Monday, August 20, 2012

Space Themed Sensory Tub

My first attempt at a sensory tub was a huge hit, so I thought I'd make another one to go with our outer space theme this week.  I didn't look up any ideas for this one, and I wanted to keep it pretty simple (ie very budget friendly), so here's what I came up with.  I used only things I had on hand, plus a $1 package of glow in the dark space objects from the Dollar Store.  Can't beat that!


Objects I've included in our outer space sensory tub are:

  • Black filler paper to represent the darkness in space.
  • Rocket ship cookie cutter
  • Large yellow cog from a building set to represent the sun
  • Ping pong ball to represent the moon, the indentations are the craters!
  • Aliens
  • Space shapes including planets, stars, and comets
  • Salt dough balls to represent asteroids or moon rocks.

Unfortunately I couldn't find an astronaut figure, but we do have this little book about Space that has an astronaut on the cover (another great $1 find!).  It's already a huge hit and has been a great way to introduce some of the vocabulary we'll be talking about this week.  After it sits on the table in the sun for a while, I plan on taking it in the bathroom with the lights off so they can see the glow in the dark objects.  

I'm now keeping me eye out for anything I can use for sensory tubs wherever I go.  Whether it's picking up around the house, or in the yard, going to the grocery store, or before I throw anything in the trash.  Soon I'll be able to include a larger variety of textures, shapes, and sizes in each tub.  It only gets better from here!


2 comments:

  1. Great ideas, Casey! I love that you found such inexpensive items to fit in with your theme. I featured your post at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page and pinned it to my Astronomy Unit Study board at http://pinterest.com/debchitwood/astronomy-unit-study/

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    1. Thank you Deb!! All of your Pinterest boards are great. We'll be using a few of the dinosaur activities in the next couple weeks. And I'm sure we'll do some more of the astronomy ones too when we revisit that topic! I'm always looking forward to what you post next!

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