Colorful Sensory Bags

OCT 20

Colorful Sensory Bags

We woke up this morning to a grey sky, not enough coffee in the house and I found myself needing a quick way to keep James entertained. We've been working on colors lately and these sensory bags seemed like a perfect way to brighten up a sleepy day.

Last time I made these, I had a few questions about how I did it, so I laid out all of the steps this time! 

Pictured below is all you need. You can pick up some cheap hair gel at any store, I grabbed this little tub for about $2. Two ziplock bags of whatever size you want. These are freezer quart bags which was the best option that we had in our pantry, but I recommend bags with the regular closures instead a zipper. If you're a perfectionist (which, obviously I'm not), go for bags without labels on them so you can appreciate your artwork without seeing a contents label. Then, all you need is some food coloring, a spoon to dip the gel into the bags, and some tough tape, and you're good to go.

Once you've got your supplies rounded up, spoon some of that gel into your bags. I usually do 2-3 heaping spoonfuls of gel for each bag. As much fun as it would seem to let your toddler jump in on this step to help, resist the urge. Once you're bags are filled, add in a couple drops of food coloring on each side of the bag. I added in yellow/red on one and green/blue on the other.

Hang that beautiful piece of art on a window with the tape. This is where the zipper closures got in the way, but hey, no regrets, right? Hanging them on the window allows the light through and really brightens up the colors.

This project is one of my favorites because it's so easy to do with things around the house, it's fast, and although he may not stay at the window for a long period of time, he will walk by it all day and stop to play. Plus, it allows us a fun way for him to practice his colors!

Eventually, these come down off the window. When they do, wrap the tape around the top and depending on how full it is and the shape it's in, consider double bagging it. Then, he can walk around holding it, throw it, mold it and just enjoy playing with it.