Sensory Tables

Occasionally, I'll have a sensory table or bin in the art room.  Here is a couple I did this fall:

Halloween- dollar store trinkets, black beans and red lentils

Fall-apple scented rice, apple table scatter, funnels, scoops, and buckets

Fine Motor Activity- Tiny Clothespins on the Weave Board

Here is a new way I've found to use the Weave Board in the art room. 

I cut out little clothes from felt and found these little clothespins at the dollar store.  It is a challenge for some of the children to pinch the clothes pin as well as to attach the clothes to the line with the clothes pin.  It's turning out to be a great fine motor activity.

Color Wheel part 2

We did color wheels last year but we used art materials to add to the wheel.  This year, I thought we'd do it differently.

The children mixed the colors on the color wheel so that one color would blend into another.  We were careful to keep the colors in the area they came from so we would have varying colors

The children added photographs from an old calendar I had.  It had some beautiful, bright photographs of places and people from all over the world.  

We practiced cutting as we went and enjoyed finding a place for all the beautiful photos. 

Graph Paper Art

I saw this great activity on Picklebums.com.

The kids had so much fun creating little pictures but also making patterns and designs. 

These are all the various graph papers I printed out from Incomptech.com

Fall Play Dough

I love making play dough.  I especially love making different scents for the seasons.  

This week, I made apple and pumpkin scented play dough.  I also offered the children tools, pipe cleaners, and beans to explore the play dough. 

Sensory Activities for Infants

Here's what the infants have been up to in the art room:

colored spaghetti noodle

bubble wrap filled with tiny trinkets

pumpkin scented oobleck and gourds

shiny sticky paper and textured paper squares

finger paints and flower sponges

color mixing on contact paper

colored instant potatoes

giant texture board for infants to touch, crawl on, and walk on

Pasta Art

On occasion, I have used pasta in my art lessons.  It allows for another sensory experience that is unique to the pasta.  

For this lesson, I colored pasta using liquid watercolor and hand sanitizer to make the colors richer.  I set them up in the same color trays as the pasta on the table for a visual experience as well.  I often find that presentation is a big part of the amount of participation I get in a project. I had these cardboard pieces from the recycle center that the children were  able to glue on to make some colorful pieces of art. 

The infants had a fun experience using pasta, too.  I cooked some pasta and, after it cooled completely, added liquid watercolor and hand sanitizer.  The sanitizer keeps the color from coming out of the pasta when it's played with.  The children had so much fun squishing and tossing the pasta.  This was a great sensory experience and baby safe.