Sensory bags are a great way for young children to explore, discover, and expand their sense of touch without getting messy like other forms of sensory play! The textures, colors, and items inside the bags make them an inviting way to engage toddlers and preschoolers. Our Ocean Name Recognition Sensory Bag is full of letter fish swimming around and will help little learners explore while becoming more aware of their own names!
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Ocean Name Recognition Sensory Bag
My favorite kind of play takes just a little time to prep and includes simple materials and instructions. It’s no fun when you spend a lot of time and energy on a project and it flops with the kids! And I find that most simple play ideas end up being favorites used again and again!
Supplies needed:
- gallon-size freezer bag
- hair gel
- blue water color or food coloring
- craft foam
- masking tape or sand colored duct tape
- scissors
- permanent marker
I use craft foam a lot at home and in my preschool class! Sticky walls and window stickers are some of my favorite uses, and it works well in a sensory bag because it can be moved around with little fingers.
The directions are simple! Add hair gel to the freezer bag. Squish it around and make sure there is enough in there so it spreads throughout the entire bag. You want it to be squishy and not flat.
Add a few drops of blue food coloring or liquid water color. Squish it all around again. If your child is old enough, this would be a fun job for her to do! Just be sure to zip the bag first.
Cut small fish shapes out of the craft foam. Write the letters of your child’s name on them. Open the freezer bag and add them to it.
Zip the bag again. Double and triple check that it’s sealed. Use the tape to lock in the seal. Wrap the tape around the side of the bag that opens and stick it to itself at the end. We used masking tape to act as the sand at the bottom of the ocean!
Sensory bags are so inviting! I created one of these and then had to create 2 more so that each of my children had their own. We all squish, push, and rub our fingers over those bags continuously! And the little letter fishies swim all over the ocean!
Beyond just being an awesome ocean sensory bag, it can also act as a learning tool. Ask your child questions during play.
“What letter is on the pink fish?”
“Can you make the yellow fish swim?”
“Can you wiggle the letter K fish?”
Practice pointing to each letter when you say them, so that your child becomes more aware of the letters in his name. The more your child plays with the fish, the more he’ll be able to recognize that these letters belong to him!
The ocean theme is one of my favorite because we live so close to the ocean. The ocean makes more sense to my preschoolers than when we talk about winter because of where we are located. I depend on literacy and math centers to make learning fun.
Activities that are easy to prep with simple directions and that can be differentiated all me to spend more time engaged with student.
Check out all 15 of our literacy and math centers in our printable ocean centers!
Love this!! What a fun idea. Thanks for sharing on #ToddlerFunFriday
Great idea, thanks for sharing 🙂