#babysensory

Discover Etta Loves… spellbound by science

Babies eyesight is ever so important… and that’s what led me to @ettaloves with my first born George nearly two years ago! Etta loves 3 piece drawing pack … from ettaloves.com | Alphabet blocks from LittleStories.co.uk Etta Loves use science to support the development of our little ones vision, through scientifically scaled patterns printed on beautiful muslins, playmats and blankets. They have…

Another sensory play that we tried was moon sand, it was so simple to make and very fun to play with. You can easily make shapes out of it and is better to mould and make sand castles than actual sand! All the fun of playing in sand without the uncomfortable gritty texture.

Ollie loved this and really enjoyed the texture. You can make it with just 2 ingredients: Flour and Oil (you can use vegetable if you are worried about baby putting it in his/her mouth). I chose to use baby oil. It gave it a silky texture. 

You need one 1/4 of a cup of baby oil for every 2 cups of flour you use. Its easiest to use 1 cup of oil to 8 cups of flour. Just add the ingredients together and mix very well to combine. 

The added benefit is you can keep this in an air tight container to play again another day! We found that the only problem is that it goes everywhere but if you are happy to get a little messy then its one your little one will enjoy! 

Yesterday we tried a new baby sensory play idea with Ollie - Rainbow Spaghetti! Ollie really enjoyed playing with the spaghetti and pulling it apart and moving it around. His siblings also gave him some spaghetti hair, which he found very amusing! You can choose to use food colouring to dye the spaghetti or if you don’t have any then leave it plain, your baby/child will still enjoy the textures.

Its a simple activity that doesn’t need many things to create, just spaghetti, we used a whole pack, a container to play in (we used Ollie’s wipe clean ball pit, but a lot of people use a plastic tub) and food colouring (optional)

 To Make:

- First cook up your spaghetti as if you were cooking it to eat - When your spaghetti is soft, drain off the water. Run under cool water to prevent the spaghetti from sticking or clumping together. - Once cooled add a tiny amount of oil and combine well, this will allow the spaghetti to glide over each other and prevent it sticking and clumping, making it easier to play with. - Add a few drops of your chosen food colouring dyes, for stronger, more vibrant colours add more drops or just a couple of drops will give a pastel colour depending on your preference. (TIP: if making multiple colours, separate out your spaghetti into separate bowls and dye individually to prevent the food colours blending together. Mix well or you will have streaky colours -Separate out your spaghetti onto a non-stick surface like baking paper and allow to dry for at least an hour. Do not allow different coloured, wet spaghetti to touch each other, otherwise the colours may mix. - Now you are ready to play, Enjoy!!

To enhance this activity or if you have older children add some toys. You could give a dolly or teddy some spaghetti hair for example. Or you could use coloured tubs/containers, and get your child to sort the spaghetti into its correct coloured tub (ie blue spaghetti in a blue tub). I really like this activity because it can combine learning with play, teaching your child textures and colours. I also like the fact that it is a cheap, inexpensive activity. Such a simple concept providing ages of fun. It is an activity that isnt as messy as some of the baby sensory activities. Some disadvantages are that you have to prepare in advance before you can play, its not a spur of the moment activity. It can also go clumpy quite easily, getting it right can be trial and error. It also is a one off and cannot be kept otherwise the spaghetti goes mouldy so must be thrown away after play is over. Overall a fun activity, Ollie enjoyed this, we hope you do too!