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Table Time Sensory Activities

Posted: May 19th, 2011

Some children need a steady diet of activities that keep their hands busy and stimulate their tactile sense, hand muscles and creativity. All three of my children seem to benefit from at least a few minutes of this per day and two of my children actually crave it daily and will seek sensory input in other ways if we don’t sit down and allow time for it. This “sensory diet” can be mixed up to prevent boredom and I would like to discuss two products that my children like to use in this way.

My all time favorite in terms of variety is of course, PLAY-DOH! If you are like me, you cringe when you get the PLAY-DOH out, knowing that little pieces will be on the floor, smooshed into their pants and stuck in the PLAY-DOH accessories in seconds flat. BUT, my kids love it and I have seen the benefits when they use it. This summer, their favorite toy has been the PLAY-DOH Burger Builder Playset. My biggest problem is that we always seem to need more than one of these playsets to avoid fighting. Instead of buying PLAY-DOH, I now use homemade as it seems to stay together better, does not dry out as easily and doesn’t leave as many little pieces all over my floor. Hands down, the best recipe I have found is the following:

Mix together the following dry ingredients; 1 cup white flour, 1/4 cup salt, 2 Tbsp. cream of tartar.
Combine and add; 1 cup water, 2 tsp. food coloring, 1 Tbsp. oil.
Cook all ingredients over medium heat and continue stirring until it starts to get sticky and globby. Keep stirring and it will eventually form a ball in the pot, turn it out of the pot and knead on a floured surface. Once cooled, I store it in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag in the refrigerator.
*I actually triple the recipe so there is plenty to share between my children.

A newer product on the market that offers the same type of play is PlayFoam by Educational Insights. An occupational therapist brought this to my house and we have played with it ever since. It is virtually no mess, long-lasting and my kids have played with it for up to an hour without getting bored! Both of my “sensory-seekers” say it calms them and I love the creative play it offers. It can be purchased on the company’s website, www.educationalinsights.com, on target.com or if you are lucky, I have found it at Five and Below and also once purchased it at a Marshall’s store. Just be on the lookout and you might find it at a discount.