Sensory Activities - rice on the light table...

light table with rice coloured black, pine cones and spiders

 halloween was a great excuse to do some sensory activities with the children. Black coloured rice with pine cones and spiders on the light table was a popular activity. Making roads, shapes, tracks and also burying the spiders in piles of rice. To colour the rice I mixed rice, a few drops of food colouring and a serving spoon of rubbing alcohol (alsolsprit) together and then let it dry flat before storing it in bottles. I have a whole collection of bottles and I have used different rice types too - from risotto rice, pudding rice, jasmine rice and basmati rice - all have very different textures. For some of the rice bottles I have used different rice types and slightly different shades of the same colour, which I think actually makes the bottle more attractive to look at - and also add to the sensory experience as the children become aware of the different types of rice grains.

fun to make tracks in the rice

then roads were created for the spiders

The children liked using the pine cones in the rice, although I would like to have different kinds of pine cones next time to add to the experience of similarities and difference within nature.

shaving foam

 I used shaving gel this time and although I did like the whole sensory experience of a small amount of gel on the table could be mixed up by the children to a much bigger foamy mess which had a good firmness to it - I did feel it was more messy and less easy to manipulate as it was just stickier. It also left more of a residue on hands and the table than usual shaving foam. No real problems tidying up but it did take a bit more effort. Just thought I'd let you know so that when you are in the store you can make the decision as to whether to buy shaving gel or foam.

scoops and spiders

like the rice, hiding the spiders was a fun thing to do

In the yard there had been plenty of rain during the week - so lots of mud recipes were being concocted! I guess we should be making the most of the mud before the winter comes and freezes it all - and new winter challenges will greet the children instead....