adding water to the breakfast sensory table

The breakfast sensory tables were played with in their dry form for a week - and as we were going to use the sensory tables outside as part of our National Preschool Day Celebration it was a great opportunity to experiment - what would happen if we added water...? The oats and semolina is an eczema friendly sensory experience... (do not use if you have children with gluten allergies - look for gluten free alternatives)

dry oats

dry semolina

the oats and semolina had been mixed together over the week - when the water was added, bit by bit first it went into a dough like consistency and then into a gooey consistency.

the children did not seem at all keen to touch the goo - there were those that called it "äckelpäckel" (yucky) - so the spoons and other utensils were used to play with it.

more and more water was added - and interestingly the same phenomena as outside playing with mud occurred - filling the container with goo/oats (mud/sand) and filling with water - and continuously repeating the actions even though it flows over the edges until the container holds mostly solid

food colouring was added - green in one and red in the other.

The following day the children started to mix more with their hands (after watching me have a go - as I wondered whether the children were "reading" the available utensils as a sign that they should be used and not hands - after all at the lunch table we are encouraging the children to use their cutlery rather than their hands!!! We also added more water to make it sloppy.
It does have a strange elasticity about it, some children liked the smell, others did not - but I guess that depends on how much you like porridge - I guess if you wanted to enhance the sensory experience spices could be added - cinnamon perhaps - or maybe a liquid extract together with the water.
You could also experiment with the temperature of the water - warm and cold - if you have two small sensory tables like we do - then one could have warm goo and the other cold goo, giving the children the chance to feel and make a preference... and it might also effect the consistency (maybe getting scientific if you measure the exact same amount of liquid in both - and devise tests to check the consistency...)

Now the sensory tables are empty...
next week we are continuing with Three Little Pigs - so my head is spinning as to how to create a sensory table around this theme!!