New Sensory Table DIY

In the past week I had a couple of parents ask me where I bought our sensory table.  I told them where and the cost ($250).  Then I told them how they could make one themselves.

This morning my husband and I went thrift store shopping and I found this small table.  It’s about 18 inches tall, perfect for toddlers.  At another store I found the white tub.
         

At home I explained to my husband what I wanted and this is how he made it.
   
He measured the inside diameter of the bowl first then on the table he found the centre point.  Using a pencil on the string he drew the circle.
               
      
Next he drilled a hole through the top then used a jigsaw to cut out the circle.
      
It’s a very sturdy table, as you can see there are two layers and two circles.  The bowl fits almost perfect.  It was a bit loose so he screwed pieces of padding to make it snug.
         
Our new table cost $10.25, not including the cost of the cake I made
             as a thank you for my husband’s work.

Beach Hammering

Today we closed early and headed to one of our local beaches.  This beach
is rocky and tends to have lots of driftwood, perfect for today's activity.
     
                   All I packed was hammer and nails. 
   
   We walked the beach collecting wood till we found a place to set up.
       
      The children choose all kinds of driftwood.  Some were very large,
    
                              some medium and some small.

The children love to hammer and using real hammers and nails is even more attractive.  Using real tools is more authentic and heightens the senses allowing them to hear and see the action.
 

They were very focused and you can see their determination to place the nails
                                           just right.
        

A few children created boats and tested their buoyancy.
     
     

One child made a plane. Everyday that he comes to school he makes a plane
                so this was no surprise, although the size was.
            
        A few of the others pretended to be mechanics on his plane.
              

We also found a few other items on the beach; seaweed and an animal bone.
           
        Being outside exploring and creating was a terrific way to end our week.
                  
           Hope you have a peaceful weekend full of outdoor adventures.

Nature Challenge–Rain Art

                    
Our 30x30 Nature Challenge activity today included our big buddies and rain.
        
Using small paper plates with red and yellow crepe streamers we created
                                                Rain Art.
                             
We held the plates in the rain and watched to see if anything would happen or
                         change when the streamers became wet.
  
As the rain fell on the crepe we noticed that the colours left red and yellow
                                   marks on the plate.

We moved the streamers around a bit to make more marks and make our
                                          art unique.
  
Some of the colour leaked right through the plate and we could see it on
                   the other side making a two-sided piece of art.
   
                  We noticed orange on some of the plates. 
             
       The buddies that own this plate said it looked like a tulip petal.
                  
                   Sharing the evidence of our time outside.

Nature Challenge–Seed Socks

We started today’s outdoor adventure with a book by Ruth Brown.
                           
Ten little seeds are planted and as they germinate and grow they disappear in different ways.  One by a bird, one by a dog digging, one by a slug are a few of the ways. 
          
We were going to be another way seeds disappear by wearing a sock over a shoe.
       
                                    All dressed and off we go.
   
                We explored every path in our new wooded area.
     
 
After a great time in the woods we had a look at the bottom of our socks.
     
             
                    They were dirty but are there any seeds?
      
We gave our socks a spray of water then put them in a plastic bag.
                        
                          Closing the bag with a twist tie. 
       
They are now hanging in our window.  Do you think anything will grow?  There is moisture, sunshine, a bit of dirt but are there any seeds?  We’ll watch and wait.