Shell Sensory Tray

(Open ended play)

We live in a country which has not 4 but only 2 seasons a year: monsoon and dry. When we first move, I thought it would be summer all year long. We love the beach but during monsoon period sea/beach tourism is either stops or at least not advisable. It doesn’t mean we can’t have fun with beach and ocean theme activities at home of course.

I set up a tray with paper glittery shells leftover from an event we attend to a few days ago, red magic sand which were shell shaped along with its mold.

Do you see the detail of paper shell on the photos? Its texture was amazing. They are multicolor and glittery as well. I found it too lovely to be trashed. Glad that I finally found a way to use them.

If you have not heard of or played with kinetic sand yet, you are missing out on something really fun. It is a sand-like substance that is easily moldable, yet also free flowing. It hardens when squeezed, yet “melts” when released. It has the properties of wet sand, yet is not wet. It sticks to itself, yet is not sticky. It is soft, yet not fluffy. It is quite difficult to describe, but one thing for sure, it is so much fun for sensory play.

It has been a while that I kept the magic sand in our storage. Y directly so focused with the sand.

She touched it, lifted up a moldable shell, and squezed it while feeling the sensation of magic sand flowing through her finger.

She quickly grabed the mould and tried to re-make a moldable shell out of her previously squezed sand.

She then went moldable shell one after another, squeezed them all and savoring each sensation on her fingers.

She stayed entertained just with the sand and mold for more than half an hour. She started to invite the paper shells in the play a bit later. She would either bury them in sand or press them above sands as if they are mold.

#shell #sand #toddler