DIY Sensory Cards for Baby

I created these sensory cards for Zoey and she absolutely loved them. In fact, even Zeke enjoyed feeling the different textures! They were really simple to make and I think they'll last for a while. I may even make a few more with some different textures.

I used some wood squares that Silas uses with his wood burning kit. These were purchased on Amazon in bulk, but you can also buy them in smaller packages. 

I cut a piece of felt, a piece of bubble wrap, a piece of sandpaper, and a piece of foil to fit the squares. I hot glued them to the wood squares, but you could also use wood glue. That's it! It was a quick and easy craft and Zoey spent a good ten minutes playing with the cards, which is a long time for a 9-month old.

Have you ever made sensory cards? What other textures should I make?

Baby-Safe Sensory Tray: Dino Play with Edible Dirt!

June 1 was National Dinosaur Day, and in celebration I made Zoey this super simple, fun, and totally baby-safe sensory tray. I wanted to give Zoey a different texture for her sensory tray this time, so I decided to make her edible dirt. I had a box of Cheerios that was almost halfway gone and had gotten stale, so I put them in the blender until they were a powder consistency. I did have to pick out a few hard clumps so be sure to run your hands through it at least once.

I put it in her plastic sensory tray with some large plastic dinosaur toys. She enjoyed the texture of the 'dirt!'.

She ran her hands through it.

She picked it up and dropped it.

She rubbed it into her legs.

She threw it.

Zeke got in on the action. He doesn't like being dirty, but he does enjoy watching Zoey get dirty!

It was actually pretty easy to clean-up, too! I just dusted her off and swept the porch!

Have you made edible dirt before? I'm thinking of lots of different cereals that would work well, like Cocoa Puffs, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Frosted Flakes. 

Jello Dig Sensory Tray for Babies (Taste-Safe)

This is turning into a Sensory Summer for Zoey because she loves sensory trays so much! She had a blast with her first ever tray, a water sensory tray, and then loved her baby food sensory tray. This time it got even messier - and way more fun! 

Zoey is 8 months old and puts everything in her mouth, so my number one rule for her sensory trays is that it must be taste-safe and choke-free for a baby. All of the sensory tray ideas I give will be perfectly safe for a supervised baby under a year old. 

I love this plastic tray that I’ve been using for Zoey’s activities. I got it from the Target dollar spot for $3.00 about ten years ago, and it’s still in perfect condition! I have seen similar on Amazon. It’s about two inches deep and very sturdy, which is what I recommend for this activity.

Make three packages of Jello according to the package directions. I used lemon flavor because it seemed the least likely to stain her hands, mouth, and clothes! I set several of her silicone toys in the tray and then poured the jello mixture over the toys about halfway up the tray lip. It sat in the refrigerator for about four hours before I pulled it out for Zoey to use. 

When she first touched the Jello, she wasn’t sure what to think! But she dug right in, digging for her toys. 

When she finally got one out, she thoroughly enjoyed sucking the Jello off of it! This was her first taste of Jello. I've been trying to introduce more foods to her - baby food and solid food - and she hasn't shown much interest. I'm hoping by having taste-safe sensory trays she will be more open to trying some foods.

She started squishing and squeezing the Jello between her fingers and rubbing it on her legs. She was having the best time with this! 

Even Zeke got in on the action. He doesn’t like getting sticky, but he did dig one toy out. He immediately went inside to wash his hands but came back out to watch Zoey play! 

This was really an easy activity. And clean up wasn’t bad - I doused the porch with a pitcher of warm water and stuck Zoey in the bathtub! Porch sensory trays are my new favorite thing! 

Have you done a Jello dig before? Would you try it?

Baby Food Sensory Tray

We did a simple, no-mess water sensory tray for Zoey's first sensory tray last week. This week I decided to go ahead and set up a messy tray for her - baby food!

I stripped her down to a diaper and dumped some pureed bananas, carrots, and green beans on her tray. She went to town with it! 

She had no hesitations at all to get her hands messy. 

She rubbed the food all over the tray.

She squeezed the food. 

She sucked it off of her fingers.

She slapped and splattered the food everywhere.

Clean-up wasn't so bad. I just took her diaper off and stuck her straight in the sink for a sink bath. Then I washed the tray! Doing these messy activities on the porch instead of inside takes a lot of the anxiety off and makes me much more likely to do them.

Have you done a baby food sensory tray before?

Zoey's First Sensory Bin

Zoey will be 8 months old next week. She is a really sweet baby and I've been looking forward to starting her Baby Boxes with her - sensory and fine motor activity trays geared to her age and skill level. Her skill level right now is grabbing, throwing, and mouthing things! 

Today was one of those days that seemed to drag on. First, my washing machine broke and I had to run to town and buy a brand-new washer. The delivery man was out of town, so Eli and a few of his friends went and picked it up for me and brought it home and hooked it up. In the middle of all of this, my husband got a call that the dryer at our rent house was not working, so we had to buy a new dryer for that house, too. Eli and his friends also delivered that dryer and hooked it up. Not the way I wanted to spend money today. 

While we were waiting for the boys to bring the washing machine, I decided to clean out the laundry room. I drug everything into the kid's living room and then thought, what have I done? I threw away two bags of stuff and reorganized our craft supplies and toddler and preschool resources. That took a few hours and I was exhasted. Zoey also decided she was going to fight her nap all morning and afternoon. Fun.

My new printer came in (yay!) but I had a heck of a time trying to get it set up and tend to Zoey's needs. I was getting a little frustrated. I was trying to cook spaghetti and decided to teach Titus how to cook it. He is ten years old so it's time for him to start cooking. He was browning the meat and boiling the noodles. I asked him to dump the spaghetti sauce in the meat, but he misunderstood and dumped it into the boiling noodles. I had to bite my tongue and I'm glad I did because I almost said something I shouldn't have to him. We went ahead and cooked the noodles, and they turned out fine. 

The house was a disaster. Food everywhere, sticky floors, dirty countertops, toys scattered...I stood by the sink and wanted to cry. Then I decided to reset the evening. I grabbed one of our deep, plastic tot trays and filled it with water. Then I added two plastic ducks and three plastic frogs. I set it outside on the porch and Zoey went to town with it! We had to refill the tray several times because she was splashing that water everywhere!

Big brother loves playing with Zoey.

She loves taking a bath and I knew she would love a simple water sensory tray. 

She was running her hands along the bottom of the tray.

She was mouthing the plastic toys.

She was sucking the water off of her fingers.

She was splashing and watching the water as it got all over everyone!

She was soaking wet, but she was happy. I was relaxed and happy. I let go of the stress of the day and the waiting messy house and just enjoyed watching her.

This is why I have activities like this. It relaxes the kids and me. It helps to reset our days. It passes time in a joyful way. It adjusted all of our attitudes.

This was the perfect first sensory bin for Zoey.