It’s the week before St. Patrick’s Day, and we’re getting into the lucky spirit with a few themed activities. My kids love celebrating holidays and special activities add to the fun. Here are a few we tried that were hits with my 3 and 5 year old.
- Magnetic Sensory Treasure Hunt
For this activity, I included some magnetic items (magnetic bingo chips, pipe cleaner shamrocks) and non-magnetic items (felt balls, tube ribbon pieces, acrylic gems) in a bin filled with shredded accordion paper. The kids used the magnetic wands to hunt around in the bin and find treasures. My 5 year old loved experimenting with magnetism and was very focused on what items were attracted to the magnetic wands.
Materials
- Paper filler (packaging from a delivery)
- Gold tube ribbon
- Pipe cleaner shamrocks
- Learning Resources Magnet Wands
- Magnetic bingo chips
- Acrylic gems
- Rainbow felt balls (@sewingseedsplay – HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Rainbow rice mix – @eyespyclub
- Wood ‘Pot of Gold’ tray – @awandco
- Wood rainbow tray – @eyespyclub
- Grapat wood sensory tool – @sewingseedsplay
2. Sensory Foam (Aquafaba) Coin Hunt
This was our first time trying chick pea foam (Aquafaba) so it was new, exciting and tons of fun for the kids. I hid the gold coins and gems in the foam so the kids could hunt around for them with tweezers and fill their cauldrons.
Aquafaba is a fantastic sensory base. I was inspired by @lifewith3men on Instagram to try this and followed her instructions (whip together juice from 2 cans of chick peas + 1/4tsp cream of tartar). It was so easy and the kids loved it. I was also super surprised that it didn’t end up being messy at all.
The tweezers were great for their hand muscles and fine motor skills.
Another thing I loved about this activity is that it is very inexpensive. If you’re having chick peas in your dinner and save the juice, it’s practically free. All the other materials, including the trays, are from the dollar store (Dollarama), except the gems (AliExpress).
3. St. Patrick’s Day Rainbows & Rice Sensory Bin
The third activity was a sensory rice bin. I love a bin like this with lots of different things to discover because I will leave it out for at least a few days. That way, the kids can explore at their own pace. Over the past few days, they have been enjoying scooping rice and filling up little cauldrons with all kinds of treasures.
Materials
- Rice with sequins
- Rainbow wood insert & rainbow tray – Eye Spy Club
- St. Paddy’s trinkets and loose parts – Eye Spy Club and Highway to Railway (Instagram)
- Wood cauldron tray – AW and Collective
- Felt balls – Sewing Seeds Play (save with code: HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Bauspiel lucent cubes – Scholars Choice
- Resin containers – Playspiration (Instagram)
- Wood rainbow – Tiny Fox Hole
- Grimm’s Giant Gems – Sewing Seeds Play
- Acrylic small gems – AliExpress
So there are 3 ideas for St. Patrick’s Day sensory and messy play. Would you try any of these activities? Let me know in the comments.