Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Play Learning Tuesday: Salt Play

It is always a challenge to keep the very inquisitive EV busy & occupied. I consciously try to limit her screen (aka TV, iPad etc) time because I want her to engage with the world in a multimodal way using her various senses. But like I mentioned, it is a challenge and whenever an off-screen activity keeps EV engaged, smiling and having loads of fun, it is an extremely satisfying feeling.

What have I got up my sleeves this time? Salt! A word of caution though: things can get quite messy, so it is good to line the play area with newspaper.

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Here's what you need:
- salt
- tray or basin to put the tray in

To up the notch of this messy play a little, I combined it with some letters from Jolly Phonics, written on coloured paper. I put the paper under heaps of salt, and then EV had to slowly move the salt to reveal the letters. Then I ask her what the letter and the sound is. Good reflection activity.

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There's a lot of sensory play and motor skills training involved too. After a while, I let EV do her own thing, and she got creative making finger circles, building little salt 'hills', squeezing the salt with her fists and just throwing the salt all over.

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Yes, it was messy, but just look at the 'flow' she's in. Makes the cleaning up after all the more worthwhile.

Have you done any messy play with your kids recently? What other fun play and learning activities have you done? Do link up and share! :)

Toddly Mummy



Linking up with:

Tot School No Time For Flash Cards Activities for Children Lessons Learnt Journal Kids Co-Op Tuesday Tots

10 comments:

  1. That's a lot of salt! I like your creativity, combining play with phonics :)

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  2. Yups.. quite a bit of salt there. I kept it in a box to reuse it again for future play. Thanks for dropping by Christina! :)

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  3. Gosh, this is fun! My kids will love it! I can imagine their excitement upon seeing this, will definitely try it. Thanks for sharing! :)

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    1. Do try and share how your kids fell about it. Thanks for visiting! :)

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  4. Goodness.. honestly, I'll go crazy with the mess first! hahaha But have to agree this is a fun play :)

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    1. Hahaha.. I kind of went crazy a bit. Lucky the newspapers helped, but I still had to sweep the floor to make sure absolutely no salt remained. Thanks for dropping by! :)

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  5. That looks like fun! I think I can get salt super cheap at the dollar store. . . . ;-) Thanks for sharing!

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  6. I remember letting my kid play with this and he actually sucked his thumb full of salt that left a really funny look on his face! haha!

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    1. Oh yes.. my girl didn't do that, but at the end of the whole session, she looked at her 'salty' hands in shock, as though wondering how the salt got there. Hahah.. Thanks for linking up! :)

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