sensory

Edible Playdough Pumpkins

November 21, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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These easy to create edible playdough pumpkins depict the lumpy, bumpy, warty pumpkins that add contrast and edginess in fall decorating projects.

Warty pumpkins can be caused by any of the following:

a mosaic virus
growing conditions that are too cold and wet
insects feeding on young pumpkins

The result is warts that appear to be under the shell.

But some pumpkin varieties are grown especially for their bumpy look. They are genetically engineered and have been cross-pollinated many times. In these pumpkins, the ornamental bumps appear on top of the surface.

Warty pumpkins are trending in fall decorating projects. They add ornamentation, contrast, and edginess in displays.

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Peach Edible Playdough Recipe

This easy-to-make, no-cook playdough recipe is perfect for fashioning these trending pumpkins. I previously featured it (minus the orange color) in a chocolate chip sea star sculpting activity.

Creating warty pumpkins is easy and fun with white chocolate chips and an edible, no-cook playdough recipe.

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Ingredients To Collect:

1 cup store-bought vanilla frosting
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup icing sugar
¼ teaspoon peach icing color

Mix and knead the frosting, cornstarch, and icing sugar in a bowl. Then knead in the food coloring until it is completely blended. If the playdough is a little sticky, knead in a bit more cornstarch. If the dough is dry, add a spoon or two of frosting. You can also increase the amount of icing color for a darker peach shade.

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Making The Edible Playdough Pumpkins

A warty pumpkin-themed playdough tray with taste-safe, edible dough.

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Set out white chocolate chips, playdough, and pumpkin cookie cutters on a tray. A pumpkin ice cube tray and gem pumpkins could be included for more play opportunities.

Give each little learner a rolling pin.

Invite your little charges to create lumpy, bumpy pumpkins with the soft, silky dough, adding the chocolate chips for ornamentation. You might want to wait till they are almost finished using the playdough before you let on that it is edible. It is super sweet!

Creating pumpkins with warts is easy and fun with white chocolate chips and an edible playdough recipe.

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Tip: Using peach icing color works super well for this recipe, as the color comes out nice and bright.

Sculpt a trendy, warty pumpkin with edible peach playdough.

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For more food coloring tips, check out chefmaster.com.

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If this post inspires you to consider adding warty pumpkins to your garden next spring, the appropriately named Gargoyle, Knucklehead, and Goosebumps are some popular varieties to grow.

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Thanksgiving Printables

Shop Thanksgiving printables in my Etsy shop “Skills N Smiles“:

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More Pumpkin-themed Activities

Eye Dropper Pumpkin Art

Pumpkin Painting Process Art

Pumpkin Tablescape Pretend Play

Set up this colorful pumpkin-themed pretend play center your early learners will love. Loose parts are the highlight of this hands-on dramatic play activity.

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Glow In The Dark Pumpkin Art

Pumpkin Playdough Activities

Pumpkin Color Activities

Crayon rubbings of spider webs on colored pumpkins. An all-ages art activity.

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[Read more…]

Pet-Themed Playdough Tray

November 20, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky 1 Comment

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This fun-filled pet-themed playdough tray is bound to engage your little learners for a nice chunk of time. It will inspire meaningful conversations and imaginative play, and strengthen little fingers.

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Pet-Themed Playdough Tray Supplies

An inviting supply of cat and dog-themed playdough accessories. Links to three easy-to-make playdough recipes are included.

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Supplies in this playdough added, pet-themed loose parts tray:

cat and dog cookie cutters
cookie cutter bones
dog erasers
eraser bones
dog-themed buttons
miniature pet dish
lattice with bell cat toys

The supplies were gathered from a variety of places. The exquisite cookie cutters were purchased from a store with a generous baking supply section, and the jingly lattice balls and teeny tiny dog-themed buttons from dollar stores. The round dog erasers were salvaged from a book club promotion, and the miniature eraser bones came with a set of Valentine cards.

Super popular with my preschoolers, the dog and cat figurines were gathered from pet sets and a pet adoption game.

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Playdough Recipes

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Warm, earth-toned playdough colors work well with this pet-themed playdough tray.

My preschoolers used the loose parts with a red-orange pumpkin spice playdough, as it was still pretty fresh after our October pumpkin activities. Just to make sure the color was fit for this second topic, I did a quick online search for “orange cats,” and “orange dogs.” Lengthy lists of orange tabby felines and ginger canines came up, so I knew the spicy playdough could have a second life.

View my post “Pumpkin Playdough Activities“ for this aromatic recipe.

You could also offer a batch of my all-time favorite basic playdough or a tangy orange jello dough. And setting out all three hues would provide opportunities for creating patchwork pets, or patterned tabby cats.

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Pet-themed Playdough Play

Invite your early learners to make cookies, bury bones, and create textures and imprints with playdough and pet-themed loose parts.

Cat and dog playdough supplies that encourage creativity and imaginitive play.

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You could swap out or add additional supplies for pet-themed creation. Buttons for animal spots, cut pipe cleaners for whiskers, rope for collars, and wiggle eyes are some suggestions.

Can you think of other accessories to include in this tray? Leave a comment below.

This pet-themed playdough tray is filled with cat and dog supplies little learners will love to imagine and create with.

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More Playdough Recipes and Activities

Coffee Playdough Turkey

Circus Playdough Tray

Unicorn Playdough Tray

Set up this unicorn theme playdough tray in minutes. The best playdough recipes are featured.

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Gingerbread Playdough

Chocolate Mint Playdough

Orange-Scented Playdough Invitation

Christmas Playdough

Santa Claus Playdough Tray

Winter Playdough Recipe

A soft, easy-to-make winter-themed playdough.

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Valentine’s Day Playdough Activities

Easter Playdough Tray

Scented Moon Playdough

White Lilacs And Black Playdough

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Follow me on Pinterest for more ideas.

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Turtle Pond Sensory Bin

November 4, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Easy to sert up nature-based tutle pond sensory bin.

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Why debut a turtle pond sensory bin, eggs included, in fall? Because although we generally associate spring as the time for baby animals to be born, many turtle hatchlings peck out of their shells in autumn.

And…because I have a light-up “toss and dive” turtle set that I’ve longed to use for over two years! I never stored it in a permanent spot because I was always planning to do a pond activity “very soon.” But with so many fantastic curriculum ideas to choose from every week, “soon” never came.

So this September as I was reorganizing storage areas, I noticed the colorful turtles once again. I googled “turtles in fall” to see how I could use them alongside typical fall themes such as leaves, pumpkins, bats, and spiders. Finding that turtle eggs and hatchlings are part of the fall season motivated me to include the diving turtles in a sensory activity at this time.

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Ten Turtle Reproduction Facts

Although turtles spend a lot of time in water, nearly all lay their eggs on land.
Many turtles lay a clutch of eggs in about 3 – 6 weeks after mating.
Mother turtles dig a nest in sandy or wet dirt with their hind legs. They cover the eggs laid in the nest with soil and plants.
Depending on turtle size and species, there can be from 5 to 100 eggs in a clutch.
Most turtles don’t guard their nests, leaving right afterwards.
It takes the baby turtles two to three months to hatch.
Most hatch in autumn, pecking their way out with an egg tooth.
These fall babies often stay in the nest through winter and emerge the following spring.
They survive their first winter by not eating and living on their own fat reserves. Some can handle cold temperatures and may even produce a sort of antifreeze.
Only a few turtles survive to adulthood. Turtle eggs and hatchlings have many predators.

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Turtle Pond Supplies To Collect

Loose parts for a turtle-themed sensory bin.

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A turtle-themed sensory bin can be set up very quickly with the following supplies:

kitchen supply bus bin
turtle figurines
rocks of varying sizes
small logs or twigs
gemstone slices
real or artificial leaves
marbles
small disposable food container with a ridge
a large piece of brown craft foam

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Making The Turtle Pond Sensory Bin

Nature[ based, easy to set up turtle pond sensory bin.

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Pour a layer of water into the bin. I used a kitchen bus bin for this activity.

Add rocks, logs, and gemstone slices.

Cut a few curves around the edge of the foam, and a hole in the middle just big enough to fit the disposable container. Float the foam in the water.

Set the disposable container in the hole to represent a turtle nest.

Add marble “eggs” to it. I used blue marbles because they were handy, but real turtle eggs are white or cream-colored.

This turtle pond sensory bin includes a sunken nest with "eggs."

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Surround the “nest” with a few craft or real leaves for covering the eggs up.

Add turtle figurines. Three light-up “toss and dive” turtles are the stars of this sensory bin, but any turtle figurines would be heartily welcomed by early learners.

Three "toss and dive" turtles are the stars of this pond sensory bin.

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[Read more…]

Spider Theme Activities

October 31, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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For years I have been collecting supplies for spider theme activities. And fall is the best time to add to the theme, as spider décor and toys are everywhere in stores.

But I’ve been hesitant to do a whole theme about these little crawlers. That might involve just too many spiders for some children’s comfort!

This fall I decided to introduce just a few spidery things in the classroom, and touch on the theme a little more than usual. I added spider activities sequentially over a two-week period. It didn’t hurt that a family on the route to preschool positioned a humungous spider on top of their home, with a web that extended from rooftop to ground. I’m sure this helped break the topic in!

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Here are some spider theme activities we completed. They would work well for the children in your life too.

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Spider Mask

Easily transform into a spider with this easy papercraft mask.

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First, we decorated a spider mask. I used a wooden puppet as a template and traced it on pieces of black cardstock. I cut out enough spider masks for each child to have one and then glued on little orange hats. Each preschooler glammed up a mask with sticker gems. Afterward, I punched holes on each side of the masks and attached 18-inch pieces of thin elastic cord. The activity went over well, and children were happy to pose for pictures wearing their masks.

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Spidery Dramatic Play

Oh so fun spider-themed accessories for the play kitchen.

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Next, I added a few spider décor pieces to a pumpkin store and play kitchen. The items were a hit with everyone, and both centers were popular play areas for the children.

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Spiders and Spouts Sensory Tray

An Itsy Bitsy Spider inspired construction and sensory tray little learners will love.

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The following week I added a “Spiders And Spouts” sensory tray, inspired by the Itsy Bitsy Spider sensory tub blog post by Rubber Boots And Elf Shoes.

For the tray, I selected tubes from a sports net, a musical instrument set, a marble run toy, and a construction set. I added paper webs, spiders in many sizes, and bug viewers.

We followed up the sensory play with Itsy Bitsy Spider nursery rhyme picture books. Some favorites were:

The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Joe Rhatigan
Pete The Cat And The Itsy Bitsy Spider by James Dean
The Eensy-Weensy Spider by Mary Ann Hoberman

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Other Good Spider Books

We also squeezed in the storybooks “Aranea: A Story About A Spider” by Jenny Wagner, and “The Very Busy Spider” by Eric Carle.

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Spider Math Tray

Once the children thoroughly explored the spiders and spouts tray, it was turned into a Math center where students could roll a dice and put the correct number of spiders on a paper web. They could also add in tiny ants as prey.

Bring on the math with spiders and dice counting game.

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Spider Web Printable

Feel free to download this printable for use in a sensory or math center.

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Spider Web PrintableDownload

This printable is for personal or one classroom use only.

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Gross Motor Activities

Finally, we had spoon races with spiders, and used bouncy spider balls in our gymnasium. Playing with the bouncy balls was definitely the favorite activity of the children.

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Spider balls to get little learners moving.

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Throughout the spider theme, I stressed that all the spiders in the classroom were “play spiders” and “spider pets.” I assured the children that we would continue to rescue real spiders and set them outside.

All in all, the preschoolers embraced the spider theme activities and were not intimidated. As the theme wound down, two little girls insisted that some play spiders should be companions for sleeping baby dolls!

More spidery activities are featured in the blog post: World Book Day Theme: Just Itzy

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Green Huntsman Spider Facts and Activities

Ladybug Wand Craft

Spin Painting Butterflies

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[Read more…]

Floral Decorated Skeleton

October 30, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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It’s always a treat to check the latest trends in home décor and craft stores, and this fall the offerings did not disappoint. Design ideas that stood out from the crowd were the floral accents on skeletons in wall art, sculptures, and figurines spotted at Michael’s stores. The pastel flowers totally romanticized and softened skeletons and skulls, and made them super fun.

Little learners can experience and create a floral decorated skeleton with a nature-themed transient art opportunity.

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Floral Decorated Skeleton Supplies To Collect

Gather the following supplies for this invitation to create:

flowers
tray
large model skeleton
large frame

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Decorating The Skeleton

Set a skeleton in a frame and add floral accents to soften up the look.

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On a table, set a skeleton model inside a 16-inch x 20-inch art frame.

Arrange flower heads in a tray. Mine were picked from begonias and marigolds grown in my yard over the summer: end-of-season plants that were about to freeze over due to frosty fall mornings.

A nature tray filled with flowers ready to be used for crafts, playdough, and sensory play.

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Invite early learners to decorate the skeleton with flowers.

Yellow and orange flowers brighten up this skeleton and allow children to become floral designers.

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You might enjoy adding floral touches to the skeleton too!

Yellow marigolds brighten up this skeleton and allow children to become floral designers.

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Pink begonia flowers soften up this skeleton and give young children a chance to be floral designers.

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[Read more…]

sensory

Peach Edible Playdough Recipe

Making The Edible Playdough Pumpkins

Thanksgiving Printables

More Pumpkin-themed Activities

Pet-Themed Playdough Tray Supplies

Playdough Recipes

Pet-themed Playdough Play

More Playdough Recipes and Activities

Ten Turtle Reproduction Facts

Turtle Pond Supplies To Collect

Making The Turtle Pond Sensory Bin

Spider Mask

Spidery Dramatic Play

Spiders and Spouts Sensory Tray

Other Good Spider Books

Spider Math Tray

Spider Web Printable

Gross Motor Activities

Related:

Floral Decorated Skeleton Supplies To Collect

Decorating The Skeleton