Sensory Play

I've seen this idea on lots of different sites and lots of blogs so I don't really remember exactly where I first heard the idea but here's our incarnation.

You need a large container of some kind.

We had this great cookie tin that our neighbor gave us last year. I chose it because the beans make a nice sound when stirred around in the tin.

Add your beans.

Select some small toys and/or prizes that will motivate a reluctant kiddo to reach in for the sensory play.



Bury your toys/prizes.

Hmmmmm......if you are like me and you run out of beans and your toys are not buried, add rice.

You can do surprise digging from here or you can make picture and/or word cards to give the kids a specific item to dig for.

I elected to make cards to encourage Jack to dig. I then labeled the cards with black marker and braille.

Since I had cookies in the "sensory tin", I waited until after lunch when the inevitable cookie request would be made. I explained that we were going to play a game to get his cookie.

I showed him the cards to show him what was buried.

Then I introduced the tin....



Hmmmm....I am not impressed.

He was a little hesitant to stick his hand in so I helped him move the rice and beans around hand over hand.



Got what I'm after!

 Once he found the cookie, he was all done! Well, at least he did not fuss and did reach his hand in. I'll save our rice and beans in the tin for play another day.