Cool Sensory Toy for Kids (and Adults!)

Dena Roberts
Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 102 Feedbacks

Tape a large square of sticky shelf liner (Mac Tac) to the floor, or to the wall, or a door, UPSIDE DOWN. (That's right, sticky side UP.) Kids love sticking their hair to the wall and their hands and feet to the floor! Doesn't have enough glue to really stick, just enough to have fun!

I made a sensory obstacle course that kept my day care kids busy for hours. I taped the Mac Tac to the wall, tossed a large, old fur coat on the floor, filled a small, blow-up swimming pool with those small styrofoam beads (saved from a torn bean-bag type pillow), another with feathers, and another with those squishy toys that stick to, and crawl down the walls, outside, I had a pool full of shaving cream (the non-toxic kind) some and "silly string", a pool full of mud, and a garden sprinkler! They had a ball!

Messy, but lots of fun, and everything, except the coat, which was free from a friend, came from the dollar store, including the pools! This cost me about $10.00 for a whole day of fun! I had to bribe the kids with home made cookies to get them to leave when their parents came to get them. We will definitely repeat this activity several times this summer!

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Jill

July 10, 20080 found this helpful

Sounds great! But may I suggest something besides the styrofoam pellets? They are an extreme choking hazard because of their static-y nature and small size! Dry macaroni, beans, paper shredded in a long cut shredder, wads of balled-up scrap paper, etc. are generally safer choices.

Your day care kids are lucky! I am an Occupational Therapist, and encounter kids every day with aversions to some sensory stimuli....By making it play, and fun, you are encouraging kids to enjoy sensory exploration. Be aware that some kids are sensitive to certain sensations (including sound, some kinds of movement, vibration, odors, as well as what we "feel" with our skin); and that exposure to these things is good, but let them take the lead. (I expect you know this, but a lot of parents will be reading your post!)

By Lynda (Guest Post)

July 10, 20080 found this helpful

As a grandparent caregiving to my ten year old grandson, I just LOVE that idea for kids his age, IF they will participate "blindfolded or hooded", otherwise they will get "bored" very fast. It would take a LOT of preplanning and GOOD HARD WORK to make this successful. I've often thought with a sigh about trying to have an "Obstacle Course Birthday", likely not a new idea, but it would be enhanced with the additional Sensory items, an unusual SNACK

BAR outside afterwards, and a shaving cream fight just before removing the hood/blindfold and them hosing down on a hot late summer day. Thank you so much. Now, any suggestions how to make time to do all of this? lol God bless you. : )

Dena Roberts
Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 102 Feedbacks

July 12, 20080 found this helpful

This DOES take some pre-planning, but it is really worth it!! One of my day care kids has M.D., so I have to pre-plan activities for him all the time...when I do the obstacle course, I have the kids help me set it up...they LOVE filling the pool with mud, sqirting the shaving cream into another pool...most of it actually gets into the pool!!!.....and taping the mac tac to the wall...this is a challenge in itself!!!

We did this again a few days ago...instead of pools, I used a couple of "slip and slides" that I got at a garage sale!!! We were having so much fun...the neighborhood kids even joined in!!!

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