Sensory Smarts {Again} - Mommy Goes Back to Toddler {Taby} Town

Back many years ago when I was still learning how to be a mom - figuring out what Natalee's specific needs were while mothering a toddler son and teaching a classroom full of preschoolers with varying degrees of special needs, I also wrote a blog called the Sensory Smart Mommy. I read and researched and went to classes on sensory input, sensory needs, and how to meet those needs for my students and my own kids. This was the time in our lives when we made a lot of our diet and lifestyle changes and sensory integration became a natural part of our lives.

As the kids have grown I've done sensory play here and there. Shaving cream, chickpeas, water beads, play-doh, water play, finger paint, pudding paint, and the like just became the way of life in the Beeler house. It wasn't unusual for Mike to come home to a water table full of water beads in the kitchen, a request for an indoor trampoline, or children covered in paint. However, as the kids got older we haven't had as much demand for sensory play and it's not second nature like it used to be. As it turns out, I'm not done raising babies yet - so here I go again. I'm committing to being more intentional for my little Evie - to still be a "sensory smart mommy" for her and give her the same experiences the other kids have had.

Weeks ago I bought a 5 pound bag of rice to dye to make a rice bin for Evie. I wanted it to be rainbow and pretty. The rice sat and it sat and it sat. Evie carried the bag of rice around but I didn't open it and get around to dying it. Today I thought, what in the world am I waiting for? So I emptied a bin and dumped out that rice. And that little girl played and played and played.


She and I played for about 30 minutes and then I started making supper, keeping her on the floor right near me where I could keep supervising her play. Part of sensory play is training your expectations of the play so the children know what they can and can't do. That means you can't just give a baby a bin of rice and expect there to be no mess but that also doesn't mean they can't learn the rules. They can! Little people are so teachable. As we sat I gave reminders - keep the rice in the bucket, we sit down to play rice, etc. Was it perfect? No. Did we both have rice in our knickers at the end? Maybe. Did she taste it?  She did - twice - but didn't care for it either time.  Did she learn? Yes. Did she love it? For sure!

The uh-oh face when some dumped out. It's okay Evie. We can clean that up. You can help.

We started with just cups.  Then I added spoons about 30 minutes in, and 15 minutes later I added tins and funnels.  Adding supplies a bit at a time extends the play.

Evie wasn't the only one who loved the rice bin. Zayden joined her and then later Ameliya came in. Xavier stopped by the bin before piano, and Natalee asked if she could have a turn tomorrow. A gentle reminder to me that sensory play is for everyone and none of them have "grown out" of this phase completely.

I'm going to use activities stored up in my brain for some of Evie's weekly change-outs, but also the Busy Toddler's guide for 1 year olds. She describes this age perfectly when she says "they aren't babies but they definitely aren't toddlers - they are tabies." Tabies. Yes. Toddler babies. Learners. Adventurers.

Any suggestions for sensory ideas I should try with my sweet little taby?