Fall is in the air which means applesauce, cinnamon, and apple theme sensory play invitations! We created our own Applesauce Cinnamon Sensory Dough for a fine motor preschool learning experience.
We are thrilled to be joining the Playful Preschool Education Team organized by The Educators' Spin On It! Each Wednesday we will be sharing a collection of theme based #PlayfulPreschool posts for hands on learning you can provide for your preschoolers. This week's preschool theme is apples and we have a taste safe sensory dough that smells delicious!
Our preschooler E would love to share the recipe and directions with you. Begin with one part applesauce. We used 1/4 cup per child.
Add in two parts corn starch. We used 1/2 cup per child. Allowing the preschoolers to dump the ingredients and mix the dough themselves creates independence and additional motivation to try this activity.
Mix the two ingredients to combine. Stir until the dough shows no more powder. Stirring is great fine motor work for kids!
We are creating an ooze, an oobleck, a suspension, or a non-Newtonian liquid. If you haven't ever played with this type of sensory dough you must! It is a gooey liquid until it is met with pressure (from a tool or your hand) and then it instantly becomes solid and firm.
Next add some cinnamon! This was E's favorite part because she loved the sprinkling and the yummy smell!
Baking trays were the perfect way to present this sensory dough to our kids. Toddler D was busy investigating what was in the apple container (cinnamon sticks!) while E dug her hands right into the oobleck to explore!
The cinnamon sticks sunk into the sensory dough like quick sand so those little hands had to work to pry them out!
Once freed the cinnamon sticks became writing utensils and (without me even prompting) the applesauce ooze was an Autumn sensory writing tray!
The properties of this concoction are intriguing even to me as an adult. Using a tool the kids could quickly and cleanly scrape the dough from the tray to make lines, patterns, and designs!
Yet if you hold still to allow the oobleck to flow it will drizzle right off of your hands and other surfaces. Fascinating!
I was ecstatic to see this perfect pencil grasp from our toddler because this is something his older sister struggles with daily! Maybe all our fine motor work is making a difference.
Potato mashers are one of our favorite tools. D loves to squish these tiny bubbles of oobleck as they oozed through the holes!
It warms my heart to see them working together side by side both so engaged in the same sensory play invitation!
Our Applesauce Oobleck smelled amazing and was irresistible sensory fun for a preschool apple theme! Please comment when you make your own and let us know how much your kids loved it as well!
Plan your learning week with Preschool Apple Theme Activities from
the Playful Preschool Education Team:
SOCIAL STUDIES
From Orchard to Table. Watch and Make at The Educators' Spin On It
SCIENCE
Examining Apple Parts, How Does It Grow, Sink/Float at Little Bins For Little Hands
MUSIC & MOVEMENT
Apple Hop at Learning 2 Walk
MATH
Counting Apples with Preschoolers: Real-Life Math at Life Over C's
LITERACY
Alphabet Activity: Apple Tree Letter Matching at Mom Inspired Life
Alphabet Learning: Apple Stamping at Growing Book by Book
Apple-Bet Match : Matching Lowercase with Upper Case Letters at Tiny Tots Adventures
WRITING
Scented Playdough Pre-Writing Activity at Preschool Toolbox
WRITING
Scented Playdough Pre-Writing Activity at Preschool Toolbox
SENSORY
COOKING
SCIENCE
CRAFT
Paper Plate Apple Craft at The Kennedy Adventures
We would also like to extend an invitation to join in and watch our APPLE THEME Google+ On Air Hangout tonight, September 3rd at 9:00 EST. Hope to see you there!
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WOW - that looks like a lot of MESSY fun! I can't wait to make it with my preschooler!
ReplyDeleteLooks awesome and messy! How wonderful you can find activities for toddlers and preschoolers to try together. We love sensory play. This one must smell terrific!
ReplyDeleteThat looks fantastic! I have some applesauce we need to use up before our move, so I see this happening VERY soon in our house! I love all the ways that your kids explored it!
ReplyDeleteLooking at your images you can already smell the apples and cinnamon, a favorite scent of fall. What a fun experience for them to "create all by themselves" Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletei bet it smells divine!!
ReplyDeleteOK, this looks like so much fun! My preschooler loves to get his hands messy, so I bet he would enjoy this!
ReplyDeleteI know I want to play with this, and maybe I'll let the kids play too. ;) I bet it smelled fantastic!
ReplyDeleteWow, these pictures want to make me set this up tomorrow to explore. My boys will love it!
ReplyDeleteFun! I wouldn't have thought to use applesauce in the oobleck! What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like so much fun! I'm sure you had a great time playing and exploring the textures! Nice post!
ReplyDeleteLooks like great messy fun! I know my kids would love to play with this and have fun making this.
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