Cloud Dough

Scoop it and mold it and then let it crumble between your fingers!

I added pegs for my preschoolers who weren't quite ready to touch the cloud dough with their hands. They could push the pegs into the dough and pull them out, without actually touching the dough.

Make a mountain,

or practice pre-writing strokes.








What you'll need:

• 4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup of baby oil

Or any 8:1 ratio of flour to oil (vegetable oil might be better for kids who tend to taste everything)

Just mix the flour and oil together and you have cloud dough!

Oobleck Recipe

Here's a fun sensory filled way to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2nd. Read Bartholomew and the Oobleck and then create some oobleck of your own!

What you'll need:

• water
• cornstarch
• food coloring (optional)

Oobleck Recipe:
Mix 1 part water with 1.5 to 2 parts cornstarch. Add a few drops of food coloring if you want to make it colored. Stir and stir some more! You will need to stir for about 10 minutes to create oobleck, a weird semi-solid mixture. 


Enjoy!

We used the paintbrush to stir the mixture. For the kids who weren't quite ready to touch the oobleck with their hands, they could participate by stirring or just using the paintbrush to touch the oobleck.

Shaving Cream Snowman

This is a simple winter activity involving tactile sensory exploration and body awareness. 
Use shaving cream paint (see recipe below) to make a snowman on construction paper and then add body parts (cut out of colored paper). When the snowman dries, it will feel puffy!

The child who made this snowman didn't mind getting messy, but remember to offer a paintbrush, Q-tip, sponge or other tool for your more sensitive kids.


Recipe for Shaving Cream Paint:

• Mix equal parts of shaving cream and glue
• Use a paintbrush or hands to paint
• Shaving cream paint will be puffy when it dries
• Optional: add a drop or two of food coloring (I like to add red to make pink hearts for Valentine's Day)

Pumpkin Spice Playdough

Playdough is always a fun way to work on fine motor skills. The addition of pumpkin pie spice to this traditional playdough recipe smells so good you will want to eat it!

What you'll need:

• 1 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of salt
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1 cup of water
• food coloring (approximately 5 drops of red and 12-15 drops of yellow)

 First, combine the dry ingredients in a pan:

                                   








 Then, add the oil, water and food coloring:

Stir until smooth:

Stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, cook the mixture over medium heat until it forms a ball, approximately 3 minutes:

 

Let the dough cool slightly and then knead until it has a smooth texture:

Store in a ziploc bag for 1-2 weeks to maintain freshness. 

To make stems, gather some noodles, a ziploc bag and green food coloring:

Place the noodles in the ziploc bag with a few drops of food coloring and a teaspoon of water. Squish the noodles around until they are colored. Place on a plate to dry before using.

Have fun rolling and squeezing the playdough into little pumpkins! Work those little fingers to add the stems:

Or maybe make one big pumpkin!

Sweet and Salty Pumpkin Seeds

It's pumpkin carving time! This is another fun activity for Halloween. Pumpkin carving is great for tactile exploration and then the little ones can help turn the pumpkin seeds into a crunchy snack.


Recipe for Sweet and Salty Pumpkin Seeds:
What you will need:

•  seeds from one medium sized pumpkin (approx. 1 cup)
• one tablespoon of butter (melted)
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

First, carve your pumpkin and pull out all of the goop and seeds

Next, separate the seeds from the goop

Then rinse the seeds in water to remove the remaining pumpkin goop

Now it's time to make some sweet and salty pumpkin seeds!
Mix the butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon together to make a paste
 
Then toss the pumpkin seeds with the mixture (it helps if you let the pumpkin seeds dry out first)

Now spread the coated pumpkin seeds out on a baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes at 275 degrees. Be sure to keep an eye on the pumpkin seeds and to stir them often, so they don't burn.

Enjoy your sweet and salty baked pumpkin seeds!

And don't forget to finish carving your pumpkin!

Happy Halloween!






 

Dirt and Worms

Dirt and Worms is a fun activity for Halloween. I believe that food should be fun and during feeding therapy, I like to show kids how food can take different forms. In this recipe for Dirt and Worms, we crush the cookies with a rolling pin to make cookie crumbs. This recipe can be great for sensory exploration of a variety of textures (sticky gummy worms, wet pudding, dry cookie crumbs). I also like to use a Fun Chop Chopstick Helper to promote fine motor skills.

Dirt and Worms Recipe

What you will need:

• chocolate pudding cup (you can also use instant pudding)
• Oreo cookies (I used mini Oreos, but regular size will also work)
• gummy worms
• sandwich bag
• rolling pin 
• Fun Chop Chopstick Helper (optional)

Step 1: Scoop the pudding into a small bowl

Step 2: Place the cookies into the plastic bag

     optional: you can use the chopstick helper to complete this step

Step 3: Crush the cookies with a rolling pin

Step 4: Place the worms in the cup of pudding (again, you can use the chopstick helper if you want to work on fine motor skills)

Step 5: Pour the cookie crumbs on top of the pudding and worm mixture

Enjoy!

P.S.
Here are some other fun chopsticks:
Chimpsticks Chopsticks 
TropSticks
Happy Man Chopsticks
And the OT favorite: Zoo Sticks