Halloween Sensory Box

October has landed and Halloween is on the horizon.

The day before we set about preparing the water beads. It took 4 packets of 10g to get a good coverage in this large under bed storage box. We sprinkled in the tiny beads and covered the box up to stop our cat getting into it! Water beads take around 8-12 hours to fully expand but I always leave them over night.

I added the following:

Jelly Moulds - £1 for 6 in the Pound shop

Pumpkins - £1 for 6 from Instore also sold on Ebay

Fantastic black skeleton salad tossers - £1 from Asda

Lizards, Snakes and Spiders - From Amazon

Also available was:

See-through plastic bowl - 50p Morrisons

See-through plastic jug - 50p Morrisons

Witches Cauldron - £1 from the Pound shop also on Amazon

Small Sieve  - £1 for 2 Pound Shop

Ice Cube Tray - Asda £1

NEVER leave children unattended whilst playing with water beads!

Our Experience:

Little N began by scooping up the water beads in the jelly moulds. She tipped them into the see-through bowl and laughed as the beads began to bounce everywhere. She spent some time doing this and filling the bowl with more water beads. She then selected one of the salad tossers, "mix it all up" she said as she stirred the beads around in the box. She collected the beads up then with the sieve. 

These are great for this activity as it helps drain any excess water. She very carefully began to fill up the ice cube tray. This was really effective as the beads bounced around before falling down into one of the holes.

She then began to pick up some of the insects that she could see. "What's this?" she would ask if she was unsure. "Put it back in water" she said before selecting another one. She then picked up the witches cauldron and placed it in front of her. Using the sieve she began to fill the cauldron with water beads. She mixed them around and around with the skeleton hand. She made an attempt to pick some of the lizards, snakes and spiders up with the skeleton hand but she found this tricky so used her hands instead. She added them to the cauldron. "1,2,3,4,5" she said.

While she was busy filling up the cauldron, I was busy filling up the jug. She turned to see what I was doing and her eyes lit up. "Wow, I pour it out" she said tipping them all out back into the container.

She then used the jug to collect some of the beads up. She tipped them into the see- through bowl.

Together we filled up the witches cauldron and we both submerged our hands. What a delightful sensory experience!

Learning:

- Manipulating materials and tools

Extending:

Continue to provide Halloween themed activities, visit the Library to find some Halloween themed books. Reuse the sensory box. 

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