Have you ever played corn hole? How about skee ball? Try mixing them together to make a fun and engaging activity for your little one that you can enjoy over and over again.

Materials:

• Large cardboard box
• Balloons filled with rice or beans (you can also use balls or bean bags, if available)
• Rainbow painters tape or markers
• Box cutter

Set-up Instructions:

1. Find a large cardboard box. You will cut multiple holes out of this box which will serve as the target for your little one as they toss.
2. Draw out the holes you want to make for the game. The smaller the holes the more challenging. If you want to introduce shapes, you can also cut out distinct shapes and use these for more advanced directions. 
3. Use your box cutter to cut out all of the designated holes (and be safe!)
4. With your little one in tow, fill a few balloons with rice and tie them tightly. You do not need to inflate them or fill them up completely. This is also a fun activity on its own for your little one to work on their fine motor strength and practice life skills like scooping and pouring. 

Play Instructions:

1. Set up your cardboard box with the holes facing up.
2. Assign each of the holes a color or number (similar to what you would see on a skee ball game). 
3. Demonstrate to you child how to throw the balloon into the desired hole. This is a great way for children to work on their fine motor development, concentration, hand eye coordination, control, and gross motor development. They may need some practice, so keep encouraging them or start closer to the box to get going.
1. If you are using colors, you can add an extra challenge of asking your little ones to match the color balloon with the corresponding colored hole.
2. If you are using numbers, when your child gets a balloon into a hole, have them write the number down and have them add their score every turn. This is a great way to make early math concepts fun!  Depending on the age of your child, you can use bigger numbers as they notice their math abilities progress.

Skill areas addressed:

• Fine motor development
• Concentration
• Hand-eye coordination
• Discipline
• Control
• Math concepts
• Color recognition
• Gross motor development 

Extensions & Adjustments: 

• For 2-3 years of age, make the holes on the larger side and use either colors or smaller numbers like 1 and 2.
• For 5 years of age, use larger numbers to challenge their mathematical abilities (numbers 1-5). This will allow them to work on basic addition while having a blast.
• For 6-8 years of age, use bigger numbers to foster their math skills. For example, if you have six holes, use numbers 2, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20).

Author: Chris Longo

Materials:

• A puzzle that your little one loves (otherwise, they won't be incentivized or curious!)
• A flat surface above the floor (table, chair, stool, couch, etc)

Instructions:

1. Set the puzzle on the surface. In order for this activity to be interesting to your little one, they should love (or at least like) this puzzle and be excited or curious to piece it together. If not, it would be best to have them practice ahead of time so they know what to do with each puzzle piece. 
2. Remove all the pieces and put them on the floor, facing up.
3. Place the frame of the puzzle on your elevated flat surface. If this is a single jigsaw puzzle, place a portion of the already-done puzzle on this surface. It should be easily accessed when your child is standing.
4. Encourage your infant to squat to retrieve one puzzle piece at a time and place it in the puzzle. Each time they squat they are stretching muscles in their ankles, hips, and trunk, helping to increase range of motion needed for activities like running and climbing. They are also building balance skills, by moving their center of mass through space. Finally, they are building tons of strength! Squats are such a great way to engage glute and abdominal muscles, important for all movement. They are also building fine motor skills when placing each piece in the puzzle. 
5. Each time you put a piece in the puzzle, describe the puzzle piece, or if the baby is talking, encourage them to tell you about it. “The cow says MOO!"  “Can you find the pink pig?” “Do you see a BIG horse and a little cat?” This helps to build the baby's language skills!
6. Repeat until all the pieces are in the puzzle and do it again and again. 
7. If your little one needs to step away or gets distracted, keep the puzzle in the same spot and encourage them to return to it to finish!

Skill areas addressed: 

• Gross motor skills
• Coordination
• Motor control
• Balance
• Fine motor skills
• Core and leg strength
• Language skills
• Mobility

Extensions & Adjustments: 

• For younger babies (9-12 months), knob puzzles are a great place to start, and they likely will need some assistance to successfully place the pieces in, which is fine! 
• Also for younger babies (9-11 months), if squatting all the way to the floor is too hard, use two surfaces like a coffee table and a stool to shorten the distance between the pieces and the puzzle frame and therefore make the squat easier. 
• For older babies (15-18 months), try more of a challenge. Spread the puzzles pieces out instead of having them right on the floor. 

Author: Brittany Gardner

Materials:

• Large piece of paper or cardboard
• Marker
• 26 toy vehicles (or other figurines)
• Dot stickers or labels

Instructions:

1. Start by drawing out 26 "parking spaces" on your piece of paper or cardboard. Leave enough space for your child to "park" their toy vehicle within the spot. 
2. Mark each parking space with a letter of the alphabet. 
3. Write a letter of the alphabet on each of your dot stickers.
4. Attach one dot stickers to each of the toy vehicles with the letter clearly visible for your little one.
5. Set the cars next to the parking lot. Before the game begins, come up with a story with your little one around what is happening. Are these cars parking because they are all part of a big race? Who are the people inside each of these cars? This is a fun way to promote pretend play involving your little one's passion. 
6. Start by demonstrating what the object of the game is for your little one. This will encourage concentration as they focus on imitating you.
7. Pick a toy car and read the letter of the alphabet on the dot aloud. "This car has the letter B on it." This, alone, encourages letter recognition and verbal skills for your toddler. 
8. Then, with a controlled hand, drive the car to the parking spot with the corresponding letter of the alphabet. Narrating your actions can help guide your child. "This parking spot has the letter B on it. I am going to drive my car with the letter B on it and park there." 
9. Now, have your child select a new vehicle and do the same. If they are struggling, ask your child to direct the car to the right spot. You can provide guidance by asking them to first identify the letter on the car and then asking them questions like, "Point where the letter A is in the parking lot." As your child holds the car, this helps establish hand-eye coordination, fine motor control, and concentration.

Skill areas addressed: 

• Fine motor development
• Letter recognition
• Concentration
• Hand-eye coordination
• Pretend play

Extensions & Adjustments: 

• If your child is 1-2 years of age and is not ready to learn their letters yet,  there are so many ways you can alter this activity for your child. You can do this with colors, shapes or even numbers.
• If your child is between 3-4 years of age and is learning their uppercase and lowercase letters you can have them match the lowercase cars to the uppercase parking space or vice versa.
• Overall, this activity can be adjusted to suit your child's specific interests. For example, if child loves animals, the 26 toy vehicles can be replaced with 26 toy animals, and they can be taking a seat at a stadium. Get creative!

Author: Chris Longo

Need sidewalk chalk? Try the Unicorn Horn Sidewalk Chalk.

A simple and easy way to help kids work on gross motor skills and get the wiggles out is with a sidewalk chalk obstacle course. This activity can also help with balance, coordination, and following directions.

Materials:

• An open space with concrete or pavement (ideally with an even surface!)
• Sidewalk Chalk

Instructions:

1. Take a piece of sidewalk chalk to create an obstacle course on your driveway or sidewalk. You want to create a variety of shapes and obstacles to get your little ones' bodies moving and stretching in different ways. Every symbol represents a different type of action. Here are some symbols to get you started, but coming up with some new actions that are unique to your family can be a great way to stretch their creative muscles a bit more as well: 
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Choose as many or as few as you wish based on the actions your little one finds challenging or needs to practice. Each of the above actions are excellent for improving gross motor skills as well as increasing their coordination through the combination of different movements one after another.
3. Model the obstacle course once for yours kids, so they understand what each symbols means. 
4. Next, have them copy each skill after you do it. This helps them practice following directions and aids with memory recall.
5. Finally, let them loose on the obstacle course to practice. If they forget what a symbol means, give them prompts to help them remember or demonstrate the skill from the sidelines. This helps to build confidence and autonomy. 

Skill areas addressed:

• Gross motor skills
• Coordination
• Balance
• Following directions
• Memory recall

Extensions & Adjustments: 

• For kids 5 years or older, you can make the obstacle course longer or more complex. Incorporate letters, numbers, words or math problems to add a new challenge to every step. For example, hop on the A, the T and the F. Can you spell "THE" by jumping on the correct letters? What is 3 + 2? Jump on the correct answer. You could also time them to add another level of difficulty.

• For kids 3 years and younger, pick movements that are easier for them to do, such as running, hoping, and twirling. Making the obstacle course shorter will also help so they have fewer symbols to memorize.

Author: April Karschner

Playdough is a great activity to keep a toddler busy. But what if you don't have any? Not a problem. This is an easy recipe to make your own play dough from your pantry essentials. 

Materials & Ingredients:

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 cup of water
• 1/3 cup of table salt 
• 2 tsps of cream of tartar
• 1 tbs of vegetable of canola oil 
• Food coloring (various colors)
• Wax paper (optional)

Instructions:

1. Combine the flour, cream of tartar and salt into a sauce pan.  
2. Add a few drops of food coloring to the water and then mix the vegetable oil and water into the flour mix. 
3. Put the saucepan on your stove and turn your burner to low/medium. Stir slowly until your play dough starts to solidify. If there are a few lumps, that's ok! This process can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on the type of stove you have.  
4. Remove the playdough from the stove and place it on wax paper to allow it to cool.
5. Once it has cooled, knead the playdough to remove any extra lumps before handing it over to the kids! 
6. When it's time to play, give the playdough to your little ones without giving any direction to see how they would like to interact with it. Use slow and controlled movements to show them how they can squish it in their hands or pat it into a surface in front of them. Provide guidance when needed, but this playdough play is all about open-ended, free play for your little one. 
7. Introduce tools like a small rolling pin or cookie cutters extend playtime. As they manipulate the playdough, they'll be strengthening their hands, fine motor skills, and improving hand-eye coordination.

Extensions & Adjustments: 

There are lots of opportunities for customization based on your toddler’s age and skills:

• For older toddlers (30 months and up) you could add kid-safe scissors into the mix. As them to roll up their playdough to make spaghetti and then cut them into smaller pieces with the scissors.
• For kids 4 years and older, you can add some letters or numbers into the mix. Can they build the number "4" using just playdough? Can they write the letter A using their finger in the dough? This will improve their pre-writing skills while playing. 

Author: Denisa Mitu

Materials:

• A puzzle 
• Items for your obstacle course - anything that can safely be stepped or crawled on! Some favorites: pillows, stepping stones, rolled yoga mat, books, towels, boxes, bins, step stool, and couch cushions, tunnel, or make a tunnel with chairs and blanket

Instructions:

1. Designate a start and end to the obstacle course. Place the empty puzzle frame (if a wooden puzzle) or a portion of a jigsaw puzzle at one end of the room and additional puzzle pieces at the other. Going down a hallway or across a room is the best. 
2. In between your endpoints, fill the area with fun items for your obstacle course. Adjust the difficulty of the obstacles based on your child's age and agility. Have your little one help build the course, too. Some examples:
1. Walk over things like broom sticks, blocks, or jump rope—this builds balance skills.
2. Crawl under a blanket tunnel—this builds core strength. 
3. Climb over a coffee table—this builds core, leg, and arm strength. 
4. Use a rolled yoga mat as a balance beam—this builds balance skills.
5. Make stepping stones out of pillows—this builds balance, coordination, and spatial awareness skills.
3. Start at the end of the obstacle course with the puzzle pieces and instruct your child to carry the puzzle pieces through the course to put it back where it belongs.
4. Repeat until all the pieces are in the puzzle! Puzzles work on problem solving, language, and fine motor skills. 

Skill areas addressed:

• Gross motor skills
• Coordination
• Motor control
• Balance
• Problem-solving
• Spatial awareness
• Strength 

Extensions and adjustments:

• For kids ages 2-3 years old, try larger and more stable objects that are close together, as kids are still developing their balance and spatial awareness.
• For kids ages 3-4 and older, or those who are looking for more of a challenge, try spreading the objects apart and using smaller, and less stable objects.

Author: Kassi Hemming

Toddlers love to do everything themselves, but sometimes that independent streak also causes a lot of frustration. You can help your child by scaffolding future life skills (like getting dressed) with this easy-to-make homemade button snake.

Materials:

• Ribbon
• Large button (the size of a quarter is great for toddlers, or smaller for older kids)
• Needle and thread
• Felt cloth (get creative with colors!)
• Scissors 

Instructions:

1. Cut a length of ribbon. This will serve as the body of your button snake.
2. Stitch your large button securely onto one end of the ribbon. This will serve as the head of your button snake. 
3. Cut a small length of your felt cloth that is a little bit wider than the width of your ribbon. Fold that piece of felt over the tail end of the ribbon and stitch to secure. This will be the anchor end of the snake. Alternatively, if you do not have a needle and thread, you can slip a piece of felt onto the ribbon body and knot it at the end of the snake.
4. To create the individual pieces of your snake, cut your felt cloth into a few small squares or rectangle (2.5" is a great suggestion) ensuring that the length of the slit in the felt is the same width or larger than the width of the button. These will be used to slip onto the body of your button snake. Using different colored felt is a fun way to introduce colors to your toddler and let them get creative. 
5. Take one of your individual pieces of felt and model for your child how to slide the piece through the button head. Show them how to pinch the felt pieces and slide the piece of felt all the way down the ribbon body of your button snake.
6. Have your little one try and watch in wonder at their concentration! Gripping the button and the felt pieces are a great way to enhance pincer grasping, fine motor skills, and their coordination as their hands work in tandem.  

Skill areas addressed: 

• Fine motor skills
• Independence
• Concentration

Extensions & Adjustments: 

• As your child begins to master the button snake, you can also make another set with thin ribbon, smaller buttons, and smaller pieces of felt to button onto the snake. 

• Begin to allow your child to assist you when buttoning their clothing.

Author: Mikaela Martinez

Materials:

• Paper towel holder
• Sturdy paper plates or Tupperware top 

Instructions:

1. Start by cutting out the center of a paper plate (the sturdier or heavier the better). If you have leftover tupperware tops, this is a great use for them as well. This will serve as your "ring" for the toss. Make as many as needed, depending on the number of people playing. 
2. Set your paper towel holder on the floor or a table. Depending on the level of difficulty desired by the group, you can stand closer or further away from the paper towel holder. 
3. Demonstrate to your child how to throw the plates like a frisbee. This will help them develop discipline and control over the way they throw the plate to get it on the paper towel roll holder.
4. Have your little one toss their "ring" with a goal of trying to hook it onto the paper towel holder. Throwing will develop your child’s fine motor development as they grip onto the ring, concentration to aim, and hand-eye coordination to position their ring correctly.
5. If you want to add some extra excitement and learning to this activity, you can add a point system. For example, every time a ring lands on the paper towel holder, you get 1 point. This helps to gamify early math skills and make addition fun! 

Skill areas addressed:

• Fine motor development
• Concentration
• Hand-eye coordination
• Discipline
• Control
• Math concepts

Extensions & Adjustments:

• For 3-4 year of age, focus on the physical aspects of the game rather than adding the point system.
• For 5 years of age, add a point system of 1 point per successful ring, and have your child add up the points on their own.
• For 6-8 years of age, add a point system of 2 or more for each successful ring. This will allow them to work on adding in multiples.

Author: Chris Longo

As a parent, you know that arts and crafts have a tendency to get messy. Do you find yourself wanting to say "no" whenever your child asks you when they can paint because you can already envision how much you're going to have to clean up? Well, there is a way you can say "yes" and avoid the mess altogether! Get ready for your soon to be favorite way to paint: Water Painting!

Materials:

• A small dish with a little bit of water
• A small paintbrush
• Large, flat stone
• Hand towel

Instructions:

1. Place the stone on a flat surface in front of your little one. 
2. Place a small dish with only a splash of water next to their work surface along with a small paintbrush. Remember: you can always add more water, but starting with too much could result in unnecessary spills. 
3. Provide a hand towel or small cloth for drips and spills and encourage your child to wipe up after themselves. 
4. Demonstrate how to dip the brush into the dish, tap off excess water and then paint lines, dots, or squiggles onto the stone. This is great for having your little one concentrate and build cognitive connections between visual learning and imitation. 
5. Put the brush in your child's hand and show them how to grip it. This will build fine motor skills and finger strength. Guide their hand into the small dish of water and then onto the stone to start drawing. Then, let their creativity go wild! 
6. Tip: have another stone or two at the ready. When their stone is completely painted you’ll be ready to swap it out and the fun will continue! 

Skill areas addressed:

• Fine motor skills
• Creativity

Extensions & Adjustments: 

Author: Mikaela Martinez

• Pumpkin (smaller, year-round alternatives: butternut squash, acorn squash)
• Rubber mallet or child size hammer
• Golf tees 
• Paint & paint brush (optional)
• Glitter (optional)
• Glue (optional)

Instructions:

1. Create a space for a little mess-making action. You can lay down a sheet, tarp, cardboard or tackle this activity outside. 
2. Once you have cleared an area for your child, place your pumpkin (or large gourd) out for your little one to start making magic.
3. Ask your child to decorate the pumpkin using open-ended materials like paint, glue, and glitter. Stress that this piece of art can look however they would like it to look.
4. As they decorate, try not to disturb them to ensure that the creative direction is entirely their own. Creativity through process-art is a key method to develop independence and self-confidence.
5. Let the pumpkin dry before moving on to the next step of this activity, or stop here if you are trying this activity with younger children. 
6. Give your child a rubber mallet and a pile of golf tees and let the fun begin! Have them hold the golf tee as they lightly tap to press it into the pumpkin. The golf tee will break the skin and go through gradually. This is great for developing concentration, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and witnessing the process of cause and effect.
7. Children can also make designs with the golf tees or the holes created from the golf tees. 

Skill areas addressed:

• Hand-eye coordination
• Fine motor skills
• Cause and effect

Materials:

• A piece of cardboard 
• Glue Gun (with parental supervision)
• Items of different textures:
• Sponges
• Microfiber towel
• Dusting towel
• Lids from pouches

Instructions:

1. Grab your materials and cut each item to fit on your cardboard.
2. Using your glue gun, adhere all materials to the board in any order or arrangement you would like. Get creative here! Do you want to put similar textures next to each other or mix them up randomly? 
3. Give your child the chance to play the board on their own first. 
4. Sensory activities like this allow your child to explore independently and lay the groundwork for future play, investigation, and curiosity as they become more mobile. Ask them questions about what they might be feeling or experiencing: "Can you find someone that is soft? What does this feel like?"
5. To encourage autonomy, mobility, and stoke curiosity, place your sensory board a few inches away from your child to provoke reaching (eye-hand coordination), standing (balance) and crawling (gross motor) movement. This will also strengthen their core, arms, and legs.
6. Allow your child to explore the board however they wish by transferring it from hand to hand, shaking and grabbing it. These are all development milestones. 
7. When your child is finished, you can put it away or place it up in a slightly elevated location (as long as it is not dangerous or placed in a precarious place) to encourage more reaching and eventually standing. 

Skill areas addressed:

• Gross motor skills
• Coordination
• Motor control
• Balance
• Hand-eye coordination
• Sensory

Extensions & Adjustments:

• You could create a larger one and tape to a wall to encourage standing.
• If you have an older child they could use tacky glue and help create it for their sibling. This will make them feel included in the process. Just allow for drying time.

 
Author: Analisa Carrillo

Materials:

• You can create this from any safe, textured materials you have at home. Some ideas are:
• Grass mat
• Shaggy rug
• Carpet samples
• Recycled items from packaging such as bubble wrap and packing paper

Instructions:

1. Cut materials into squares or rectangles large enough for your little one to walk over.
2. Tape materials onto the floor using painter's tape.
3. Model to your child how to walk over the sensory walk.
4. As your child is walking, they are being exposed to a variety of textures, such as soft, bumpy, smooth.
5. Use this opportunity to help your little one describe what they're feeling to promote vocabulary development.

Skills Addressed:

• Sensory skills
• Vocabulary development
• Self-regulation 

Extensions & Adjustments:

• Take this activity outside! Make designated areas of soft-edged rocks, grass, hay, dirt, leaves, and water. You can even space these areas out to encourage greater gross motor play. This activity incorporates new textures such as wet and hard, with the added benefit of getting outdoors!

Author: Erica

Arts and crafts is such a fun way to encourage self-expression, fine motor skills, creativity and learning. This easy DIY activity will offer a number of creative painting ideas using household objects (and sometimes even food) as an exciting way to experiment with different paint mediums.

Materials:

• Painting paper on an (optional) art easel
• Washable paint
• Plate or palette to mix paints
• Different painting mediums, such as: 
• Plastic Easter eggs, broken in half
• Pool noodle cut into small rings
• Apple cut in half
• Any other household item that you want to test out

Instructions:

1. Gather your painting supplies and the items you want to paint with. Use a variety of shapes, colors and textures. You can use these throughout the activity to help your child identify the differences in the objects you are using. 
2. Take turns dipping your items into the paint and dabbing them onto your paper or easel.
3. Let your child take the lead on choosing items to dip into the paint. You will get a great glimpse into their mind as well as their interests. Watch your kids concentrate and make choices that help them feel in control.
4. Together, you can talk about the shapes the objects make, "This noodle core looks like a giant "O" - where else can you find an "O" like that? Does it look like anything else?" Explore mixing paint colors and narrate what changes you're seeing. "If I add red to yellow, what color does this make? Orange!" Take turns with your little one deciding what colors to paint with and what shapes to make.
5. For an added element of fun, after their painting has dried, invite them to draw on top of their stamped shapes to create faces, animals, or objects found in in the world. 
6. Be sure to hang up the art your little one has created so they can feel celebrated and recognized for their talent and hard work. Give your child an opportunity to talk to you about the painting, the colors used, and why they made the decisions they did. This will give you insight into their creativity, interests and problem-solving skills.

Skill areas addressed: 

• Fine motor skills
• Color recognition
• Shape recognition
• Making choices
• Creativity

Author: Brittany Gardner

Tin Foil Animal Rescue is a parent-favorite activity for keeping little ones occupied and focused. 

Materials:

• Tin foil
• Small animal toys (use what interests your child most, whether it’s toy cars, dolls, or something else that will draw their curiosity into the activity)

Instructions:

1. Start by cutting out your tin foil pieces. You will want to create pieces that are large enough to wrap an entire animal or figurine. 
2. Put your toy animal in the center of the tin foil and wrap the tin foil around it. 
3. Give the tin foil ball you made a squeeze. The tighter you squeeze it, the more difficult it will be for your child to get the animal out—so squeeze tighter for an older child with more advanced motor skills. 
4. Show your child how to get one of the animals out of its tin foil ball. When you reveal what’s inside, use your excited voice to interest them in the activity.

Skill areas addressed: 

• Gross motor skills
• Concentration
• Language

Extensions & Adjustments:

• You can start this activity as early as 1 year old. While your child is still working on their fine motor and pincer grasp development, don’t make the balls too tight. You want them to be able to get the animal out—but make those little hands work for it. Sometimes if it’s too difficult it may discourage them from wanting to continue.
• As your child approaches three years old, you may want to make it a little more difficult. Start by using a larger piece of tin foil and making the balls a little tighter.
• You can also add a little lesson to this activity. Write the numbers 1-6 on the tin foil balls and give your child a die. Have them roll the die, count the dots and find a tin foil ball with the corresponding number.

Author: Chris Longo

If you have any stale cereal or crackers in your house, this is a must-try activity for your toddler. It’s simple, engaging and is great for promoting your little one's fine motor development. The best part is after they finish smashing all the cereal and/or crackers you can use this a second time as sand for a taste safe sensory bin. This activity can also be adjusted for a variety of ages.

Materials:

• Stale cereal or crackers
• Large bin to contain the mess
• Toy hammer, spoon or potato masher for smashing

 Instructions:

1. Start by placing your stale cereal and/or crackers into a bin.
2. Set the bin up outside or on a sheet to contain the mess.
3. Put out some smashing tools like a toy hammer, metal spoon or potato masher. This will allow your little one to work on their fine motor development as they handle the tools.
4. Demonstrate to your child how you use the tools to smash the contents of the bin. Your child will be targeting their fine motor development, overall arm and hand strength, as well as their hand-eye coordination to smash the contents of the bin. This will also allow them to have first-hand experience with cause and effect. Narrate the actions to compound this lesson with observations like "when you break the crackers, they break up into smaller pieces." They will get to see how their actions of smashing the contents of the bin crush it and turn it into dust.
5. Another benefit to this activity? It's taste-safe! If your little one gets curious and wants a taste test, they can, which makes for another added sensory experience for them. Just remember to monitor younger children carefully.

Skill areas addressed: 

• Fine motor development
• Concentration
• Hand-eye coordination
• Cause and effect
• Visual motor skills
• Language

Extensions & Adjustments:

• For children under a year, they might not be able to use the tools provided.  Instead, present them with an object that they can grasp onto like a block. This will allow your child to develop their fine motor development skills through the grasping of the object. Just be sure to monitor them at all times and make sure contents of the bin are not choking hazards.
• For children 3 years of age and above, you can present the activity as is and they will still enjoy it. You can never do too much fine motor practice. This will give them an edge when it comes time to grip a pencil or tie their shoes.
• When they finish, use the contents of the bin again by setting up a beach or construction sensory bin using the smashed cereal and crackers. You can easily extend the play by burying “treasures” in the bin or introducing funnels or scooping toys. This is a great way to reuse the contents to benefit your child’s sensory development while engaging in some pretend play. 

Author: Chris Longo

Materials:

• An empty egg carton
• A pair of scissors
• Popsicle sticks (or tongue depressors) 
• Markers

DIY Instructions: 

1. Flip your egg carton upside down. Outline the diamond of the individual sections in a variety of colors using markers. If just introducing colors for the first time, stick to the 3 primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. If your child already has exposure to color matching, include a variety of colors. 
2. Color popsicle sticks or tongue depressors in corresponding colors, making sure there is an exact count match to provide control of error as your child is sorting. Meaning, if you colored 3 blue diamonds, you will need 3 blue sticks. 
3. Using scissors, cut a small slit just big enough for your colored stick in the center of the diamonds on the bottom of your egg carton. 

Presentation:  

1. Place the egg carton in front of your child with colored sticks to the left. Placing the sticks to the left will require your child to move them from left to right, laying a foundation for early literacy skills such as writing and reading which are done in a left to right motion. 
2. Model how to select one stick, pick it up, and look at the stick closely. Modeling slow, deliberate movements will provide your child with the opportunity to take in your movements without needing to ‘hear’ directions. 
3. Next, model how to match the stick to its corresponding color on the egg carton, slowly sliding the stick into the cut slit. Tip: show your child how to steady the egg carton with their non working hand while they place the stick in the carton. 
4. Now, invite your child to take a turn matching a stick. Observe their movements and model again after their turn if needed. 

Skill areas addressed:

• Color matching
• Visual discrimination
• Sensorial attributes
• Fine motor skills

Extensions & Adjustments:

• For a younger child, begin with only 2-3 color options, preferably the primary colors, red, blue, and yellow. 
• If making one for an older child, include secondary colors such as green, orange, and purple. 
• If 12 is overwhelming, cut your egg carton in half! 

Author: Mikaela Martinez 

What's better than low-maintenance, mess-free play? Bubble foam is a seriously fun activity that's engaging for both toddlers and preschoolers. Taking this activity outside helps keep things even lower maintenance, and adding a car lets kids engage in some serious pretend play! Plus, it’s a genius way to wash those outdoor toys that tend to collect layers of dirt and grime.

Materials:

• Tear free soap
• Water
• Food coloring
• Hand mixer
• Containers and bowls 

Instructions:

1. Mix two parts water to one part tear free soap. Have older kids work on math skills by having them measure out each ingredient! They can also work on their motor control by pouring each element into a bowl. 
2. Add 1-2 drops of food coloring. This is a great chance to have kids work on language skills by labeling the colors they observe or want to use! 
3. Beat on high with a hand mixer until peaks form. This part should be done under constant adult supervision! 
4. Repeat with multiple colors. 
5. Take all of the foam and add it in rows to a large container. Provide kids with a sponge and some water and let them entertain themselves all afternoon by washing their cars or outdoor toys. Washing items with sponges helps to strengthen the same muscles in a child’s wrists and hands that they’ll eventually use in the future for writing and skills like shoe tying. This activity also helps kids work on cause and effect and sequencing- once they add the bubbles to their cars, help them notice that they’ll need to use water to remove them! 

Extensions & Adjustments:

• You can easily wash smaller scale vehicles or animal figures if you don't have a larger car on hand!

Skills areas addressed: 

• Pre-math skills
• Motor control
• Imaginative play
• Fine motor strengthening
• Language development
• Sequencing

This activity is perfect for parents of car lovers or kids who love watching things fly down ramps! Painting with cars is a huge hit with toddlers and preschoolers, and makes for a fun rainy day art project, but adding a ramp element makes this even more magical. Plus, ramps make for a great intro to STEM activity, so if you’re looking for an easy craft activity with a learning twist, look no further!

Materials: 

• A box or two if doing this indoors
• Tape
• Washable paint
• Craft paper
• Tray
• Toy vehicles/cars (different colored)

How To: 

1. Take a box (ones from Costco are perfect for this) and undo the flaps on both ends.
2. Tape one end to a table and place the other end inside of a large box to contain the mess. Kids can help with this step by peeling the tape which, helps work on their pincer grasp (using their thumb and index finger). 
3. Tape a roll of craft paper to your ramp and set out a tray filled with rainbow colored washable paint. Let kids work on their motor control and allow them to pour the paint themselves on the tray. 
4. Have kids match the correctly colored car to the paint and let them paint tracks on the paper by rolling cars down the ramp. This allows kids to work on recognizing similarities among objects and lets them observe differences as well. Race two or three cars and observe if a certain car goes faster than another - this is a great way to introduce kids to pre math skills like weight and velocity!

• When you’re finished, you can extend this activity by throwing the cars in a bucket of water and having a car wash. This gives kids an opportunity to work on fine motor hand skills! 

Skill areas addressed: 

• Fine motor skills,
• Math skills
• Expressive and receptive language
• Matching
• Creativity 

If the idea of mixing play dough colors makes you anxious, water color mixing is a great way to teach kids about primary and secondary colors using just water, food coloring, and a few supplies you probably already have around your kitchen.

Materials:

• Red, yellow, and blue food coloring
• Clear containers (egg tray, bowls, cups, mason jars, beakers, ice cube trays). These can be plastic or glass, but if your child is still working on their body awareness and coordination, it’s best to stick with plastic.
• Syringes. You can either purchase some or a lot of pharmacies will give them to you if you ask. Bulb syringes are also great if you have them! Note: if you use a turkey baster, these can be harder for kids to use and often lead to frustration and mess. 
• Water
• Spoons (to mix if necessary)

Instructions:

1. Fill 3 containers with water, and use food coloring to make them red, yellow and blue.
2. Set your other containers or ice cube trays on a counter or table and provide each child with a few syringes and spoons.
3. Before giving kids access to the colored water, give them a beginner color theory lesson by explaining how three primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) can be used to make all other colors, known as secondary and tertiary colors, such as:

4. Show kids how to suck up colored water with a syringe and expel the water into an empty container. Using a syringe helps them practice their pincher grasp and helps develop strength, control and coordination in the hands and fingers. This is also a beneficial pre-writing exercise.
5. Give them the containers with colored water and have them select 2 to use to make their new color, then repeat. This allows them to put the color theory they have learned into practice and increases their problem solving as they attempt to make the secondary colors on their own.
6. Once all containers are full, kids can then mix the colors they’ve already created to create even more colors (tertiary).

Skill areas addressed: 

• Problem solving
• Fine motor skills
• Language
• Colors

Extensions & Adjustments:

• For kids 6 years and above, you can also introduce them to tints (created by adding white to a color) and shades (adding black to a color) by giving them a cup of black and white water. White water can be created by using milk or white tempera paint.

Author: April Karschner

It can be a challenge to keep your little one entertained while stuck inside, but staying at home can be lots of fun with the right arsenal of activities. This is a great indoor rainy day activity to help kids get kids moving and practicing shape recognition. 

Materials:

• Masking tape
• Open floor space

Instructions:

1. Clear a large space on the floor and mark the outline of different shapes using masking tape on the floor. You will want the shapes to be big enough for your little one to be able to place individual items inside the shape. Examples: Square, Circle, Diamond, Rectangle, Triangle, Oval, Pentagon, Hexagon, Octagon, Heart.

2. Have your child stand next to each shape and say the name aloud. If they are new to shapes, you can point at each shape and say it aloud with them and ask them to repeat it to you. Over time, this helps with verbal recognition and language skills.

3. Next, have them trace the shape with their finger, while saying its name. This is a great pre-writing skill and will help with memory recall as they practice the shapes.

4. Now comes the fun part! Say a shape aloud and have your child race around the house to find objects that match that shape and place them in the center of the cut out. Of course, make sure your little one doesn't try to grab an oversized piece of furniture or a delicate piece of furniture! This is great for developing their observational skills (what objects in my world match this shape), problem-solving (what shape does this object match and where on the floor does it belong?) and teamwork, if they work with you or with another participant. 

5. Finally, for kids looking for a challenge, you can take this activity one step further by introducing early math concept. Have your children count the objects in each pile when they're finished to see which shape has the most objects and which has the least. This introduces the concepts of counting, most/least, and comparison. 

Skill areas addressed: 

• Problem Solving

• Teamwork

• Observation

• Communication & Language

Extensions & Adjustments:

• If kids are just starting to learn (2-3 years), start with only two or three different shapes.

• For kids that already know their shapes (3-5 years), pick a color for each shape.  This makes the hunt more challenging.

• For kids who are really good at identifying shapes the first time around, add the additional challenge of time, to see who can find the most shapes in X amount of time.

• To incorporate gross motor skills, have children do an action on their way to find each shape. For example, hop, run, walk backwards, crab walk to find their objects as this also helps get their wiggles out when they’re stuck indoors.

Author: April Karschner

Some of the best activities are made completely from free materials that would otherwise be recycled or thrown away! Use a cardboard box and some markers to create an engaging activity for your little one.

Materials:

• Piece of cardboard (white preferred for more vibrant colors)
• Colored markers
• Box cutter or Exacto knife

Instructions:

1. First, draw a number of rectangles on your cardboard.
2. Fill in each of your rectangles with two colors (left half one color, right half another). Be sure not to duplicate any color combinations. 
3. Cut out one smaller rectangle within your larger colored rectangles.
4. Set the pieces you cut out next to your large cardboard.
5. Demonstrate to your child how to match the rectangles to their proper place. This will help with your child's color recognition and logical thinking skills!
6. Have your child push the piece into place to fit it into the correct rectangle.  Show them how to press down on the piece to fit it into the larger rectangle, strengthening their fine motor skills and hand eye coordination.

Skill areas addressed:

• Fine motor development
• Concentration
• Hand-eye coordination
• Color recognition
• Logical thinking
• Language

Extensions & Adjustments:

• If your child is just starting to learn their colors (around 18 months old), you can still do this activity! Instead of making the rectangles in two different colors, start off with one solid color for each rectangle. This will still start to establish your child's color recognition and fine motor skills.
• If your child is older than 3 years old or is finding this activity to be too easy, try using 3-4 colors for each rectangle. This will benefit your child’s logical thinking skills as they work with multiple colors on each piece.

Author: Chris Longo

Toddlers are visual learners! This is a great activity for teaching parts of the body and helping little ones translate reality into drawings.

Materials:

• Kraft paper of different sizes (the bigger the better!)
• Markers or crayons 

Instructions:

1. Start slow by pointing at different body parts and saying their names aloud. 
2. Ask your little one to imitate you and point at the same body part and repeat the name aloud as well. By mirroring your actions, your little one will practice observing and imitating while also strengthening their language development and comprehension.
3. Find a spacious and comfortable area in the home and prepare your piece or pieces of paper. If you are relying on printer-sized sheets of paper, you can tape them together to make a larger sheet! 
4. Have your toddler lie down and trace their body with a marker or crayon. This is a great way to teach your child patience! If your little one doesn't have the patience to lay down, you can start small and trace a single body part such as a hand or foot.
5. Have your little one color in their silhouette. 

Extensions & Adjustments:

There are lots of opportunities for customization based on your toddler’s age and skills:

• For kids 3 years and old, you can ask them to draw on more details, such as clothes, shoes or uniforms. Halloween costumes is so much fun and a great way to spur creativity. You can also be more anatomically correct and illustrate details such as hair and facial features. This not only improves their dexterity, it always improves their recall memory! 
• For kids 4 years and old, you can introduce more complex teachings, such as organs (lungs, heart, etc.) and bones (a great opportunity to introduce the skeleton). 

Be creative and have fun!

As a parent trying to enter the world of sensory play, it can feel overwhelming knowing where to begin and what items to use.  Sensory play can be as simple or as complex as a parent wants to make it, but in the beginning, household items are enough to get you started. 

With most sensory play, less is more, and that is especially true with babies. Life itself is a sensory experience to them, so activities don’t need to be elaborate to engage them. And remember: their attention span is minutes at most so if an activity you plan only lasts for five minutes that’s a HUGE win in the baby world! It’s also recommended to not let babies eat the sensory fillers. While a majority of these are taste-safe, it’s good practice to not encourage eating with sensory play since not all fillers will be safe as they age. These are five favorite sensory fillers: 

Water:

1. Fill a shallow baking dish ¼ of the way with water  and prop your baby up on a boppy in front of the dish. This allows them to play during tummy time and strengthens those growing muscles while also keeping them at a safe distance from the baking dish.
2. Add large bath toys (to prevent mold, you can hot glue the holes on the outside of the bath toys shut) and foam letters. It’s best to stick with brightly colored bath toys or teethers that babies are used to so they have motivation to explore the water. 
3. Try adding large craft store pom poms to the water as well! Babies can work on strengthening their fine motor skills by squeezing the pom poms with their hands. In doing so, they’re also observing natural cause and effect!

Oats:

Oats are a great, taste safe filler that can be so fun for babies to explore!  

1. Fill a tray with oats and provide either an empty container or cups for scooping and transferring. Scooping and transferring during sensory play is fantastic for building motor skills that your little one can take into their practical life, and it also works on building pre-math skills. As kids begin scooping, pouring and dumping from various containers they’re being introduced to volume and concepts of weight - all through play! 
2. Try adding farm animals to your play to give babies a chance to work on both receptive and expressive language skills. As you introduce each animal to your baby, try to have them mimic the sound each animal makes! This way they’re working on vocabulary and language building while also learning to classify and mimic animals by their sounds. 

Chickpea Foam:

Aquafaba or chickpea foam is a great taste safe (and eye safe) foam to use whenever there’s a can of chickpeas in the depths of your pantry. This foam couldn’t be easier to make and, with a little food coloring, you can dye it different colors to fit a variety of themes.  

1. Drain the liquid from one can of chickpeas and add to a bowl.
2. To make stiff peaks, you can add 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar (this is optional: you can still produce a nice foam without it!)
3. Add a few drops of food coloring if you plan on using it (but you can leave it plain) and then mix on high for 2-3 minutes.
4. Repeat for each color you choose to make.
5. A tip to keep in mind with foam or messy play is to provide  a bowl of water so kids can clean their hands, or extend the activity to cleaning their toys if they so choose. Offering the water can help a child who may feel nervous about messes be more inclined to explore if they know they can easily clean their hands afterwards.

Gelatin:

Jello is so easy to turn into an activity for any occasion, and it’s a great sensory experience to try with babies around 6-8 months! 

1. Make jello according to the box’s instructions (a common one to try is Knox brand gelatin) and hide spoons or teethers in it.

2. Once the objects are added, put the jello in the fridge to set. Once it’s set, take it out and let your baby dig through it to rescue their toys. This is fantastic for working on strengthening the fingers and hand skills necessary for eventually developing the pincer grasp. 

A few things to keep in mind when doing jello rescues:

• Your little one might not be into it at first. Some days the jello dig is a huge hit, other times it’s a flop. Just keep reintroducing, and always provide your little one with a bowl of water for hand cleaning! It’s a cold, sticky sensation and it does take some getting used to.
• Try unflavored gelatin over jello because the sugar in store bought jello can make it extremely sticky. Plus - the unflavored gelatin is sugar free and clear and can be dyed any color.  

Easter Grass:

Easter grass is a great sensory filler for parents who need something quick and easy to set up or prefer not to use food-based products. 

1. Fill a tray with paper easter grass - you can use the plastic kind as well but paper can easily be recycled and it makes a fantastic crunching sound!
2. Once the grass is in the tray, hide toys inside of or underneath it to work on your baby's object permanence and work to build their cognitive skills by finding the partially hidden objects.
3. Another idea to try is to put the grass in a tray and provide a muffin pan into which your baby can transfer the grass. Adding interactive elements like transferring from one container to another really engages babies and works on their motor control and refining their movements. 
4. This is another perfect example of sensory play that can help build language skills. Parents can use this as an opportunity to introduce the different elements of the objects in the sensory tray. Some examples of this can be: 

• identifying the colors your baby can observe in the tray
• describing the feeling of the grass (rough, crunchy) or the other elements like the pom poms (smooth, furry, soft) 

Skills areas addressed:

• Gross motor
• Fine motor hand and finger skills
• Cause and effect
• Expressive and receptive language
• Imaginative play
• Coordination 

Author: Celena Kinsey

It can often be hard to find an activity that keep both their minds and hands occupied productively, but this is a great one for young toddlers to help fine tune finger muscles and hone fine motor skills. This easy coordination-building activity requires next to five minutes of preparation and will have your little one feeling like a hero as they rescue their favorite toys from a rubber band maze.

Always keep a close eye on your little one during this activity to protect their hands and face against stray rubber bands that might snap when pulled.

Materials:

• Bread pan or small bowl
• 5 to 7 favorite toys
• Rubber bands (you can also use softer rubber bands to avoid any danger to your child)

Instructions:

1. Gather your child’s favorite toys and place them inside a pan or bowl of your choice. 
2. Take some rubber bands and wrap them around the pan with a chose toy or toys inside. Depending on your child's level of dexterity, you can arrange the rubber bands in a row or overlapping. Make sure that they are separated far enough so that it is easy for your child to grip the rubber bands securely. 
3. Encourage pretend play by coming up with a story with your kids about what happened: "Oh no! Mr. Unicorn was captured! We have to save him!"
4. Place the pan in front of your sitting child and watch those finger muscles get to work. This action of gripping the rubber bands and determining how to remove them will not only hone their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, but also encourage problem solving and the strengthening of their grasp. 
5. If you notice your child struggling, to avoid unnecessary frustration, remove some rubber bands to make it a bit easier and straight forward to complete the task. If your child is looking for more of a challenge, add more rubber bands or arrange them perpendicularly so they have to strategize how to remove them without hurting themselves. 
6. The sense of accomplishment they experience "rescuing" their toys is also hugely beneficial to promote motivational skills. 
7. For an added element, you can ask your little ones to "re-trap" their toys by placing the rubber bands around the pan themselves. This can support teamwork as you hold the pan together and strengthen their hands and arms as they stretch the rubber band over the toys. 

Skill areas addressed:

• Gross motor skills
• Hand-eye coordination
• Visual perception skills
• Problem solving
• Concentration
• Motivation

Extensions & Adjustments:

• If you do not have a pan, you can also put the rubber bands directly around a stuffed animal or favorite toy for added challenge. 

Author: Analisa Carrillo

Pom poms are a fantastic way to develop fine motor skills and dexterity and are the perfect addition to any type of sensory play. Sensory play is extremely beneficial for children. Simple activities like this have been shown to build nerve connections in the brain that assist children completing more complex tasks in the future. Your little one will love the eye-opening experience of an ice cube and the surprising texture of a pom pom. 

Materials:

• A tray or baking pan
• Pom poms (you can reuse the same pom poms after freezing, too!)
• Ice mold
• Water

Instructions:

1. Fill the ice mold with pom poms. 
2. Add water and freeze overnight. 
3. Place the baking pan or tray on the floor and add the frozen pom poms.
4. Set your child a few inches from the pan to encourage crawling, which will help build strength in their arms and legs.
5. As your child reaches the pom poms, let them  reach, grab, and play with the frozen pom poms as desired. They’ll be intrigued by the cold and texture and this play enhances hand-eye coordination, improves focus, and builds fine/gross motor strength. 
6. Point out and describe what they are doing to increase vocabulary. For example, “That is frozen!” “Isn’t that cold?” “The ice is hard.” 
7. When you’re finished, you can leave the pom poms out to dry and reuse them for another activity.
8. Make sure you are present during this activity for younger children: pom poms can be a choking hazard, depending on the size you use.

Skill areas addressed:

• Gross motor skills
• Coordination
• Temperature recognition
• Language skills
• Social skills

Extensions & Adjustments:

• If your child is older, you could add spoons and buckets to create a transferring game.
• Add two pans with different temperatures of water. 

Author: Analisa Carrillo

Materials:

• Rocks 
• Markers
• Egg cartons (or multiple egg cartons to total 26 spaces)

Instructions:

1. Gather small rocks 1-2” in width. This can be an activity all on its own! Go on a rock hunt and collect 26 rocks. This is a great way to encourage movement and exploration in nature, while also practicing counting beyond 10. 
2. Have your child write the uppercase letters of the alphabet on each rock with the markers. If your child knows how to write the alphabet already, they can do this independently. Alternatively, you can write it and your child can trace it, or you can write the letter on a piece of paper and have them write it. With practice, children will start to recognize uppercase letters, and get more comfortable writing them.
3. Open the egg cartons and write 26 lowercase letters in each space. You can use a number of egg carton combinations to total 26 spaces - get creative! Seeing the letters written out will help your child start to recognize th areem!
4. Now, give your child the pile of rocks. Handling the rocks will help your child work on hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.
5. Ask your child to put the rock with a capital letter in the egg carton with the same lowercase letter. Ask them questions like "Where does the Big A go? Can you show me the small "A" in the egg carton?" Children will start to match upper and lowercase letters and develop letter recognition. 
6. Extend the play by adding additional challenges such as using a spoon to transfer the rocks. Let your child's imagination work as they lift and load with the goal of delivering the uppercase rocks to their lowercase home in the egg cartons. This activity helps expand your child’s imagination as they problem solve and pretend, while also strengthening their reading skills as they match uppercase to lowercase letters.

Skill areas addressed:

• Pretend play
• Letter recognition
• Writing
• Counting

Extensions & Adjustments:

• For children under 4, have the adult do steps 2 and 3 of this activity and encourage your child to match the letters.
• For children under 3, work on the letters in their names. Ex. if their name is CHARLIE, collect 7 rocks. Write C-H-A-R-L-I-E on each rock and c-h-a-r-l-i-e in each egg carton hole.

Author: Lauren Pace

If you have empty boxes or recyclables laying around your house, this is a fun, engaging activity for you and your little one! It's also the perfect open-ended project to incorporate any ideas your blossoming future architect might have. Parents who homeschool can also use this for insect units or to work on building language skills with insect-loving kids! Projects like this are ideal for encouraging kids to use their imagination and work on building those pretend play skills.

Materials:

• Cardboard box
• 4-5 paper towel rolls
• Hot glue / glue gun
• Moss / sticks / pinecones
• Insect figurines

Instructions:

1. Start by taking a box and gluing cut paper towel rolls to the bottom (or top). This is a great opportunity for kids to work on their fine motor hand and finger skills by using scissors to cut the rolls themselves. It’s also a great opportunity to work on social skills by offering their input into the project. Let kids select where they’d like to place their rolls while the adult wields the glue gun. 
2. Glue a shelf over the rolls using a thin piece of cardboard, and then build a little roof by folding a cardboard flap in half and gluing the sides down.
3. Use scrap cardboard pieces to make different compartments and then fill them with objects bugs would usually hide in such as pinecones, sticks, leaves and moss (use fake moss if it’s staying inside!). Note: if you use real pinecones and leaves from outside you might get real bugs in your hotel, so if it’s living inside with you use craft-based ones.
4. Add insect figurines and your hotel is complete and ready for play or learning! For preschoolers, parents can use this activity to work on more complex and receptive language skills as they interact with the hotel, using prepositional phrases by prompting kids to place a specific bug:

• In a roll 
• Under a patch of moss
• Behind a log

Skills areas addressed: 

• Fine motor skills
• Expressive and receptive language
• Imaginative play
• Creativity 

Author: Celena Kinsey

Materials:

• Blocks (any kind), or you can use Tupperware or cardboard boxes to stack 

Instructions:

1. Spread the blocks out on the floor to let your child know it’s time to play! 
2. Build a tower with them. Stacking blocks helps to build fine motor skills, problem solving skills, cause and effect, and spatial awareness. 
3. Have the child pick what they want to be- be it a dinosaur, giant, or robot, and have the child kick the tower down with their feet! This exposes them to pretend play for their growing imagination and language skills. Kicking it down also builds balance, coordination, and strength! 
4. Repeat! 

Skill areas addressed:

• Gross motor skills
• Coordination
• Problem solving
• Cause and effect
• Spatial awareness
• Motor control
• Balance
• Strengthening
• Language skills

Extensions and adjustments:

• Ages 3 and up: Try knocking down one block off the top at a time. Take turns- whoever knocks the whole tower down loses! This one works well with larger blocks or with boxes. 

• Ages 18 months - 24 months: Help support your child's weight by letting them hold your hand for balance.

Author: Kassi Hemming

Did you know your laundry basket is good for so much more than housing clothes? They also can be used to keep your baby contained for sensory play!

Materials:

• A rectangular plastic laundry basket big enough for your baby to sit in
• Any variety of textured items you have at home: crinkle paper, streamers, tissue paper, plastic ball pit balls, balled up socks, etc.

Instructions:

1. Clear the clothes out of the laundry basket and add your crinkle paper or other sensory items. These items will stimulate both the tactile and auditory systems.
2. Place your baby in the basket and watch them explore the sensory experience. Use this time to point out things your baby may see or hear during this activity: “I hear the crinkle, do you hear it?” “I see BLUE tissue paper. What colors do you see?”
3. Once your baby is done with this activity, you can use this as an opportunity to help your child with the clean up by putting the tissue paper into a bag or tub to reuse again another time. This builds motor planning, following simple instructions and helps your child feel like he/she has some control in the activity.

Extensions & Adjustments: 

• If your child is not yet sitting independently, you can switch out the sensory items for some supportive pillows and use the basket as a safe, contained space for your baby to sit. Throw in some fun toys and you have a place to sit your baby when you need a few hands-free moments.
• Hide some puzzle pieces (or other small toys) in the crinkle paper and have your child dig through the paper to find the pieces. This will increase the sensory experience and add a learning component to the activity.

Skill areas addressed: 

• Sensory exploration
• Gross motor skills
• Following directions
• Seek and find
• Independent sitting

Author: Brittany Gardner

Materials:

• Any wooden puzzle that you want to spice up
• Hot glue gun (keep out of reach of children)
• Feathers, googly eyes, pom poms, etc

Instructions:

1. Gather up the sensory items you will be using to add to your wooden puzzle.
2. Plug in the hot glue gun out of reach of children.
3. Cut your sensory items as needed until they are the appropriate size for your puzzle.
4. Use your hot glue gun to attach the sensory items to the puzzle. 
5. Once the glue dries, let your child explore the new sensory elements of the puzzle (make sure you always supervise your child playing in case they detach any of the small embellishments).

Three ways to use your upgrade puzzle:

• Create an obstacle course with puzzle pieces placed throughout the course. Your little one can have fun going through the course to pick up puzzle pieces. This will increase balance, coordination and motor planning.
• Use a crawling tunnel with the puzzle pieces on one end and the puzzle base at the other. Your little one can practice crawling and improving core strength and coordination while completing the puzzle.
• Have your child sit on a small exercise or playground ball with the puzzle pieces on the floor and the puzzle base on a table in front of your child. Then have your little one reach down repeatedly to collect one piece at a time and place it in the puzzle. This activity encourages balance and core/hip strength.

Author: Brittany Gardner