Lemonade for sale!
My own preschooler has been obsessed with sensory soups lately! Whenever we are outside, we are filling our favorite plastic bin or water table with something colorful and fun to explore with. {dollar store and Target Dollar Aisle finds are always a hit!} When I asked her if she wanted to make pretend lemonade, she was all in! We decided together what belongs in lemonade and what definitely doesn’t. She agreed with sugar and definitely did not want to add salt! I collected all of our ingredients and let her add them all to her water. Then the {learning} fun began!
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Lemonade {SOUP} Supplies:
- lemons
- water
- ice cubes
- “sugar” cubes (we used building cubes like these)
- stirring, squeezing utensils
This sensory soup is easy to put together!You probably have most of the supplies on hand. Slice some of the lemons into wedges, some into slices, and keep some whole. The lemons cut into different ways is an inviting way for your little one to explore. Add all the supplies to the water and mix it up to create the best pretend lemonade on the block!
After all the ingredients were added, my preschooler noticed that her ice was melting quickly – it was hot outside! After all the lemon wedges and slices were squeezed (by her hands and tongs), we noticed that there were lemon seeds in the lemonade now. She spent a while using tongs to clean all the seeds out and counted them as she put them into a bowl.
The lemonade was whisked, stirred, and even scooped into plastic cups. My preschooler thought we should sell some lemonade like in the book, OLIVIA Opens a Lemonade Stand, and walked around yelling, “Lemonade for sale! Get your lemonade here!” Her only potential customers were our dogs!
During the Lemonade Stand sensory soup play, many preschool skills were used. Fine motor strengthening happened while squeezing lemons, finding seeds, and using the utensils. Number skills were practiced when counting seeds, sugar cubes, slices vs. wedges. Predictions, cause and effect, float and sink were all part of the sensory soup play too. Colors and shapes could be discussed as well.
After the fun was over, we packed up all the lemon pieces in a ziploc because she already knew she wanted to play again the next day. I put the whole lemons aside to use to make real lemonade with!
Lemonade is a great learning during summer theme! Books we have read include:
I love the ideas and variety of options. Thanks soooooooo much.