbing & Balancing

Find a safe space to let your child climb up and climb down. You don't need to hover and you don't need to totally hands-off if that makes sense. Just give the child an opportunity to practice those big gross motor skills. Examples include an open gym session at a local community center, climbing pillows, climbing stairs, and mini scooters (my one-year-old likes to sit or kneel on a scooter and push himself around the yard).

#11 – Tearing Paper Activity

Sounds odd, I know, but this activity is beneficial and worthwhile for a wide age range. The sound of the paper tearing and the fine motor work makes this simple activity perfect for kids and caretakers. Offer different types of paper to explore sound, textures, and the use of different muscle groups depending on how difficult tearing the paper may be for the child.

#12 – Pulling Scarves from a Box

Scarves offer a variety of learning for kids with color, texture, coordination, and fine motor. Stuff an old tissue box with scarves and your child will adore you!

#13 – Pulling Laces or Ribbons through a Hole

Anchor the ribbon or lace with knots at each end so that the child can pull from one end and then pull from the other end. Super simple and inexpensive!

#14 – Craft Time

Sometimes, something as simple as sticking some stickers onto a page can help your child feel proud of creating something special. Of course, you can do so many different activities with easy to find craft products. Try to have at least one time, once a week, when you sit down with your child and help your child to discover the joys of making things.

Collect colored and patterned papers, some wool or cotton threads, glue, and a packet of “googly eyes” and you'll have everything you need for your child to make faces, dolls with clothes, or a variety of animals.

Finger paints are popular with toddlers and help your child to explore colours, mixing colours, and different textures. An art smock with long sleeves prevents the majority of paint on clothes, and buy children's paints that are water based and non-toxic if ingested when fingers go into mouths. Contain the craft mess by sitting at a table or in the high chair and using the tray as a table.

Give your child a chance to play with their creations and display them proudly. A magnetic or cork board can be a great way for your child to have a regular space to display their craft and you can rotate the display, without taking up a lot of space throughout the house.

#14 – Drawing and Coloring In

This is a great precursor into the world of writing. Give your toddler some crayons and some paper. At first, your child will only scribble and create blobs of colour that could be anything, but slowly your child will develop better skills and be able to draw pictures. A wipe-clean board can be an easy way to teach some basic drawing skills. Teach your toddler how to draw shapes and encourage your child to copy some of the shapes with their own drawings.

A coloring-in book with large and relatively simple pictures will give your child a chance to learn how to use colours to shape their world. Don't expect a toddler to stay within the lines though, as that will take years to develop. Remember, this is about giving your child a way to express themselves and to learn skills like how to hold a crayon or pencil.

Your toddler can do this by themselves, as you do something else nearby. Colouring in can be a great activity while you prepare the dinner, for example, as your child can sit at the table and colour in a picture with minimal supervision. Alternatively, invest in an adult colouring-in book and enjoy the relaxation of colouring in too.

#15 – Nature Time

This creative activity starts by taking a walk outside. Show your child different things from nature to collect, such as leaves, gum nuts, blades of grass, seeds, sticks, pebbles, and flowers. Allow your toddler to choose some items to bring home.

You may wish to keep a collection for a day or two, or you may want to incorporate the items into craft time. Paint leaves different colours to press onto paper to create “leaf prints” or simply stick the nature items onto paper in a creative and fun way. This activity helps your child to see that different things can be used as creative tools and encourages your child to look beyond the traditional textures in art.

#16 – Play Dough

This is a great tool for creative expression. Buy play dough in different colors, or alternatively, make it at home. You can make it together in cooking time, and allow your child to choose the colours you dye it with food colouring. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough and then cookie cutters to cut it into shapes.

Allowing your child to manipulate the dough into a variety of shapes is very good as it builds up their manual dexterity skills and strengthens muscles in the hands that they will use later on for writing. Encourage your child to roll the dough into a long snake, then curl the “snake” around into a “snail” and to create other animals.

Home-made play dough will keep in the refrigerator for a few months, so you can get hours of creative play out of one batch. If you are concerned about play dough getting onto carpets at home, create a safe place to use the playdough with a plastic splat mat, or a layer of newspaper sheets in a bigger area than the playdough area. Then, you'll find cleaning up is easy as you can gather the mat or the newspaper sheets and get rid of all the little bits of play dough or plasticine together.

#17 – Building Blocks

This is an easy toy that children can play with by themselves or with an adult. Encourage your child to use different colours or shaped blocks to create a variety of items. A big tower is fun to build and then knockdown.

Don't be upset if your child crashes into your blockhouse you have just spent 15 minutes building because toddlers love to see the blocks all tumble down. You are likely to experience the same if you build sandcastles at the beach. As your child develops and sees you having fun creating different types of buildings, your child will become more interested in the building process than in knocking down the blocks.

#18 – Dress Up Box

Many parents think you have to spend a fortune on proper dressing up costumes of superheroes or other characters from movies and television to have a dress-up box, but toddlers rarely need full costumes and you may be surprised at how easy it is to create a dress-up box that gives your toddler hours of creative fun.

An adult's old white shirt can become a doctor's, nurse's or scientist's, or even a chef's coat. A few old scarves or sarongs can be used in so many ways, as royal gowns, capes for superheroes or magicians, or as dresses for fairies or elves. A belt can create a safari suit or a tool belt to hang tools on to be a builder. A wooden stick with a star attached can be a magic wand for magicians or for fairies and old hats are wonderful for creating a dress-up. It might take a little bit of imagination, but your toddler will love dressing up in any “costume” you can create.

Explore your local opportunity or charity clothing store and you'll find many items you can use for a dress-up box at a minimal cost. If money is an issue, use craft time to create the elements of a dress-up. A roll of cardboard can become a top hat, a string and some dry noodles threaded on can become a pretty necklace for a queen, and a crown can be fashioned from cardboard cut into shape with mini jewels created by sticking on shiny stickers or little pieces of different coloured papers.

Related Read: What is Pretend Play?

#19 – Role Play and Imagination Play

Once dressed up, your child will find role play games easy. If dressing up as a doctor or a nurse, your toddler will be delighted to take your temperature, listen to your heart with a stethoscope (you can create one with string and dry noodles), and give you pretend medicine. You can encourage your toddler to be a doctor to all their soft toys. A roll of bandage or an old scarf rolled around a limb can help a teddy bear or doll to look like a patient.

Imagination games that encourage role-play don't need dress-ups though. Can you be a tiger stalking around on a hunt by crawling on the floor and roaring? Your toddler will love being any animal you can think of and creating the animal sounds. The best thing about imagination games is that you don't even need anything except your own body and your voice.

Your toddler will love being anyone else, even for a few minutes. Give your child a raincoat and boots, and let your toddler water the garden with the hose as a firefighter, or use a cardboard box to create a bus so your toddler can be a bus driver. A few envelopes and an old handbag with a long strap can create a post bag for your little postman. You'll have fun working out different ways to encourage your toddler to be creative with imagination games and role-plays.

#20 – Cooking Time

Getting your toddler involved in cooking is a great idea, especially if your child is a fussy eater, as toddlers are far more likely to try foods when they have been involved in the preparation process. Toddlers love mixing cakes with a wooden spoon and a long sleeve art smock or a plastic apron will protect clothes from stains.

Biscuits or cookies are easy to make and toddlers have fun using cookie cutters to cut the dough. Use a small plastic bag with a hole cut in at one end to create an easy to use icing bag if you don't have one, as your child will love helping to decorate cookies with icing.

Don't just keep the cooking for sweet treats. Help your child to make a face with things like grated carrot or cheese for hair, grapes or olives cut in half for eyes, carrot or celery sticks for eyebrows, a piece of apple for a nose and a tomato piece for a mouth, all on a round pita bread for the face. Use whichever fruits and vegetables your child likes to start with, and then use features of the face to offer your toddler a chance to try new foods.

Blend a fruit smoothie that you freeze in ice cube trays to create fun summer treats your toddler will love or use skewers for vegetables and fruits to create a rocket ship. Making food can be great fun and a lovely way to encourage creativity.

Allowing your child to explore many different creative outlets will help your child to discover the joys of creativity and will help your child to find ways of expressing himself or herself. Toddlers need ways to express their feelings in ways other than speaking and creative play will enable some of that to happen. These activities will provide good physical and manual dexterity development, leading your child into activities that will enable learning at school.

The Ultimate List of Sensory Tubs – 15+ Ideas

By Marnie Craycroft Leave a Comment Filed Under: Activities Tagged With: Sensory This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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Whether you're looking for a specific month or a specific occasion, this list of sensory tubs will undoubtedly include what you need!

What Are Sensory Tubs?

Sensory tubs are a hands-on way to allow your child to learn through exploring objects, the colors and the feel of them, especially.

The Ultimate List of Sensory Tubs

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is a favorite of mine with vibrant colors, lively festivals, and profound traditions.

Our Chinese New Year bin is simple. I've made the mistake in the past of making sensory bins too “noisy” and overstimulating for my boys. I wanted simple colors and a few cultural items. I colored rice a bright red to use as the base. My boys were in love with the simplicity and truly enjoyed this Chinese New Year sensory activity.

I went to our local international market to pick up the rest. I am certain that Amazon carries many wonderful Chinese New Year items for kids. I included kids chopsticks for tweezing items like coins, charms, lanterns, and snakes. Our favorite item is by far the Buddha. I also purchased small bowls and cups for pouring and transferring.

Before we played with the sensory bin, we read this great children's book on Chinese New Year titles Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Chinese New Year: With Fireworks, Dragons, and Lanterns. I highly recommend it as an introductory activity. Here are a few additional children's books on Chinese New Year that I recommend to you. The boys had a great time playing with the bin and I trust I'll pull it out every few days over the next month.

Whale Themed

We visited the amazing Natural History Museum in Brewster, Massachusetts last week. Among the number of wonderful exhibits and learning activities, they offer children and adults was a Whale Eating Krill Sensory Tub. Very neat idea integrating fun fine motor skill development, science and, well, a whole lot of water sensory fun! Both my 3 and 1.5 years old enjoyed the tub.

Objects for this Sensory Tub:

A tub filled halfway with water
Tongs of various sizes to capture fish and whales
Fish figurines
Whale figurines
Parsley or Thyme to serve as Krill and doubles as a lovely olfactory experience too
A comb to simulate the whale's teeth/mouth scooping up krill
A mat, tarp or shower curtain to lay underneath the tub if you cannot do this activity outside

Additional Whale Resources & Tips:

Take the comb and rake up the herbs floating around the tub. Explain to the child what the herb and the comb represents.
Encourage use of various sized tongs to stimulate fine motor development with a challenge
I found this great Krill printout. You should check it out.
What do Whales Eat? I discovered this information loaded website. A good resource for tricky whale questions!
National Geographic is a not to be missed site for wonderful images and loads of information

Yellow Themed

I dug out our supply of water beads and went nuts filling a galvanized tub. We explored and squeezed and bounced the water beads. Tablespoons helped for scooping. My boys enjoyed carrying a single water bead to our water table. We used tongs for to transfer the yellow porcupine balls and the slippery water beads.

June Sensory Tub

I had only one word in mind as I was creating this Montessori inspired June Sensory Tub: YELLOW. Granted we've been having lovely weather here in Seattle but we could use even more brightness to get us through to the true summer season.

So what we the main ingredients to this big, beautiful, bright yellow sensory adventure?

Split peas (Pantry)
Corn kernels (Pantry)
Pom Poms (Amazon)
Egg Shakers (Amazon)
Ribbon for wrapping gifts (Own)
Mini watering can (Dollar Tree)
Mini yellow school bus (Dollar Tree)
Mini planting tub (Dollar Tree)
Bee figurines (Dollar Tree)
A toy car (Own)
Mini foam numbers and letters (Own)
Four medium-sized widgets (Own)
Porcupine Balls (Amazon)
Flowers (Dollar Tree)

Cinco de Mayo Themed

We couldn't let Cinco de Mayo get by us without a sensory tub! While playing with this tub, we listened to a Cinco de Mayo playlist I created from iTunes.

Everything I purchased for this Cinco de Mayo sensory tub was inexpensive from the Dollar Store & Amazon.

Jalapenos
Mexican Flags
Green, Red and White Pom Poms
Mini Sombreros
Melissa & Doug Maracas

Earth Day Theme

For this Earth Day themed sensory tub, I decided to focus on the colors of the earth – brown (land), blue (water), green (plants), yellow (sun) and white (clouds).

I started with a base of globe bouncy balls and real pine cones (borrowed from our nature basket). Then I added a few items like egg carton scraps from a recent egg carton challenge, green and yellow porcupine balls, pom poms, cotton balls, and tree figurines. I added tongs, silicone cups, and a scoop for fine motor work.

Discuss the various items and what each represented in the tub:

White pom poms and cotton balls > Clouds
Blue pom poms > Water
Green pom poms and porcupine balls > Plants
Yellow porcupine balls > Sun
Egg carton scraps > Reusing and recycling

Sensory Tub with Worms

When the pasta was all ready to bring out back for the “big surprise” as I phrased it to my toddler, the rain began to pour down. It was a mild day so I asked my boys, “Who wants to get soaked??” They jumped with glee. We put our rain gear on (sort of) and raced outside.

Our sensory tub from last week was still available for play in the backyard. So I took the spaghetti noodles, dumped them into the soil-filled container and shouted, “Oh, yuk! Worms! Everywhere!” What young boy would not jump with absolute excitement! It was pretty awesome. When the rain really started to pour down, our garden tub became a garden soup.

Spring Garden Tub

We launched full force into Spring with a gardening sensory tub. Originally I thought we'd be doing this tub indoors but we lucked out with weather today. We used a 28-quart storage container. We collected rocks on the beach yesterday. Last night I painted them so that my preschooler could hunt for the rock letters and spell S-P-R-I-N-G and E-A-R-T-H.

Spring critters galore with a few broken-down egg cartons for scooping and planting! I picked up kids-sized gardening tool including gloves at Target. We used black beans, potting soil, green lentils and coffee grounds for a base. My toddler added in the rocks we collected yesterday, carefully placing them on the soil.

So pretty. Great sounds and colors.

These adorable carrots were great for scooping and fine motor skills. I picked up from Target.

A complete list of what we included:

28 quart sized storage container
Kids sized gardening tools
Kids sized gardening gloves
Egg cartons for scooping
Bug figurines
Rocks without and with painted letters to spell SPRING and EARTH
Potting soil
Black beans
Green lentils
Small watering can
Coffee grounds
Plastic Carrot Easter containers
Melissa & Doug Fruits & Vegetables
Green porcupine balls

St. Patrick's Day Theme

Green, green, green. Shamrocks, gold coins, large shimmery green pom poms, small fuzzy green pom poms. Shiny green confetti. Leprechaun hats and glittery shamrocks. I added some green and white leis and green and gold beaded necklaces. Plus tongs and a few big cups to scoop.

I purchased most things at Dollar Tree and a few items (gold coins and pom poms) from Amazon. Once we're done with the holiday, I am going to pack everything up in the same bin we used to explore the sensory bin (including St. Patrick's Day books, stickers that were not included in the sensory bin activity).

November Theme

Well, brace yourselves for a mess but this sensory experience will surely delight your child! My general concept was a deconstructed turkey dinner. I added some fun bits like the boat and mini football. My favorite part was the texture of the instant potatoes.

What we added to our bin:

3 boxes of uncooked instant potatoes
Finger puppets of pilgrim turkeys (eBay)
Corn kernels
Kidney beans
Dried cranberries
Fake wishbones
Dried bread bits
Mini footballs
Mini boat
Measuring cup
Scoop

My son ended his experience by climbing into the tub and pretending to fall asleep. I explained that that is what people usually do after a big turkey dinner. Then he helped me sweep and vacuum up the mess. So, you see, we had a sensory and practical life experience. Not bad for a morning's work!

As I mentioned, this one was messy so I suggest either doing it outdoors, placing a tarp under the bin, or placing the bin in a larger container (erh…like a plastic kids pool!).

It was a lot of fun so just prepare yourself for the messiness and enjoy watching the sensory madness!

Under the Sea

Per my usual MO, this sensory tub is pretty darn simple. I bought red and blue rocks from our local pet store. Coming in many shapes and colors, aquarium rocks are great for sensory tubs.

Along those same lines are aquarium plants. All sorts of wonderful shapes, sizes, and textures from which to choose. I bought a handful to use as we progress along with our various sensory experiences. I added water for some good pouring, sea creatures (of course) and a few scooping and pouring devices like a tablespoon and measuring cup.

Beach Themed Sensory Tub

When the temperatures rapidly declined here in our neck of the woods, I pull out our beach activities! We love to revisit some good old sunshine fun.

We included lots of fun stuff in this beach-themed sensory tub. Most of the goodness you see in this tub was purchased at a local pet store. We added the tractor, dinosaurs and measuring cups to maximize playing and scooping pleasure!

The sand you see in this photo is sand that one would use in a reptile tank (if one were so bold to own reptiles). The sand is very fine and wonderful to run little fingers and hands through…

I put some sand in a measuring cup and also in the base of the tub beneath the rocks. The rocks are for the same purpose but for a fish, or whatever kind of creature you may want to own tank. I purchased big rocks that are smooth to the touch.

The plants I put in the tub are for fish tanks too. There are all sorts of varieties of fun fake plants from which to choose. I bought several for future creative sensory use!

We also added a few sea creatures that we purchased from our local aquarium. You can buy these creatures online at Amazon for a reasonable price. We had loads of fun playing in this tub.

We even added some water in one version to truly get an Under the Sea feel. I like the idea of bringing this tub out during the dead of winter when it's too cold and rainy to truly enjoy playing outdoors. The mind is a powerful thing. Imagine the beach and sunshine and it just may take you there…

Treasure Theme

Things to consider including in a Treasure Tub:

Various beads (local bead shop), gems (Amazon) and mineral stones(local Pet Store) as the “treasures” but honestly digging up most things is exciting for kids. In fact, we added little animals, dinosaurs and sea creature figurines (Amazon) too.

I created mini “I Spy Bottles“, which you can see in the photo. I bought the bottles at Storables but I am sure there are great finds like these bottles at thrift stores too. They were 99 cents each. In these mini bottles, I added rice and hid all sorts of goodies in them.

One cool fine motor and practical life aspect to this activity are that the mini bottles are for spices generally and have a top with holes. So my son would screw the top off (and on again) and could shake some of the rice out of the bottle if he was having trouble finding the hidden treasure.

Good scoopers and diggers are a must. I added a measuring cup(own), a tablespoon (own), colored popsicle sticks (super cheap on Amazon) and plastic eggs (Super cheap at Target) leftover from Easter. The other key item we included is the handheld pasta strainer.

This tool makes for a wonderful rice sifter. Your child will be thrilled to dig around and sift out hidden gems! Oh, and don't forget a fun little “treasure bag” (I had this bag buried deep in my dresser to hold jewelry) and magnifying glass, both very important items when one goes on a treasure hunt!Â My son loves finding treasures and adding them to his treasure pouch. The bag is the small black square in this photo.

The joy is endless with Treasure Tubs. There is the hunt, the exploring, and the general sensory goodness. Watch your child go wild over finding treasures and “dig a little deeper” with his imagination!

Oats and Water Mash

Seriously, kids' activities don't get much easier than this one.

All you need is a bin, water, dry oats, and a whisk. My son grabbed a measuring cup and I added a lemon squeezer and a spatula just for fun. Oh, I also recommend a towel, mat or small tarp to place under the bin.

This one can be a bit messy. I also added some spice to the mix (or my son did). We added traditional flavors with oats, a little cinnamon, and brown sugar. Yum.

The texture is mushy and potentially ‘gooey'. My two-year-old had loads of fun whisking the oats and water using his imagination to tell me what he was cooking up.

This activity helps develop sensory, fine motor and practical life (whisking and food) skills.

Super Simple Oats and Pasta

This tub was created on a whim to buy me a bit of time one morning. I opened up the kitchen cabinets and perused the shelves. So simple: oats, egg noodles, a tablespoon, chopsticks, and a measuring cup. My son added a few other items like the dump truck, lily pad and animal figurine.

My point with this post is not so much to suggest that you recreate this tub, although oats and egg noodles make for good sensory fun, but instead to remind you that these exercises can be easily and simply integrated into your daily routine.

In this exercise, we explored food, fine motor skills, measuring/math, and textures. How simple was that learning?

Halloween Sensory

Here is what we included this month:

Orange colored rice (I have a 30 lb bag of rice stored away for these occasions. Coloring rice is simple. Food coloring or gel, a little vinegar, a plastic bag and bake at a low temperature or let dry overnight.)
Black beans (beans from farmers' market tucked away in our cabinet)
Mini pumpkins (local grocery store)
Baked pumpkin seeds (from a gutted pumpkin)
Various sized black and orange pom-poms (ordered a huge bag from Amazon. Super inexpensive.)
Rubber insects, mice, spiders, bats and skeletons ($1 per package at Target)
Misc. shiny Halloween table scatters (Target)
A scoop (already own)
A cup (already own)
A pair of mini tongs (already own)
A mini ladle (already own)
A tablespoon (already own)

Farm Themed

Growing up in New England, my affinity towards the fall season is a little extreme. I love the crisp air, the smells and the deep, beautiful colors. So, of course, I am excited about fall activities. The Farm Sensory Tub is simple and fun. Great sensory exploration and fine motor skill development as my son enjoy cracking the peanuts, too!

What We Included:

Critter feed that includes birdseed, corn kernels, and peanuts in their shells
Farm figurines
A silicone measuring cup
Measuring cups from his kitchen
A teaspoon
A few matchbox cars including a tractor
Letters F-A-R-M

The best part about this sensory box, at least for us, is that the critters come visit us a lot more often. The beautiful bluejays and even the squirrels scurry up for a taste of peanuts. A great learning experience for him, my son adores these visits and so do The other day I said to my husband, “huh, the bluejays seemed to have disappeared on us.” He reminded me that I had put away the sensory bin. Good point.

September Themed

I grew up in New England and I just love the warmness and fuzziness of fall. I have wonderful memories of running through apple orchards with my cross country team, wearing wool sweaters that itched my chin and, ah, the smell. So, yes, fall is by far my favorite season – apple picking, apple cider, crisp air, turning leaves…As you can imagine, I was excited to create a fall sensory tub.

This tub includes (lots of “fake” stuff because I'd like to store it away – we'll add the real deal soon enough):

Real and fake acorns
Real and fake pinecones
Cinnamon Sticks
Fake leaves of all sort of colors
Broken bits of raw spaghetti to simulate hay on a farm
Fake gourds
Magnet letters that read “A-P-P-L-E”
Farm figurines
A scoop
A pair of tongs

Sensory Tub Supplies

10 Easy to Do Puffy Paint Activities & Crafts for Kids

By Marnie Craycroft Leave a Comment Filed Under: Activities Tagged With: Art, Sensory This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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Puffy paint is easily one of the most fun art materials. The cool part is that it is easy to make and the variations seem endless! Kids and adults both love it! There are so many things you can do with it. You've probably seen t-shirts and Christmas ornaments designed with the material. Here are more activities and crafts that your little ones will love!

What is Puff Paint? How to Make Puff Paint

There are many ways to experiment with puff paint. At its essence, puffy paint is shaving cream (the biggest component), equal parts glue & flour, and liquid watercolor (or food coloring). As I said, though, you can explore different ways to make this material simply by varying the amount of each ingredient. This post outlines one way we've made puff paint in the past: How to Make the Easiest Puff Paint in the Universe.

10 Creative Puffy Paint Activities

Melted Snowman

Mix up some glue and shaving cream and you have yourself the perfect material for a melted snowman! Like most kids probably will, this little girl is loving the texture of her snowman.

Edible Puffy Paint Craft

Puffy paint isn't edible, which can certainly be a challenge with some of our little ones who like to taste everything! ;) This edible version is easy to make and can ease that worry a bit. However you probably still don't want them to eat a bunch of it!

photo of edible puffy paint easter craft

Scented Pumpkin Puffy Paint

This is a great sensory activity for fall! Pumpkin is everywhere in the fall, so here is a great idea to add a seasonal activity to your curriculum.

Make Planets: A Solar System Craft

I love solar system crafts! Adding the wonder of outer space to our curriculum is so fun. Learning about the solar system is mesmerizing and it can be difficult to comprehend. This is why I think it is so great- it adds depth to their knowledge.

Puffy Paint Moon Phases

Another one of my favorite things to teach children and learn about myself is the moon! The moon is fascinating and learning about the phases can be a great educational moment to implement into your evening.

Valentines Day Puffy Paint

Another adorable craft! You could make these hearts as a single craft, a garland to decorate, or as a Valentine's Day gift.

DIY Puffy Paint

Puffy paint is filled with uncertain ingredients. I love this recipe because I always know what's in it!

Ice Cream Puffy Paint Activity

Check out this adorable ice cream craft! You can design a core or a sundae and make it super colorful with the paint, glitter, stickers, and more!

Ocean Puffy Paint Activity

This is a great activity to add to your ocean unit! Also a fantastic activity for learning colors and practicing math.

Mother's Day Puffy Paint Craft

Here is a new Mother's Day craft to add to the mix! Make flowers and other spring outlines and designs. Kids will love sharing their new discovery of this art material with Mom!

I want to hear more ideas from you! I hope you enjoyed learning about these activities!

Related Resource: How to Make Puff Paint

Marnie

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, check out this fun sensory activity with gelatin!

8 Easy & Inexpensive Leaf Activities for Kids

By Marnie Craycroft 27 Comments Filed Under: Activities Tagged With: Fall, Infant & Toddler, Kindergarten, Preschool, Seasons This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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As I was thinking about Fall Activities for my 3 and 1.5-year-old, I discovered so many Easy, Inexpensive & Creative Leaf Activities on Pinterest, I decided I had to share my top 8 Easy, Inexpensive & Creative Leaf Activities.

Photos are sourced from respective blogs with a link back to the post. Please click through to their sites for more details!

8 Easy, Inexpensive & Creative Leaf Activities for Your Home & Classroom

Living Montessori Now has a great round up of activities including this one by To The Lesson! From practical life to math to science, you will find many Montessori inspired activities for your home and classroom.

Love the creativity in this leave activity from Full Circle. The greatest part is how the activity combines art and the senses. Children crumple dry leaves and create their own masterpiece! Process art at its best!

My Kids Make has two activities that I adore a Leaf Rubbing and a Leaf Connect the Dot. Leaf rubbing is easy to do and inexpensive. Take the kids out to gather leaves, pack paper, and crayons, and find a spot to rub leaves! A wonderful fall outdoor activity for children

These leaf prints from Kleas are gorgeous and so easy! Kids love this art activity. Go outside and gather leaves. Paint one side of the leave and make a gorgeous print.

One of my favorite blogs, Happy Hooligans, incorporates learning and movement into their fall activity. How beautiful is this spiral of leaves?

I love the simplicity and honesty in working with younger children in this fall activity post by Gigi's Joy. Another leaf printing idea but the post is worth the read!

This “foliage friends” from Family Fun @ Disney are too adorable not to include in this list. Kids can get so creative with this activity. I love watching their imaginations run wild!

This Leaf Sun Catcher from Adventures in Reading With Kids is simple and beautiful. I love the use of branches for the frame. Grab some contact paper and create away!

I hope we inspired you today!
Marnie

How to Build a Magnetic Car with Your Kids

By Marnie Craycroft 2 Comments Filed Under: Science Tagged With: Physics This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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Kids love learning about magnetism! Building a magnetic car is simple and packs a big punch with science learning. Plus children have a great time! Magnets? Cars? Sign me up! This post includes steps on how to build a magnetic car.

What is Magnetism in Simple Terms?

Magnetism is defined as “a physical phenomenon produced by the motion of electric charge, resulting in attractive and repulsive forces between objects.”

How a Magnet Works:

A magnet has two ends called poles, a north pole or north-seeking pole and a south pole or south-seeking pole.
The north pole of one magnet attracts the south pole of a second magnet, while the north pole of one magnet repels the other magnet's north pole. So we have the common saying: like poles repel, unlike poles attract.
A magnet creates an invisible area of magnetism all around it called a magnetic field.
The north pole of a magnet points roughly toward Earth's north pole and vice-versa. That's because Earth itself contains magnetic materials and behaves like a gigantic magnet.
If you cut a bar magnet in half, it's a bit like cutting an earthworm in half! You get two brand new, smaller magnets, each with its own north and south pole. (This is, of course, a joke. You don't get two worms if you cut a worm in half. But you do get two magnets.)
If you run a magnet a few times over an unmagnetized piece of a magnetic material (such as an iron nail), you can convert it into a magnet as well.

{Source: Explain That Stuff}

Materials Needed for Magnetic Car

Two magnets (you can use two bar magnets, or in our case, we used a round magnet and a magnetic wand)
Small box
Straw or Dowel
Clay
Tape
Toothpicks (not needed if you use a wooden dowel)
Wheels (we used lego wheels but you can use cardstock cut into circles, too)

Related Read: Science of Flight Activities for Kids

How to Make a Magnetic Car

Tape a magnet inside the small box
Cut the straw or the dowel into two pieces to match the size of the box
Tape down to the outside of the box
If you are using cardstock to create the wheels, cut out four circles at this point, then push the toothpicks through the straw and attach the cardstock wheels onto the ends
We used lego wheels so we attached the wheels to the dowel
Place the car onto a flat surface and use your second magnet to pull and push the car

My sons were enamored with this car! They had a blast making it go backward and forwards, creating a road, obstacles, and experimenting with the magnets. We placed magnets in different spots and used different sized magnets varying in strength, too. Lots of science learning!

Additional Resources on Magnetism

A great way to introduce this science concept is with a traditional Montessori magnetic/non-magnetic work. I created these Magnetic/Non-Magnetic worksheets to supplement the hands-on sorting and experimenting activities!

Montessori Services has a prepared magnetic/non-magnetic work with everything you'd need for the lesson. I tried to use objects easily accessible at home or in a classroom.