Técnicas de estimulação sensorial (em inglês)

IDEAS FOR THE SENSORY TABLE

Sand, water and other materials provide children with sensory, small motor and eye hand coordination experiences. They are very inexpensive and have a natural attraction for young children. They stimulate creativity and develop skills in math, science and communication when presented in interesting and expanding ways. Materials from the natural world encourage experiences that depend on curiousity, and the sensory aspect of these materials has a soothing effect on children.

SUGGESTED IDEAS FOR MATERIALS

SUGGESTED ACCESSORIES

*Liquid soap or baby shampoo may be added to creat bubbles.

*Use only unscented shaving cream-the scented cream breaks down.

*Color shaving cream with a little tempra-it’s fun to finger- paint with.

*Color rice for variety.

HINTS FOR USING THE SENSORY TABLE SUCCESSFULLY

1.) Limit play to a small group (usually 2-4 children depending on their age and the size of the table). In a larger group, children are less able to work out their own problems of social adjustment and are more dependent on adult guidance to insure constructive play.
2.) All sensory table materials (water, sand,etc.) must stay in the table. If some spills, clean it up. Provide a dust pan and small broom, as well as a large sponge or mop for the children to use. Consequences for those who cannot keep materials in the table are redirection to another activity or temporary closing of the area.
3.) Place a carpet remnant under the table for easier clean up. It also helps avoid a slippery floor when water or sand is spilled. Another option is to place the table inside a plastic wading pool to contain any mess.
4.) Sensory table activities should be left out a week at a time so that all will be able to have a turn. If interest wanes, add one or two new accessories. Water should be re- moved and the table cleaned out daily for health reasons.
5.) Have the children use plastic aprons with water and messy materials.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

*Fill the table with water and provide a variety of objects for the children. Let them put items in the water one at a time and then compare how well each floats or how fast it sinks. Add slat to the water and repeat the experiment to see if some items now float better.

*Put large night crawler worms in damp dirt and let the children dig for them.

*Cut out fish from construction paper or styrofoam meat trays, add a paper clip to its nose and let the children fish with poles that have a magnet attached to the line.

*Add bubbles to the water and let children have a car wash or wash dolls and doll clothers.

*Plastic figures may be added to straw or cedar shavings to create a zoo, farm or holiday scene.

*Have children handle ping pong balls with tongs to enhance their small motor skills.

*And dry material may be substituted for water to enable the children to practice their pouring skills.

*Let children try to pull small items from the water with a small fish net.

*Dirt, plastic flowers, small garden tools and flower pots help to create a great garden center.

*Add bubble mixture or baby shampoo to warm water and let the children discover how to create bubbles by blowing through straws, using egg beaters or cooking whisks.

*Shaving cream is a good way to clean out the table.

*Children can create great snow scenes with cotton balls or styrofoam packing in place of snow.

*Place acorns and fall leaves in the table and let the children pretend they are squirrels hunting for nuts.

*Add a little water to sand or dirt, have the children roll a smooth surface with rolling pins and then they can make some patterns with sea shells, nuts, kitchen utensils, combs, keys, cookie cutters, etc…..

*Squeezing the rubber bulbs of eye droppers or a turkey baster fascinates a child.

*Transparent plastic bottles of varying shapes and sizes may be filled with rice and then dumped back out.

*Colored popcorn or rice works well in water wheels for a different sensory experience.

September:

1. Paper and Scissors
2. Dried Beans
3. Macaroni
4. Cornstarch “Goo” mixture

October:

1. rice
2. dried leaves, gumballs, sticks
3. bobbing ping-pong balls painted like jack-o-lanterns
4. black/orange shredded paper and plastic spiders

November:

1. water, foam letters
2. Popcorn
3. Inner pumpkin goop (seeds and fruit)
4. Dried Pumpkin seeds

Sense of Touch 

*From Stormie:
Although I’m posting ideas below as often as I can, my very favorite activities for this theme have been reserved for my “SEE, HEAR, TOUCH” booklet (see the “Stormie’s Stuff for Teachers” section of my website).

Sandpaper Surprise Rubbings: Cover a small table with lots of “Halloween theme” coarsely-grained sandpaper cut-outs — sandpaper side up (you can anchor them to the table with Ticky-Tack).  Cover the entire table with white butcher paper, taping it to the undersides of the table.  Now, let children feel the covered tabletop with their hands, trying to guess the shapes underneath.  Tell them to think of “Halloween things.”  (There will be “smooth” areas where nothing is on the table underneath, and “rough” areas where the sandpaper shapes are located.)  Now, the REALLY fun part: Children rub all over the table using the sides of crayons (without wrappers).  All the shapes appear!  Later, let children help you tear off the paper to see what’s truly there.
To lessen the difficulty, show the shapes to the children first then hide them under the butcher paper later when they don’t see you doing it. 
Extension: Lay other things on the table between the sandpaper cut-outs before covering it up (pieces of yarn, rubber bands, flat buttons, craft sticks, etc).
Note: This can be done with any theme!  I suggest buying the sandpaper from thrift stores or garage sales.  If some shapes are too difficult to cut from it, use something else — anything textured or with a raised surface should work.  For example, corrugated cardboard is an option.

How about some good ole’ “Slime” for the sense of touch, plus it’s Halloweenish too:
Slime: Mix 2 cups white glue (some say Elmer’s brand is best) with 1 1/2 cups of water and a choice of food coloring.  In another bowl, dissolve 1 TEASP. Borax in the remaining 1/2 cup of water.  Add this to the glue mixture.  It will clump up where the two mixtures meet so you must now knead it to get it all to mix properly.  If you want it more slimy, add a tad more water. 

You are invited to share your ideas too.  E-mail me at stormie@preschoolbystormie. com

*From Sue:
Touch Books: I have gone to decorating firms and gotten old fabric sample books and wallpaper books to use as “touch books.”  (Of course, you can use them for scraps in art projects too.)

*From Amanda Wood, Australia:
Tactile Cards: As I teach disabled children, my programs consist of a lot of sensory based activities.  We often use tactile cards to teach letters and numbers.  We draw a black outline of each number/letter on square pieces of thick cardboard.  The students then glue different things inside the outlines such as sand, cellophane, wool, pebbles, pasta, and so on.  The children are then able to feel the letter or number which is a useful tool when teaching the writing component of these.  If a collection of tactile cards are to be made, it is better to put them in an old photo album or a scrapbook.

*From Shonna D’Aramo, in New York:
Science/Gooey Fun: Stormie, I combine the themes of “colors” and “sense of touch” with this activity: I give each child two bowls of flour.  Using spoons, they stir yellow dry tempera paint into one bowl of flour and red into the other.  They then add a little water and stir the mixtures again (experiencing that fact that stirring is now more difficult).  I allow their experimental desires to lead them (adding more water, more tempera, more flour, etc).  They can feel and manipulate the goop with their hands too and even attempt to fingerpaint with it on various kinds of paper (wax paper, foil, fingerpaint paper, and scrap paper).  At some point, they mix the two colors, creating orange.  Yes, this is messy, but it’s also fun science, and can be repeated with other colors too.

*Leanne Grillot, Teacher of the Visually Impaired for the Monterey County Office of Education, puts cotton in her sensory table.

*Raquel Gosser, from Greenwood, Indiana, suggests putting “goop” in your sensory table.

*From Jennifer Williams, teacher of special needs preschoolers:
Pool of Fun: Instead of a water table, we use a small hard plastic kid’s pool.  We fill it with many different things throughout the year, depending on our themes (paper, rubber bugs, Styrofoam peanuts, etc).  Our pool rules are: Only two children in it at a time, no sitting on the sides, and shoes come off before getting in. One of the many fun things that takes place is that of walking on the various items in the pool with bare or sock feet, thus providing a tactile experience for little feet.  The children LOVE it!  It’s like playing in a regular pool, but with a medium other than water.  For safety, you may want to set the pool on a gym mat.  We have also padded the walls where the pool is located.

Following are some ideas for safe, fun and educational water play:

• Mathematic concepts can be learned using a variety of inexpensive materials. Assorted containers and funnels can help children develop concepts such as empty/full, before/after, shallow/deep, and heavy/light.
• Individual water tubs at a table are great for enhancing fine motor skills. For younger children, eye-hand coordination can be practiced by retrieving objects with tongs, aquarium nets, scoops, and fingers. Small muscles get a workout as plastic tubes are fitted to funnels and sponges are wrung dry. Very young children may also enjoy spending many happy moments repetitively filling and emptying containers.
• Children can learn about measurement by using measuring cups or discovering the best way to squirt long and short distances using squeeze bottles or plant misters filled with water.
• A child’s vocabulary is enriched as she uses words such as funnel, surface, float, and strain. Adults can promote language acquisition by adding foam or rubber alphabet letters or numbers to a container filled with water to be fished out with nets. Name the letters or numbers they catch, spell out their names, or see who can catch the highest or lowest number.
• Make cleaning up part of the learning experience using rags and short-handled mops to do “grown-up” work.
• Create a dramatic play area for children to wash doll clothes in a tub of sudsy water and hang them up with clothespins to dry in the sun.
• Even on cool days, children can “paint” outdoors with water. Set up a paint shop by providing a large paintbrush and partially fill a large can or small pail with water. They can pretend to “paint” the sidewalk, fence, slide, and other outdoor equipment.
• Provide a water tub for experiments and projects. Boats can be made from found objects or heavy aluminum foil. Older preschoolers can try out predictions by determining which of a variety of seeds and assorted items will float.
• On a hot, sticky afternoon a lawn sprinkler can bring relief. Wading pools are another hot weather friend (under adult supervision) and children can incorporate sand box and bath toys into the water play.

SQUISHY BAGS
Makes 8-10 bags: 4 cups of water, 1 cup cornstarch, 1/3 cup sugar, food coloring, freezer-quality repeatable sandwich bags, duct tape
Mix water, cornstarch and sugar in saucepan. Stir over medium heat until mixture thickens. Cool 10 min. Divide dough-like mixture into 4 bowls. Add a different food color to each. Knead each color of dough separately. Divide into portions, place some of each color in plastic bags and seal all edges with duct tape.

 GLOOK
1 cup cornstarch, ½ cup water, food coloring
Mix all ingredients. Great for squeezing through your hands. You can change the consistency by adding more water, then more cornstarch.

MAGIC BUBBLE BAGS
5 TBSP cornstarch, ½ cup water, food coloring: 2 squirts each blue and green or red and green, ½ cup vegetable oil, freezer-quality sealable bag, duct tape
Place cornstarch, water and food coloring in bag and shake to mix. Add oil. Seal the bag and reinforce with duct tape. Press the bag with fingers and watch colors blend and separate.

Freeze large empty containers full of colored and clear water. When frozen, put them in the sensory table with a few small containers of colored rock salt (1/4 c. rock salt mixed with Liquid water color–Discount school supply has it–microwave for 1-2 minutes). Let them discover (without you telling them what to do or what will happen!) what happens with the two ingredients! Also, colored rice can be made much more easily with the liquid water color, too. It requires virtually no drying time, and is non toxic and non-staining. Other sensory tub ideas: shaving cream, real clay with cups of water, cornmeal with all sorts of recycled stuff–plastic food containers, etc., birdseed, black and white beans mixed, Styrofoam with water–the possibilities are endless:-)

We filled our sensory table with packing peanuts. The kind that are made of cornstarch. We add pails, shovels, and measuring scoops. When the novelty of this has worn off we add a small amount of water to these, the peanuts become sticky and the children can mold them into many shapes! Much fun for everyone!

Go to a nursery and ask them for polymer crystals. take about a cup full and put them in the bottom of the water table, add water. Let it sit for a while (sometimes over night is good). They turn into a neat feeling Jell-O form. Add water colors After it is ready for different colors. The children love the feel. Add animals etc.

Put all of your unwanted scrap construction paper in the sensory table with a couple pairs of children’s scissors. They will tear, snip and cut at their developmental level.

I put old magazine pages inside and tie scissors to each corner. The kids get to practice their fine motor skills and love it. It works best with 2-3yrs, but even the 4’s and 5’s like it.

Some ideas we have used & enjoyed include: colored pop corn seeds, split peas, cheerios, frozen peas & carrots ( on a hot afternoon), poker chips, & potato flakes. I save large clear container such as mouthwash containers so the kids can fill and then screw and unscrew the large lids. The black microwave meal trays are also the perfect size and color to fill and observe in.

Use cooked spaghetti in your water table. You can color it according to your theme for the week. I used a little rubbing alcohol along with food coloring to color the spaghetti. I then put a little bit of baby oil to keep the spaghetti from drying out. It also let the children’s hands soft and smelling great! They had a blast! Don’t forget the tongs, bowls, etc.

Sensory Table Turn your sensory table into a “bubble factory”. Fill with water. Add lots of soap {AJAX dishwashing liquid is the best} Add a variety of bubble makers: berry baskets, toilet paper tubes, bubble wands, straws, bowls, eggbeaters and some turkey basters. Encourage children to experiment with the different ways to make bubbles. Have them wear smocks and cover the floor with an old sheet. Big fun!

Two different ideas: Fill your sensory table with 2-3 inches of warm water. Add two large blocks of ice and turkey basters. Watch the chemical change of ice melting into water! Washable watered tempura or food coloring (will stain) can be added. Another fun idea is to use aquarium nets to “fish” with. Sink and float items are great to fish for. Don’t forget the ping pong balls!

We keep various sensory motor, “touch” tables stored to use often. We purchased 16x34x4″ clear-plastic “Rubbermaid” tubs with lids. Our preschoolers enjoy the “measuring table” which has flour, measuring cups, measuring spoons, sifters, etc. to practice their measuring skills. Another favorite is our “rock quarry” in which blue-chip stones have been washed and stored in the container with hand-sized dump trucks, dozers, backhoes, etc. Another favorite is the “pasta table” in which just about any size, shape and color of pasta has been placed inside for the children to explore.

Dry beans of many colors are great, with an egg carton that has been numbered 1-12 in each egg compartment. Children will be encouraged to count out beans to put in corresponding “cup”, beans can be sorted by color, size, or just play in. Beans also provide an relaxing sound when a handful is dropped from a few inches above container. Add Rubbing alcohol to beans, rice, or sand and stir, the alcohol will prevent bugs, and sanitize, too! Rice can be colored with several drops of food coloring, then mixed well.

Place aquarium rock in the sensory table. This works best if you have enough aquarium rocks to hide the special rocks underneath. Add a variety of unusual polished rocks. (Local rock and mineral shows are great places to get inexpensive bags of polished rock.) Give the children various containers to collect the rocks. Also, scoopers, rakes and magnifying glasses.

Have your water table full and have the children sit in front of the table so they can watch. have the children take turns putting drops of food coloring in the water. Have them call out the name of the color that appears in the water so they can learn the colors and they can learn how to mix them to get other colors. It will also help them learn the primary colors. If you really want to have fun put bubble bath in the water so you get colored bubbles. Have a colorful time!!

Make Goop (cornstarch and water). Mix to desired consistency. Add some black paint and plastic spiders, skeletons, and it has become Halloween activity. We have the children wear paint shirts but you can expect their nails to be slightly stained for a day of two. I know mine has been.

Put plastic fishing worms in a large sweater box filled 1/2 way with water. Have the children fish them out with their toes. It is so much fun. I did it with preschoolers and even did it in my two boys classes in Kindergarten and 4th grade. They had relays–30 seconds each person in the group and two tubs of worms. After each person went, we threw the worms back in for the next person. The team with the most worms collected wins. Great Fun!

Home made Silly Putty: This can be a wonderful sensory exploration activity for preschoolers and up. Add equal parts of white glue and liquid starch to a small bowl. 1/2 a cup of each is good to start with. Liquid starch can be found at your local grocery store . Mix with hands or a plastic spoon and let sit over night, Doesn’t have to be thoroughly mixed. Mix again the next day to desired consistency. The mix, if left in your hands, can be runny or stringy so supervise young children at first. have fun!!

Try plenty of playdough in your sand & water table. Less clean up than on a table and perfect for the letter “P”

When using water in your Sensory Table, try this: Clean 1 liter soda bottles and the caps. With a drill (or awl), make 3 small holes in the bottom of the bottle. Fill will water and cover.

When you unscrew the cap, the water comes out the bottle. When you tighten the cap, the water stays in the bottle.

For younger preschoolers, this is almost MAGICAL and they will twist and untwist again and again which will help their gross motor skills.

For older children, this is a great way to discuss air and pressure.

NOTE: AS WITH ANY ACTIVITY-IF YOU STILL HAVE CHILDREN IN THE MOUTHING STAGE, FOR THEIR SAFETY- DO NOT USE ANY MATERIALS SMALLER THAN THE OPENING OF A TOILET TISSUE TUBE.

Area: Sensory

Idea:

When coloring rice or noodles for the sensory table, use Liquid Watercolor from Discount School Supply. It’s relatively inexpensive, goes a long way, makes BRIGHT colors and dries easily. Simply put the rice or noodles into a Ziploc bag. Add desired amount of liquid water color, squish around in bag until color is evenly distributed. Lay out to dry if necessary. This has worked much better for coloring rice and noodles for me! Also works well for coloring play-doh!

Fill your table with water and antibacterial soap. Add sponges, dishes from housekeeping, and lots of towels. My students had lots of fun practicing washing and drying dishes.

Rainbow Rice – I purchase regular dry white rice in bulk. Divide it up into Ziploc bags. Add a different color food coloring to each baggie. Zip shut very tightly and knead the bag to distribute the color throughout the rice. Add more coloring if needed. I use good quality food coloring (like Wilton) in a variety of colors – you can go “pastel” or “bright”! Then lay the rice out on a cookie tray or something like that to let it dry. Put the Rainbow Rice in the water/sand table with a variety of tools – buckets, spoons, small cars, etc. If you don’t have a sand table, just put the rice in a large flat storage box, place on a big blanket for easy cleanup and let the kids have fun. My children love this activity!

We have labeled our sensory table “The mystery table”. We change out materials on a regular basis. Some ideas include: rice; fall leaves and soil with block play woodland animals (autumn); rice and black beans (Halloween), corn feed with a large and a small rock for crushing corn (Thanksgiving) ; oiled brown paper bag in water with basters (Thanksgiving) ; wrapping paper, small boxes, ribbon and tape (Christmas/Hanukah) ; Large block of ice floating in water (“iceberg”-winter) , shaving cream, soil with child sized gardening tools or rubber snakes, insects, etc; ice with rock salt and jars of liquid water color and eyedroppers. Possibilities are endless!

We’ve tried several different items in our sensory table (which we call the “discovery table”). One of the best is straws of all different shapes and sizes. At first, the kids like to simply scoop and pour them. Then we started hiding things in them. Then we started stringing them together. Finally, we cut them using scissors (tied to the table’s legs so they wouldn’t get buried). My kids have been known to use these straws for nearly a month without ever becoming tired! Another great item is bean-bag filler (the little Styrofoam balls you put inside beanbag chairs). We’ve used this like snow, and recently threw in some metal-lined transparent chips that come with magnetic kits. We then used magnetic wands and poles to go “ice-fishing” . The kids loved it–they really had to be quiet and listen for the “fish” to “bite” (the chips make a small noise when it is attracted to the magnet and the filler is a quiet “white noise”). Usually you can find huge bags of the filler at Wal-Mart or Meijer for about $10–and you only need half a bag!

Put fall leaves in your sensory table, and then put plastic bugs, snakes, spiders, and/or the rubbery fishing lures (no hooks, of course). There are worms, lizards, crawfish, and minnow shapes. The children love to dig in the leaves for these items.

My preschool uses a lot of different ideas, we use pom-pom and use tongs to separate colors and sizes. We use package peanuts and hide things to find, things hidden have to do with the theme were working on. We also use Easter grass. Plastic Eggs to match. Rice, Beans, coffee grinds, macaroni, dirt, scrap paper to cut or tear, oats, corn, and shaving cream with food coloring to teach color concepts or science of mixing colors. Good luck, Its so much fun to make changes, the children look forward to it.

While doing exploration of the different types of corn, I placed feeder corn in the water table. I “shucked” some of the corn and also placed some “unshucked” ears into the water table. The kids loved “shucking”, scooping, and measuring the corn and it was a fun and different type of sensory activity in the water table.

We just completed our fall unit and we put wheat in the sand table. We put farm animals and the tractors, etc. in with them. The children loved it and it was easier to clean up than sand. We bought a 40 pound bag at our local farm store for $6.

For a new spin on regular water table play try lining the bottom of your water table with aluminum foil! It adds a cool shimmer to the water and the kids love it! You can add rocks, beads (Christmas tree garland type) and other various items. Be creative! Have fun!

In the sensory table mix shaving cream and a bag of ice.