Sensory tubs are "all the rage" in the early childhood community these days, and for good reason. From the time they are born, kids are hard wired to take in as much information as possible through the use of their senses (think babies feeling everything with their mouth). Kids are natural-born explorers and the more opportunities they have to see, feel, hear, smell, manipulate, and explore different things, the more they will learn about the world around them. And in addition to all of that, sensory tubs are a lot of fun! In our sensory tub this week, I used mainly shredded green paper and then added other green craft materials, such as feathers, foam shapes, felt pieces, and tissue paper.
I also tossed in a few gold foil-wrapped chocolate coins that we will be using for a craft project later this week, and buried them under all of the green. The kids are usually pretty excited about getting out the sensory tub, but boy did they get excited when they found that first piece of "leprechaun gold!"
They were digging and grabbing so fast that almost all I could catch on camera were blurs of gold! :)
Once they were done finding (and hiding, and finding again!) the gold pieces, and finishing up exploring all of the other items in the box, I gave the kids each a shamrock shape paper for them to decorate using those items.
We had a fun day exploring our St. Patrick's day theme!