sensoryplay – A House of Play

4 June 20245 June 2024

Camping Play Activities for Kids

Thinking about camping with your kids this summer? When my kids are gearing up to experience something new, I turn to play, books and sensory activities to help prepare them. We are going to try some outdoor “camping” at our cottage this summer. If that goes well, we may try the real thing next year. Here are 5 activities to help get your kids ready to venture into the great outdoors.

1. Camping Small World Invitation to Play

I packed the Drewart camper van with some of our Maileg characters and camping accessories and set it out near a small world camping play mat.

stewart camper van packed for camping trip

As much as I was dying to set up my own adorable small world camping scene, I intentionally left the set-up to my 3 yr old (his sister was busy teaching herself tennis 😂). I think so much of the fun of small world play is setting up the world in a way that lends itself to the stories in your head. So, I’m trying to remember to back-up sometimes and let my kids lead.

For this play invitation, my son informed me I did not invite enough characters or pack enough food, so he remedied the situation. He invited his Frozen Anna and Elsa dolls to come along and brought some food over from our play kitchen. I love to see him using his imagination and the resources available to him to create the stories that interest him.

Materials

Drewart Camper Van – Nest
Maileg mice and camping accessories – most available at Simply Green Baby
Walk in the Woods play mat – Simons

2. Camping Book & Sensory Play

Next, we dove into a sensory book play activity. The kids love the book, A Camping Spree for Mr. Magee, so I turned the book into a sensory play tray (the best I could). The book is about Mr. Magee and his dog going on a camping trip and running into some trouble when a bear accidentally unhitches their camper and they end up in a stream, teetering over a waterfall.

I used some boxes to build up a hill with a camping site on top and made a waterfall beside it, using some of our Brio mountain pieces, the Bathymetric Pond from Aurora & Holly Childrens’ Accessories and Play, and a play silk.

We had lots of fun acting out the scenes of the book in the play tray… and felt inspired to read the book a few more times.

waterfall with play silk and sensory filler

Materials

A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee – Amazon
Bathymetric Pond – Aurora & Holly Childrens’ Accessories and Play
Bugs in the Garden Kit (with dirt scented sensory filler) – Readymade Play Canada (code PLAY10)
Felt rocks & dirt balls, felt mushroom, felt dragonfly – Sewing Seeds Play (code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
Tuff Tray – Scholar’s Choice
Sarah’s Silks play silks
Lovevery camper and camping set
Schleich bear

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3. Camp Cookout Sensory Play

What’s more quintessential camping than a campfire cookout? We had some campfire fun making yummy treats with play dough and sensory mix. I used our Blueberry Pancakes Play Kit and some hot dog and hamburger play food from our play kitchen. To make the s’mores I put out packing peanuts for the marshmallows, brown play dough for the chocolate and some cardboard squares for the graham crackers.

The kids recently had real s’mores on a campfire – so they thought this play recreation was so fun. They especially loved spearing the marshmallows on the skewers and pretending to roast them.

I also used our pancake batter dispenser with the blueberry pancakes sensory mix to add an extra fun element to the play. The little flame nightlight was the perfect finishing touch to this pretend and sensory play.

Materials

Blueberry Pancakes Scented Play Kit – Readymade Play Canada (code PLAY10)
Flame night light – Amazon
Tuff Tray – Scholar’s Choice

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

cardboard, playdough, packing peanut s'mores

4. Camping Pretend Play

We finished off our camping week with a camping dramatic/ pretend play setup and an exciting night sleeping in the tent in the living room (see number 5). For the Dramatic Play Camping I set up our Ikea play tent, our Nugget as a tent and our play foam Slippery Wedges as a mountain. I had 2 log bean bag chairs I’ve been saving for a few years and a play campfire set, complete with s’mores. I added the flame nightlight to the campfire to give it a more realistic feel.

The details are the fun part for me, and I’m already thinking about what I can add the next time we do this. This time I added

Bug Spray (a spray bottle with water)
Bugs – Folkmanis Dragonfly Puppet and Lovevery velcro bugs stuck to the mountain
Flashlight
Thermos
Lantern with Electric Cable
Sleeping bag
Cooler
Stuffed Wolf

5. Camping in the Living Room

Finally, it was the big event. We set up a tent in the living room, put the play couch cushions inside with some blankets and pillows. The kids also wanted to use the rain cover to extend the camping village into essential a huge fort. There was lots of excitement – the kids really loved this.

Although I had planned for all 4 of us to sleep in the tent, only 2 of us ended up doing it in the end. My son and I had a great camp-out night in the living room, while my husband and daughter decided their beds were more comfortable. The simulation was a success and I think we are ready to try this outside now… but, maybe just in the backyard.

15 May 202415 May 2024

Build a Bug Hotel Activity for Kids

We love the book Bug Hotel by Libby Walden and Clover Robin. My kids like the idea of bugs living together in a cozy hotel so much that we thought we’d try building our own.

For the “hotel”, I used a cardboard box with 2 bamboo utsenil box inserts from Dollarama. Then I placed a number of materials in the tray that the kids could put in the hotel for different insect habitats. The Bug Hotel book provides the perfect guidance for this activity. Our habitat materials were mostly gathered from around the house and outside. We used mini stumps, pine needles, sticks, pinecones, scrunched paper filler, seed heads, moss, egg carton, bamboo pieces, toilet paper rolls. I also cut some slits in pieces of cardboard to use for butterfly habitats. Everything was easy to collect, with the exception of the bamboo pieces. I bought the bamboo pole from Dollarama and had to use some muscle to cut it into 2-3 inch pieces with a saw.

bug hotel with cardboard and bamboo utensil box

Other Materials Used in the Activity:

Bug Hotel by Libby Walden and Clover Robin – Amazon
Bugs in the Garden Dirt Scented Sensory Bin in a Bag – Readymade Play Canada (code PLAY10) (note: I used 2 bags of dirt scented filler here)
Felt ladybug, bees, butterfly & Safari Ltd. life cycle figures – Sewing Seeds Play (code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
Artificial worms – Amazon
Tuff Tray – Scholar’s Choice
Small assembled Bug Hotel – Dollarama

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

dirt scented sensory filler and felt worm

My kids really enjoyed this activity and used the book as a reference for creating various habitats for the different insects. There were a number of textures to explore as well as an exploration of containment as they tried to fill the open spaces with different materials. The small assembled Bug Hotel went outside immediately so that real bugs could move in as soon as possible.

bug hotel activity with bamboo, sticks, stumps and felt ladybug

17 April 202419 April 2024

Dinosaur Sensory Play Tray

I joined a loop on Instagram with a “Prehistoric” theme. Originally, I thought it would be a small break from our pond/ Earth Day play, but when I think about it – dinosaurs fit in pretty well with Earth Day themes. What better reminder of how fragile life on the planet can be and then how quickly it can be extinguished.

For this tray, I used our felt Papoose Volcano and Olli Ella Dinos along with a variety of different sensory mixes. The grass is rice and unsweetened coconut that I dyed with food colouring. I just mixed some blue and yellow food colouring, added a splash of vinegar so it would be easier to spread around and poured it into the bowl of coconut. The coconut required more food colouring to turn green than the rice, but the smell of it is amazing and well worth the effort.

The speckled rocks are dry pinto beans, the lava is made from red lentil and the pond and stream is our felt pond piece along with some aquarium gravel. I am new to the concept of using aquarium gravel in sensory play, but i’m loving the colour variation and texture so far. I put a few white lima beans around the river as a river rock bed.

Then I added in some fake vegetation pieces, trees and rocks. I used a small amount of floral foam to hold some of the bunches together. Finally, it was time to add dinos, dino eggs, lizards and bury our Yellow Door Education dinosaur footprint stones.

To add an extra learning element to the activity, I made a Search and Count card for the kids so they could discover and count the various elements. I will include the link here if you’d like to download it.

Materials

Tuff Tray (Scholar’s Choice)
Dry rice, lentils, pinto beans, lima beans, coconut (Bulk Barn)
Aquarium Gravel – used 3 bags (Amazon)*
Rocks, vegetation (Dollarama)
Papoose felt volcano
Olli Ella Dinosaurs
Sewing Seeds Play** felt eggs
Grimm’s wood stacking bowl
Sewing Seeds Play** felt palm trees
Raduga Grez wood trees
Yellow Door Education Let’s Investigate Dinosaur Footprint (Sewing Seeds Play**)
Yellow Door Rustic Pourers (turned upside down) (Sewing Seeds Play**)
Dinosaur Search & Count Card (DIY)

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

** Save at Sewing Seeds Play with code HOUSEOFPLAY10

19 February 202419 February 2024

Leftover Flowers Sensory Play Tray

Flowers are so expensive, it’s a shame to throw them out once they start declining. I had some flowers that were starting to wilt, so I froze them in a container of water and turned them into a flower ice block for sensory play.

freeze leftover flowers for sensory play

I placed the frozen flower ice block on our Tuff Tray with a few play scarves underneath for colour and grip. Then I added my DIY Fizzy Powder, water, some bowls, scoops, pipettes, dried rose buds, soap shavings and a selection of loose parts.

I have done ice block, fizzy play before, but tried a few slight adjustments this time – and it worked better. The ice was thinner, so it was easier to separate the flowers from it and I put the ice out early on the tray so it had started to melt by the time the kids came in to play with it.

Materials

Flower Ice Block
Fizzy Powder
Natural add-ins (I had some dried rose buds (Sewing Seeds Play) and soap shavings that I put out)
Loose parts (the resin pieces are from Stars and Sensory and Playspiration on Instagram, the acrylic loose pieces are from Eye Spy Club)
Bowls (most from my kitchen, the eco friendly pie crust dishes are from Stars and Sensory)
Tools (pipettes, tongs, any other scoops or stirring sticks)

My Thoughts

Fun – High

The kids loved this tray. They found the frozen flowers very interesting and inviting and were very content making fizzy potions and flower soup for hours.

Engagement Time – 1 hour +

The tray stayed out for about half the day and the kids played with it on and off. I didn’t time every play session, but a conservative estimate of play time is 1 hour +.

Cost – Low

The ice flower block and DIY Fizzy Powder are inexpensive to make and you can add whatever loose parts or dried flowers you have on hand.

Effort – Medium

This activity has a fairly quick and easy set up. It doesn’t create much mess while the activity is happening – I love that about water and fizzy play. If a little water drips on the floor, it’s not a big deal. Most of the effort comes during the clean up. When the play was over, I separated all the loose parts, bowls and scoops and washed and dried them, Then I removed all the silks, rinsed them and set them aside to wash in the washing machine. Lastly, I threw the flowers in the compost and mopped up the water in the tray. All the mess stayed in the tray, so for me, the clean-up effort didn’t seem too bad.

Final Thoughts

I have discovered that ice play is great for leaving out for many hours. The ice melts and changes over time, revealing new discoveries for the kids. We left this tray out for about half the day. The kids loved tinkering with it and then being able to leave and return at will.

Fizzy Play with pipettes and tongs is always a great chance to practice fine motor skills. The pinching and squeezing is a great workout for tiny hands. By not including many ladles or tools that scoop water, it forced the kids to use the pipettes more and their skills improved throughout play.

The flowers froze beautifully and I loved being able to repurpose them into something new. I’m always a little sad when cut flowers die and this was a great way to give them a grand, final send-off. I will definitely use wilted flowers again in sensory play.

29 January 202415 February 2024

Cloud Dough Valentine’s Day Cupcakes

Have you ever played with Cloud Dough? It has a really fun texture. It can hold together like a dough when compressed, but then will crumble again easily under too much pressure. Cloud dough is one of my kids very favourite textures to play with and they love to pretend bake with it. It’s also very easy to make with ingredients you probably have in your cupboard.

Cloud Dough Recipe

8 cups flour
1 cup oil

Mix 2 ingredients together. That’s it!

The Activity

For the activity, I prepared a few quick recipe cards for “Valentine’s Day Cupcakes” and set the Cloud Dough out with some measuring cups, scoops, cupcake liners, and other small containers.

I included a bowl of pastel, mini styrofoam balls for the “frosting” (from AliExpress), some polymer clay slices for “sprinkles” (also from AliExpress) and some resin candies, chocolates and mini cupcakes (Stars and Sensory, The Creative Mix Shop, and Dollarama).

I also added some wood heart stamps that were a quick DIY. To make them I stacked 2 wooden hearts (from Dollarama) and hot glued them on a wood block.

I put all the materials out on our IKEA Flisat table with a plasticized table cloth underneath to attempt to catch some of the mess.

My Thoughts

Fun – High

My kids love Cloud Dough. They will request I bring it out if we haven’t played with it in a while. They also loved the added texture of the styrofoam balls. My 3 year old son was very content scooping material and adding decorations, while my 5 year old loved following the recipes and then inventing her own creations.

Engagement Time – 1 hr

My kids were very engaged in this activity so they played uninterrupted and mostly independently for over an hour.

Cost – Low

The cost to recreate this activity is low. The ingredients for Cloud Dough are inexpensive and may already be in your cupboard. I used some resin candies and chocolate from small shops that I already had, but you could easily just use the pink and red hearts from Dollarama as add-ins. The styrofoam balls are also inexpensive. I found them to be the best price on AliEpress, but you could also find them on Amazon (they are sometimes called “slime add-ins”).

Effort – High

For me, this is the only draw-back of this activity. It is messy – one of the messiest we do. For me, this means I only bring out Cloud Dough on weekends or days when I have lots of time to clean up afterward. Even though the table cloth on the ground does catch some mess, I ended up having to vacuum when the activity was done. The kids also needed to change clothes when they were done.

Is it worth doing? Yes! I think so. The kids love it and it’s inexpensive to make. Plus Cloud Dough keeps well for years. I’ve had mine for at least 2 years now.

It also has lots of learning benefits.

It’s a great activity for working on early math skills – number recognition, measurement, and an introduction to fractions;
Scooping the dough, frosting and sprinkles promotes hand-eye coordination; and
Measuring the materials and filling (and overfilling) the muffin cups is a great activity for the containment schema (when your child is learning about spacial awareness and how much of something fits inside a container).

Have you tried Cloud Dough? What did you think?