I wanted to purchase somekind of tactile/sensory game for my 1 year old for Christmas, but alas, I can find nothing in the stores. My idea was a game with a box/bag that you have to reach into and find objects that are soft, hard, scratchy, bumpy, square, round, etc., So, since I can’t buy one I thought I would make one. I am short on sleep and creative ideas…I suspect there is a blog out there somewhere describing a way to make something like this, but I was having no luck with google (did I mention I was short on sleep?). So, I thought I would throw it out to my brillkid friends…do you know any blogs/website that describe such a game? Or have you made one yourself? If so, please post links and/or directions.
Thank you in advance for helping me out.
I remember seeing this a couple of years ago when I was shopping for my little one:
There are just a couple of ideas here http://www.bbg.org/pdf/schoolvisits/Sensory_Explorations.pdf
you could include something soft, rough, round, something with corners, something squishy, something smooth, boy I am stumped too 
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/let’s-make-sensory-books
So funny, my 2 years old came up with this idea on her own today. She took the pillowcase from her new Christmas pillow ( with fun Christmas pictures), put various objects inside – play food, small toys, sock, glove, ribbon, hairclip, block, toy animals, letters. Then she sat her 1 year old brother at their play table and made him pull an object at a time, while she named EVERY SINGLE ITEM to him in Russian, AND made him repeat every word! I could not believe it lol She did a better school session with him then I would have, and they both had loads of fun. They really must have, since they repeated this game for at least 8 times throughout the day!
That’s just too precious, Skylark! Hopefully you caught some (or all) of it on video!! :laugh:
We just finished our “Senses” unit and did a little game and craft along the line of what you may be looking for. All I did was raid my craft and manipulative stash - pom pom, lego piece, glass pebble, dice, feather, marble, instruments, etc.
Game: I put all the items in a large tub, covered it with a blanket and said “Please find something that is a soft sphere.” (pom pom) or “Please find a hard cylinder.” (clave) He’d have to reach under the blanket and feel for the item.
Craft/Game to play on own: I found 12 small things from my stash (some the same as above, but several smaller things like a button or toothpick, etc). I took a photo of them lined up in two rows (5 and 5). Dropped the photos into Word, printed them off, cut the two rows apart and taped them to either side of an old wipes container. (five on one side of the flap, five on the other) I taped the phrase “What is it?” on the top flap opening. When he plays, he reaches down into the wipes container randomly picks an item and before he can pull it out he has to guess what it is (either with his eyes closed or he can look at the photo clues taped to the side of the box). OR, I can specifically ask for something I know is in there using descriptive clues and he has to hunt for it using only his hand. If you’re having trouble visualizing this, I’ll take a photo for you.
Kizudo, what a wonderful ideas, thank you for sharing!
My pleasure. It’s my personal goal to find good uses for all those wipe boxes I just can seem to throw away! lol
Kizudo - thank for the wipes box suggestion. I was trying to figure out what type of receptacle to use for the game - and didn’t really feel like sewing. I also like the idea of taking a picture and having that available.
I did get energetic last night and opened my craft bin to start finding pairs of items to use for the game - I found 3 pairs (pom poms, old fashioned cloths pins, and blocks). Thanks for helping me out.
On the wipes container - if you do cloth diapers, it is easy to use cloth wipes and wash them all the same time. I use baby face cloths for my wipes - different colour than the ones I use for face/body washing. Cloth wipes significantly cut down on the disposable wipes.
Thanks Khatty - we did do that for a bit and then well…life happened and we switched to disposables…anyway, we’re long past the high usage phase (he’s 3.5) and now just have them around for “emergencies”…none-the-less, the containers have come in handy. I made another reading game with them - the flap was SO much fun for my then 2 year old.
I was trying to decide what form of container to use for the experience - and didn’t really experience like bathing room. I also like the concept of getting images and having that available.