pretend play

Strawberry Lemonade Sensory Bin

July 19, 2022 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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This taste-safe strawberry lemonade sensory bin is refreshing in the heat of the summer and would brighten up a cool fall or icy winter day. Any time of the year, it is bound to be a huge hit with your little learners. They’ll especially love the lemonade ice cubes in the bin!

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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Supplies To Collect

Gather the following for this colorful and tasty sensory bin:

tray or tub
lemons
strawberries
can of frozen lemonade
ice cube trays
red and yellow food coloring
plastic glass and bowl
large spoon
kitchen tongs
knife
cutting board
plastic tablecloth

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Preparing The Strawberry Lemonade Sensory Bin

Steps to easily put together a colorful, refreshing strawberry lemonade sensory bin.

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To prepare this oh-so-easy lemonade sensory bin, do the following:

First, mix a container of frozen lemonade with water according to the package directions.

Next, pour lemonade into a variety of ice cube trays and freeze overnight.

Just before playtime, wash the lemons and strawberries. Cut strawberries into halves and slices, and lemons into halves, quarters, and slices.

Then cover the table the sensory bin will be set on with a plastic tablecloth.

Pour a layer of cool water into a container the size of a food service tub. A smaller tub or tray will work fine for one child to play in.

Note: If more than one child is participating in the activity, offer an individual lemonade sensory bin to each child.

Next, set in a non-breakable cup and bowl, kitchen tongs, and a large spoon.

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Afterward, sprinkle in cut lemons and strawberries.

Lastly, add lemonade ice cubes in a variety of sizes and shapes.

Note: Smaller ice cubes are easier and safer for little learners to taste. Larger ones are easier to see in the bin.

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Strawberry Lemonade Sensory Bin Exploration

You may wish to offer this bin with just lemon slices and lemonade ice cubes first.

Lemons and lemonade ice cubes are the highlight of this easy-to-put-together taste-safe sensory tray.

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Strawberries can be sprinkled into the bin at the start, or put in a little later to add interest and sensory exploration possibilities.

Turning the water into a shade of coral by squirting in a few drops of red and yellow food coloring further adds to the learning through play experience.

Coral water brightens up this cheery, taste-safe strawberry lemonade sensory tray.

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Benefits Of The Lemonade Sensory Play

Your little learners have the opportunity to use all of their senses in this taste-safe bin. They can…

taste sweet and sour foods
feel cold, sticky, and smooth food parts
smell the refreshing scent of strawberries and lemons
hear the foods splash into cups and be stirred into bowls
see the colorful lemons and strawberries, and subtle ice cubes

Lots of interesting conversation naturally occurs while children explore their lemonade sensory bin, enhancing language.

Developing eye-hand coordination while scooping and pouring and exercising fine motor control by squeezing lemons and using kitchen tongs are also benefits. And when the color of the water is changed, little learners experience science!

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Lemonade Recipes

Interested in trying some new lemonade recipes, or discovering more additives for a lemonade sensory bin? Check out this excellent post “The Twelve Best Lemonade Recipes” by gypsyplate.com.

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Related: Strawberry Hot Chocolate Sensory Bin

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DIY Grey Wolf Softie

July 14, 2022 by Annette Kaminsky 1 Comment

Make this adorable grey wolf softie today! A free pattern and tutorial, wolf facts, and book suggestions are included.

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This charming DIY grey wolf softie is ready to be included in storytime or play. It is an entry for #sewasoftie on Instagram, and part of a tutorial hop organized by Trixie Symonds on her amazing “Sew A Softie” website. The theme for the July 2022 softie sewing projects is “magic.”

It seems like a poor fit for a wolf softie to be part of a magic theme. After all, wolves are depicted as anything but magical in many storybooks. They are usually hungry villains that are devising a plan to eat one or more of the other characters for dinner!

Although super entertaining, these books give wolves a negative reputation. But there is a trend wherein authors write stories that portray wolves as more sympathetic. The tales “pull out the magic rather than the madness” in their wolf characters. And that’s how wolves, including my softie, fit into the 2022 “magic” theme for the current “Sew A Softie” topic.

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Supplies To Collect

To craft the wolf softie, gather together the following supplies:

9 x 12 inch felt sheet of white glitter felt, and a same-sized sheet of black glitter felt
three 9 x 12-inch sheets of grey felt
white and black embroidery thread
embroidery needle
sewing pins
polyester fiber fill
two small black buttons
scissors
white glue
glue paddle
wolf softie pattern

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Making The Grey Wolf Softie

Download this pattern to make the wolf. You may wish to make yours slightly bigger. If so, enlarge the pattern using a photocopier.

Free wolf softie pattern to download for an easy sewing project.

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Wolf Softie PatternDownload

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Cut two heads, two bodies. and a tail out of grey felt. Snip a chest, two ears, and two tail tips from white. Cut a heart nose from the sheet of black.

Note: You’ll have most of the black felt left over, but it will be useful for other projects, such as this lovely star wand by @life.with.moon.and.co.

Steps to make an adorable grey wolf softie. A free pattern and tutorial, wolf facts, and book suggestions are included.

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Using white glue and a glue paddle, adhere the ears and nose to the front piece of the head, and the white chest to the front section of the body. Then glue a white tip to both sides of the tail.

Using black embroidery thread, stitch on the button eyes. With a back stitch, add on a mouth. Then stitch on eyebrows to give the wolf a little more character. You can lightly pencil in dots and lines on the felt first to mark where the facial features should go.

Note: You can change the formation of the mouth and eyebrows to give your wolf a unique expression.

Then, attach the tail to the back of the body with a running stitch. Stitch the white chest on the front.

Afterward, pin the front and back head pieces together and stitch around the sides and top. Leave an opening at the neck.

Next, pin the heads to the bodies, and the front to the back. Make sure all pieces match and are ready for sewing.

With a running stitch, fasten the head and body parts together.

Using the same stitch, go around the body of the wolf, leaving an opening for the fiber fill.

Note: The thread color for most of this wolf is white. Black or grey thread works well too.

Stuff the wolf with polyester fiber fill.

Finally, sew closed the opening in the wolf.

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Good Books Featuring Wolves

This wolf softie could make its first appearance just before or after reading a few storybooks to children featuring wolves. It would be a handy accessory for retelling stories. Below is a list of delightful storybooks to share. In each one, the supporting characters succeed in “pulling out the magic rather than the madness” out of the wolf.

The Wolf, The Duck, And The Mouse by Mac Barnett
Brenda Is A Sheep by Morag Hood
Sheepish by Helen Yoon
When A Wolf Is Hungry by Christine Naumann-Villemin
The Wolf’s Chicken Stew by Keiko Kasza
Little Wise Wolf by Gijs van der Hammen
The Girl And The Wolf by Katherena Vermette

Two notable books about little wolves are:

The Way Home For Wolf by Rachel Bright
Little Wolf’s First Howling by Laura McGee Kvasnosky and Kate Harvey McGee

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An adorable grey wolf softie sewing project that is easy to do. A free pattern and tutorial, wolf facts, and book suggestions are included.

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Ten Wolf Facts

Sharing positive characteristics about wolves helps in understanding their magic. Here are ten fascinating wolf facts:

Wolves are the largest member of the dog family.
Grey is the most common wolf color.
Living in packs, wolves are social creatures who mate for life.
Female wolves have four to six pups at a time.
Recognized as a “keystone species,” wolves play an instrumental role in keeping nature in balance.
Wolves help control deer and elk populations, and this benefits many plant and animal species.
They are good at working as a team when hunting.
Their leftovers are prime food for many scavengers such as birds, bears, and beetles.
When the animal carcasses decompose, they add valuable nutrients to the soil.
Wolves are afraid of people and are not known to attack them. Killing livestock isn’t common.

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Sewing a softie is a rewarding experience. Learning new skills, using unique materials, creating a design or following a pattern, practicing eye-hand coordination, and having a cuddly finished project to cherish are all benefits. Include this grey wolf softie on your list of crafts to try!

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To learn more about sewing softies, check out the book Sewing Simple Softies by Trixi Symonds and Deborah Fisher.

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Teacup And Peony Sensory Tray

July 7, 2022 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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This teacup and peony sensory tray is bound to wow the little charges in your care. The chance to cut gigantic flowers and use teacups in waterplay are sure to be tactile activities they want to try.

The flower-themed sensory tray is an afterthought of a project I originally wanted to do. A few years back I shopped for low, wide teacups to set peonies in as a gift for Mother’s Day or year-end. But I couldn’t find teacups in the shape I wanted. I decided to table the idea for the future, determined to pair peonies and teacups in some way.

We have a peony plant in our yard, so that makes an activity with the spotlight-grabbing flowers economical to do. This year peonies were late bloomers due to our extremely looooong winter! Mine didn’t bloom in time for Mother’s Day or our last day of preschool in June, so I decided on plan B: to feature peonies and teacups in a summer sensory tray!

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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An easy-to-set-up flower-themed sensory tray that features teacups and show-stopping peony flowers.

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Ten Peony Facts

Peonies are large, layered flowers that look like many-petalled roses.
The stunning flowers can measure up to 10 inches wide.
The blooms come in many colors, such as white, pink, red, coral, maroon, or yellow.
Many kinds of peonies are fragrant. Their smell varies from sweet, citrusy, or slightly spicy.
There are early, midseason, and late blooming varieties.
Peony plants are hardy to zone 3 and embrace cold winters.
The striking plants can live up to 100 years.
Ants are attracted to peonies, eating the sugary sucrose the buds secrete before they open.
Peonies make an excellent cut flower.
Popular throughout history, peonies symbolize romance and love. In China and Japan, peonies represent bravery, honor, respect, good fortune, and prosperity.

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Sensory Tray Supplies To Collect

An easy-to-set-up flower-themed sensory tray that features show-stopping peony flowers.

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For this easy-to-set-up sensory tray, gather the following:

large tray or bin
tea cups and saucers
cut peony flowers and leaf stems
peony bud sprays
bowls
cake stand
small plant pots and watering cans
ant and fly figurines
large tablespoons
scissors

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The Teacup And Peony Sensory Tray

In a large sensory bin or active world tray, set up stations with a teacup and saucer, large spoon, and pair of scissors.

Note: My featured tray includes china teacups and saucers. Use unbreakable ones as an alternative if you are more comfortable with that. No matter which kind of cups and saucers you choose, this sensory activity should be supervised closely.

Set plant pots, bowls, and water-filled spray bottles, and watering cans around the teacup stations.

Cut peonies leaving two inches of stem, and set one in each teacup.

Position three large peonies cut right to the flower base on a cake stand in the middle of the play tray for an eye-catching centerpiece.

Three flowers on a cake stand make a stunning centerpiece in a peony and teacup sensory tray play invitation.

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Spread peony leaf stems and bud sprays around the bin, and top them with ant and fly figurines.

Invite your little learners to explore the dainty sensory tray.

Set up this peony flower sensory play invitation your little learners will absolutely love in just minutes!

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Note: Before going ahead with the activity, I researched whether peonies are safe to use with children. Some websites say they are toxic if consumed in large quantities but not harmful to the skin if touched.

Since my students do not have a habit of putting things in their mouths, I decided these flowers were a go for a sensory tray. Aside from the tactile experience, I felt it would be a good opportunity to discuss plant-tasting and possible toxins/poisons.

If the children in your care like to explore by putting things in their mouths, choose an edible flower for this activity

Tip: To stave off ants, it’s best to snip buds before the flowers bloom, and use them once they open. But since we only have one peony plant in our yard, I decided to wait until bloom time so my family could enjoy the flowers first!

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Benefits Of The Teacup And Peony Play Tray

Developing eye-hand coordination, practicing using scissors, exploring fluffy peony flowers, and getting the opportunity to use teacups are just some of the benefits of this gorgeous sensory invitation.

Early learners get plenty of practice with scissor skills and eye-hand coordination in this peony flower sensory play invitation.

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Blogposts About Peony Flowers

Interested in learning more about peony plants? Here are two great blog posts about them:

“The Magic Of Peonies” by salisburygreenhouse.com.
“How To Grow Peonies” by thespruce.com.

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This beautiful peony and teacup sensory tray allows for practice with scissors skills and eye-hand coordination. Peony facts are included.

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Lilac Flower Sensory Trays

June 9, 2022 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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It is safe to say that our city is a late bloomer when it comes to plants popping up in spring. So when large, showy lilac blooms finally appear, I am more than ready to enjoy them. With these lilac flower sensory trays, their magnificent beauty and fragrant aroma are celebrated.

Before using natural materials with early learners, the first thing I do is check if the items I would like to introduce are poisonous or toxic. I was super excited to find that no lilac parts contain chemicals or toxins that are harmful to people or animals. This makes them safe for sensory tray play.

And when washed, lilac flowers are edible, with flavors that vary from grass-like, lilac, or no flavor at all.

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Lilac Flower Tuff Tray

As is often featured on this blog, this lilac flower sensory tray is easy-peasy to set up. You can use supplies commonly at your fingertips. Gather the following for the tray:

metal bowls
tablespoons
children’s scissors
containers with water
lilac foliage and sprigs in purple, lavender, and white
a bouquet of lilacs

Lilac flowers are the stars of this aromatic sensory play invitation.

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Set up stations in a tuff tray or sensory tub. For each station, include a metal bowl, lilac sprigs, a container with water, a pair of children’s scissors, and a large spoon. Place a bouquet of lilacs in the center for added visual appeal.

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Lilac flowers are the stars of this aromatic tuff tray play invitation.

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Invite little learners to explore. They will be thoroughly engrossed in cutting lilacs, pouring water, and making delicious “lilac soup.”

Oh-so-fun lilac flower sensory play in a tuff tray.

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Note: Lilacs come in a range of purple, pink, and white colors. The Spruce website features an array of gorgeous colors in a blog post titled “14 Beautiful Types Of Lilac.”

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Pop-Up Lilac Flower Mud Kitchen

How to set up a pop-up mud kitchen in minutes. A nature-based sensory activity your little learners will love.

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Another easy way to celebrate lilacs is to offer them in a pop-up mud kitchen:

Set a crate and small wire shelves in a sensory table or tray.

With a black felt pen, draw four stove burners on a section of cardboard.

Set the cardboard “stove top” on the crate.

Add metal pots, bowls, muffin tins, and spoons to the table/tray. Include a selection of smooth stones and tiny wood slices.

This DIY mud kitchen is a must-try. Aromatic lilac flowers accentuate the nature-based play invitation.

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Your little charges will love investigating this sensory invitation too!

Note: Both lilac flower sensory trays can be offered indoors or outdoors. And a current in-season flower can be used instead of lilacs.

Set up this "do it yourself" mud kitchen in minutes! Use it indoors or outdoors.

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Related: Flower Theme Activities

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Dessert Bar Play Center

May 8, 2022 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Hands down this dessert bar play center is one of my preschooler’s favorites. It was available for a month this past March/April and played in every single school day.

Your little learners will love playing in this tasty dessert bar dramatic play center with a coffee brewing station.

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Follow me on Pinterest for more ideas.

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Supplies To Collect

No store is off-limits when gathering supplies for this tasty dramatic play center. Since it’s easy to find play food and kitchenware sets, the center is pretty effortless to put together.

Items in this dessert bar are:

a variety of cupcakes and cookies
brownie set
muffins
pie
cake slice
disposable plates
cutlery
cups and saucers
food trays
coffee brewing set
cash register
play money
vase with flowers

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The Dessert Bar Play Center

A shelving unit showcases the desserts beautifully.

Delectable dessert bar play food displayed on a shelf with see-through cubicles.

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A table and chair set make a cozy area to “eat” dessert. A mammoth mom and baby joined in this setup!

A dessert bar tablescape ready to be enjoyed by little learners.

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A play coffee brewing set is nice to have. Mine came from a discount store, and the children loved making and serving coffee with it.

A coffee brewing station is a fun addition to a dessert bar dramatic play center.

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This elegant little tray was a happy find at a dollar store, and I snapped up a few. They weren’t available long, so I’m sure other people realized how special they were too. The shiny trays showcase the desserts well.

A shiny play tray to add elegance to a dessert bar play center.

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A sign and menu posted on a wall indicate the type of restaurant and what is served. Pictures of desserts accompanied by captions help create an ambiance.

Add ambiance to a dessert bar play center with a sign, menu, and pictorial quotes.

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The menu is helpful to check prices and see how much to pay for orders. When the food is laid out like a chart, it makes it easy for preschoolers to add up how much an order costs.

Make a graph with play food to show how much a dessert bar order costs.

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Benefits Of The Dessert Bar Center

Aside from counting and addition opportunities, this center allows children to make choices by selecting desserts. And they can practice turn-taking and role-playing by being the server and the customer.

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Enhancing The Dessert Bar

After a few days, setting out a new dessert such as a play cake set would help keep children’s interest in the center going. And pictorial signs attached to shelving cubicles would enhance the literacy component and give opportunities for sorting and matching desserts. Can you think of anything else to add?

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Your little learners will love playing in this tasty dessert bar pretend play center with a coffee brewing station.

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This dessert bar play center is bound to be a hit with your little learners. Just a few supplies provide many opportunities for vibrant learning through play. Start out with economical play food, such as dollar store cupcake and cake sets. The selection of desserts need not be elaborate…children will love the center no matter how big or small it is.

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Related: Winter Wonderland Tablescape

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