Getting the Most Out of Sensorial Play

I am often asked by friends, after all the hassle of setting up a sensory bin, with all the mess here and there, what would the child learn from it?

Well basically, this kind of activity is for the child to explore his senses. It includes the sense of touch, smell (scented objects), eyes and hands and etc.  But I don’t limit myself in these.  We use sensorial play for literacy and math as well.  When we do sensorial bin, I make sure that I play with my kids, that I interact with them (especially with Vito) so he’ll learn how to communicate.

Here’s a video of how we play with the ice and used it as a tool in learning vocabulary words, counting and more! No need for fancy toys  

Hands-on Learning: Biomes of Australia

A few weeks ago, while were doing an Australia Unit, Mavi and I talked about the animals in Australia and in which habitat they belong. We’ve done this years ago but it’s always nice to revisit and add a little depth in the topic. 

Learning Literature though Play-based Activities and {Learn & Play Link Up}

We love books and most of the time its easier to have your activities revolve around that book.  Kids will have a better understanding of the story, and at the same time explore related subjects like what we did with my Grand Father’s Journey, The Glorious Flight and other Five in a Row Activities.  I shared here how we explore and dig dipper into the stories and create engaging activities to go along with it.

                                                                          

Montessori Color Box #2 Activity for Toddlers

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Mavi is 26 months.
I recently purchased the Montessori Color Box #2 for Vito. I have a few Montessori sensorial materials that Mavi didn’t really find interesting and I was expecting Vito to have the same reaction to the color tablets.  But, I was wrong.  The moment I took it out, it was an instant hit! I was thinking all along that he doesn’t know his colors, but surprisingly he knows them by heart already!  He can match them perfectly but naming them is a hit or miss. He still calls them mostly “yellow” LOL.
As of the moment, I only introduced 4 colors to Vito:  yellow, red, blue and green.  Lately, he can identify orange, that’s because we kept on eating clementines and I refer to it as orange!  So the color tablets are actually for “formal” presentation of secondary and tertiary colors (well, that’s my plan).