Sensory Play: Pompoms and Muffin Tins

It's been a while since we've tried out any new sensory play activities, so I wanted to share our latest exploration with you. I've discussed the immense value of sensory play before and shared some helpful tips on how to make your own sensory toys like sensory bags, sensory bottles and a sensory tube; and of course don't forget the awesome-ness that is Magic Mud.

For a quick sensory activity that doesn't require much clean-up, the pompom one is something I'd recommend. I took a large package of multiple sized and coloured pom poms and dumped them out on the floor. The boy-o had some plastic cups from his play kitchen and I gave him two differently sized muffin tins--an extra large one and a super small one. He had a great time moving the pom poms from one tin to the other and dumping them out. He loved the soft fuzzy feeling of them, and actually spent the rest of the evening clutching onto one of them that he wasn't willing to part with! We sorted the pom poms by colour and by size into the little cups, and when we were finished we put the pompoms back into the bag for another day.

This simple activity helped to work on hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, sorting skills based on size and colour, and poms poms are wonderfully soft and fuzzy to touch. We also did the same activity using the dyed pasta that we made. Although the pasta was all the same size, so lacking in that sorting category, it made a lovely clinking sound when dumped into the trays and when being moved from one muffin spot to another.

Get creative and see what other materials you can use! What's your little's favourite item to sort and engage in sensory play with?