Sensory Stepping Stones

SQUISHY, SPONGY, SPIKY, LUMPY, SCRATCHY, CRACKLING, SOFT

On some circular paper, aka Stepping stones to Dimples, I gathered some different textured & unusual feeling materials and Dimples glued them onto the stepping stones to make different feeling sensory mats.

A scourer cut in pieces, a Sponge cut in pieces, a different thicker lumpy sponge, some Bubble wrap layered, some Styrofoam & pom poms, some bristles of an old paint brush, and a gel filled zip lock bag.  All with way too much glue as usual so it took a long time for them to dry!
They were pretty successful none-the-less!

Dimples took off his socks and tip-toed over the sensory stepping stones. The look on his face said it all, he thought they were awesome.

With uhmmms, arhhhs, Ewwwws, giggles and funny faces he trotted over them pulling some pretty unusual facial expressions.  I asked him what they felt like?  " This is squishy & cold in my toes ",  "this ones a tiny bit spiky, it looks like hair?"  "this ones bumpy" "this one sounds funny, Ill pop it?"  "this one scratches my toes".  As he went through I expanded on what he was saying, bumpy, lumpy, uneven, squishy, scratchy, spiky, prickly, ticklish? and so forth as he chuckled to himself and had a good time jumping around....

He mixed them all up and tried again!
He closed his eyes and tried to identify them just through touch
He laid them apart and tried to do big slow steps, moved them close and did little fast steps.
He put them in a circle & went around & around until he fell down.
Then he felt them all on his hands and knees using his fingers to touch around the edges.
He threw them about like Frisbee's
Then his imagination kicked in, he told me he was jumping over a pond of crocodiles & that he cant fall off because he would splash in the water and get eaten as their lunch.

It was lots of fun and it was pretty fun for me as well, just to listen to his giggles and watch the expressions on his face...

Number Hunt to Marbling Activity

Number Hunt Trail to a fun Marbling Experiment.

I started Dimples on a Number Hunt. He put on his hat & grabbed his bucket at the first arrow.

Yesterday while searching the bargain shops I came across a stick it note pad shaped as an arrow.

I started with 1 with a picture of a camera, so we grabbed One camera.

the follow was an arrow with the number 2 and a dinosaur on it, Dimples followed the direction of the arrow and came across 2 dinosaurs. He put them in his bucket.

then there was an arrow with the number 3 & a pictures of a car, he followed the arrow to 3 cars and put them in his bucket. Then there was a 4 with a stick looking thing on it :-? It was a pipe cleaner, so he followed it and found 4 pipe cleaners.

The trail led him outside where I had set up an experimental Marbling Activity, like the one we done previously experimental-marbling.
Next, an Arrow with 5 lizards leading to 5 toy lizards, 6 was knives and forks, which lead to a trail of plastic cutlery. Last was 7 with a picture of a marble which went to 7 marbles just under the table that was set up.

All the things in Dimples bucket were to be used as tools in the shaving cream tub.  I set out a tray filled with shaving cream, the paint/ink, glitter, a brush, a bucket of water (to wash excess cream off and for Dimples hands) and some paper.

First he sprinkled the glitter on and i sprinkled the ink, then he picked out some dinosaurs and lizards to trudge through the mass of cream, glitter and paint. then they walked across the paper.  The idea wasn't to put prints on the paper, this was just part of Dimples process- what he wanted to do.
The main idea was to mix around the colours before putting the paper face down in the tray to absorb the swirled ink. Just like we did in our experimental marbling.

It got messy very quickly, that's how we like it (& that's why we do a lot of our activities outdoors)
Next he used the cars to make a donuts/burn out rings. I sprinkled some more colours in it and Dimples made the cars make circular tracks.  Then the paper went face down and pressed down, then i scrapped the excess cream off the top of the paper with a card & what was left was a cool swirled pattern of ink.

Dimples tried out the forks and lightly manoeuvred them through the ink, then a rolling pin, a brush, then his fingers. Dinosaurs and cars were his favourite!

The best results came from having a dull base colour (mix one colour through all the shaving cream and smooth it all. Then using bright colours to sprinkle over the top. The mix these around a bit, but not too match that they blend. When you put your paper down, smooth it out from top down first to bottom so you have no air pockets that will leave big blank spots!

Then let it sit on it face up for a little while, less than a minute & scrape it off with cardboard of a plastic spatula or take away container lid.

with a pink background

swirls

with a grey background

Painting the Bath Tub

Painting the Bath Tub

Dimples loves getting paint all over his hands, arms & face.

So instead of giving him his tressle and tubs of paint, brushes and sponges, putting his art shirts on & trying to get him to keep the paint only on the brush or the paper (& failing in doing so) I let him go.... In the bath tub!

The rules were that he could paint the sides & bottom of the tub, keeping all the paint inside the tub.  He could paint any part of himself as long as he washed & cleaned it all off when he was finished.

That is what he did, he followed the instructions clearly and cleaned himself up.

I gave him a sponge, a brush and a roller then splatted paint through out the bath. He was in it and also had a paint tray full of paint. It got messy and watch out if you are trying this, it gets very slippery so we also said another rule of sitting / kneeling down to prevent a nasty fall.

He painted his feet, his legs and his hands as usual and then realised he had full range so he grabbed the roller and painted his belly aswell. He was covered in paint from the tip of his toes up to his chin. Then once he got that out of his system he painted a "beautiful waterfall" up the side of the tub and a shark.

It went well and the best thing was it was so easy to clean, as it was still wet it just washed down the drain & then he was in the tub already so he was clean and spottles within a matter of minutes. If you are a multi-tasker like I am, it is also too easy to clean the bathroom at the same time. While he was painting away I cleaned the shower and the vanity, Sorted through the washing and then cleaned him :)

Great fun.

Fun Foot Prints

I recently read a post by Hands on as we grow about BIG ART. I have always been a fan of big art and they share 40 fun ideas here at hands on as we grow . I think this activity falls nicely into the category of big art, it uses big movement and gross motor skills in the process and has a BIG result. My little monkey got into the paint, it was a big process, it was outdoors, it got him moving & it got a little messy.

 I totally agree with their statement that it is all about "the process and not the product".

Footsteps can be fun and little ones just love covering their hands & feet in paint, smearing it over the bodies and making a real mess, so we took this outside on a rolled out drop sheet (a Vinyl off cut), I love outdoor art, its much easier to wash up- If something gets thrown or splats on the floor or wall or we just go a little wild its too easy to grab the hose & wash it away. No biggy.

This was pretty simple to prepare. I got 2 trays and filled them with 2 different coloured paints then lined the paper across the vinyl and let the little monkey at it (you could tape it down if it is windy out or if its sticks to their feet). 

We discussed left and right, we talked about the colours and the types of "walks" animals do. 

FEET in instantly, that was the plan and he was straight in, feet first with out any instruction. He walked across the paper and into the water bowl then back again.

He tried Dinosaur STOMPING, TIP-TOEING, DUCK WALKING & FROG HOPPING.

We did a few different colours but here are some snaps below of the brights we did up first.