Sensory Diet Ideas to use at home

INGREDIENTS: 2 cups bi-carbonate soda (baking soda)

1 ½ cups water

1 cup of cornflour

Food colouring (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Combined all ingredients into a saucepan. 2. Mix the ingredients together using a whisk to remove lumps. 3. Heat on stove stirring with a wooden spoon. 4. Bring the mixture to the boil continuously stirring. 5. Small lumps will begin to appear, continue to stir until a thick mixture has

formed. 6. Turn out onto the bench. Be careful the Rubbery Goop will be very hot! 7. Knead together to form a smooth ball of Rubbery Goop. 8. Store in a plastic zip-lock bag or air tight container.

There are no preservatives in this recipe and depending on how many children play with the Rubbery Goop, it can last up to two weeks.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED?

1 cup dried rice.

1 teaspoon food colouring (I have also used diluted paint before with the same outcome.)

Paper towels

Tray or plate (this for drying the rice)

A container with a screw on lid on.

STEP 1: • Add food colouring to the container and pour in one cup of rice.

STEP2:

• Screw on the lid and shake, shake, shake until the rice is completely covered. • Add a little more food colouring if needed to achieve desired colour.

STEP 3:

• Place the wet rice onto a paper towel and plate. • Using a spoon spread the wet rice out evenly to dry out. If it is a sunny day, I place the wet rice out in the sun to air dry. • Give the container a wipe and a rinse, and proceed with your next colour!

Sensory Bottles or Calming Bottles

Start with clean dry clear plastic bottles. Remove all labels and residual glue

Wave Bottle

• Fill bottle 2/3 full with water

• Add several drops of blue food colouring to the water

• Fill the bottle to the top with mineral or baby oil •

Put a little glue inside the bottle cap rim before screwing it on

• Wrap a strip of duct tape around the bottle cap and neck of the bottle

• The mineral oil doesn’t mix with the water so it looks like pretty waves when you turn it on its side and rock it back and forth

I Spy Bottle

• Fill bottle 2/3 full with coloured rice

• Drop in some small items -- fabric shapes, small buttons, tiles, alphabet letters, foam shapes, small beads, etc.

• Put a little glue inside the bottle cap rim before screwing it on

• Wrap a strip of duct tape around the bottle cap and neck of the bottle

• As the child turns the bottle or shakes it, new items will appear. “What do you see?”

Beach Bottle

• Fill bottle 2/3 full of sand • Drop in some small sea- shells (plastic or real)

• Put a little glue inside the bottle cap rim before screwing it on

• Wrap a strip of duct tape around the bottle cap and neck of the bottle

Magnet Bottle

• Fill bottle half full with salt

• Add pins, paper clips, magnetic chips and marbles, and small metallic objects to the salt and shake

• Put a little glue inside the bottle cap rim before screwing it on

• Wrap a strip of transparent duct tape around the bottle cap and neck of the bottle

• Let the children put a small magnet or magnetic wand on the side of the bottle and try to find hidden objects by slowly dragging the magnet

Other ideas

Make your own Lava Lamp Try some funky science with our lava lamp experiment! Chemistry gets a disco twist in this fun experiment using every- day kitchen ingredients.

You will need:

• A jar or bottle

• Oil

• Fizzy tablet (Alka-Seltzer, vitamin tablet or similar)

• Food colouring (colour of your choice)

Method:

• Half-fill the jar with water

• Add a few drops of food colouring

• Fill the rest of the jar with oil

• Allow a few minutes for the oil and water to separate

• Drop the fizzy tablet and watch the show begin!

The science bit:

• Oil is less dense than water, so the oil sits on top of the water.

• The fizzy tablet reacts with the water and creates bubbles of carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide wants to escape so it travels upwards, taking the bubbles of water through the oil and creating a cool effect!

Why not try:

• Making a few that are different colours – a lava lamp disco!

• Trying some different liquids and seeing if it creates a different effect.

• Add glitter or sequins

• Use a torch or light to shine onto it

Skittle Rainbows

You will need:

1 Pack of Skittles

Light Coloured Plate

Warm Water

Instructions

1. Take the Skittles out of the package and put them in a circle around the plate or anywhere around the plate would be fine.

2. Add about an 1/8 in depth of warm water. (Might be easier to do this with a spoon)

It will not take long before you see the colours of the Skittle seep out into the water. This provides an opportunity for them to play with the colours on the plate with their fingers and doubles as a calming tool. Edible and fun!

Balloon Stress Ball

You will need:

Balloons

Funnel or I have used an old water bottle as a funnel with the bottom cut off

Ideas for fillings:

Rice, lentils, any kind of dried pulse

Cornflour mixed with water or on its own

Hair gel or other gel like substances

Water beads

Instructions

1. Stretch out balloon by inflating it a couple of times.

2. Take funnel and insert the tip of it into the balloon

3. Add chosen filling leaving enough room to tie balloon.

Let them squeeze till their hearts content. This provides tactile input but is also a great hand strengthening activity. A bonus to this sensory tool is that it could double for working on oral motor strengthening, breath control and core activation if you let them stretch out the balloon by inflating it themselves.

You will need:

Pom poms (you can get these in pound shops)

Straw

Tape

Instructions

For this activity you can either stick/draw lines on the ground or in a box. If you use a box you can use toilet rolls which you can cut to form hoops for the pompom to be blown through or if you cut the toilet tube into rings then cut a piece out of the ring to form a ‘C’, these can then be stuck down and colours added inside them to match the colour of the pom poms and can be used as a game .

Non-cook playdoh recipe

You will need:

• 2 cups plain flour (all purpose)

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (baby oil and coconut oil work too)

• 1/2 cup salt

• 2 tablespoons cream of tartar

• 1 to 1.5 cups boiling water (adding in increments until it feels just right)

• food colouring (optional)

Instructions

• Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in a large mixing bowl

• Add food colouring TO the boiling water then into the dry ingredients

• Stir continuously until it becomes a sticky, combined dough

• Allow it to cool down then take it out of the bowl and knead it vigorously for a couple of minutes until all of the stickiness has gone. * This is the most important part of the process, so keep at it until it’s the perfect consistency!*

• If it remains a little sticky then add a touch more flour until just right

This recipe came from the website the imagination tree at:

https://theimaginationtree.com/the-z-of-play-dough-recipes

It has loads more ideas and recipes

Cooked Playdoh

You will need:

• 1 cup water

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 1/2 cup salt

• 1 tablespoon cream of tartar

• Food colouring

• Saucepan

• 1 cup flour

Instructions

1. Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar, and food colouring in a saucepan and heat until warm.

2. Remove from heat and add flour.

3. Stir, then knead until smooth. The cream of tartar makes this dough last 6 months or longer, so resist the temptation to omit this ingredient if you don't have it on hand.

4. Store this dough in an airtight container or a Ziploc freezer bag.

What you can add to playdoh to make it sensory with a different texture/smell

Rice aromatherapy oils

Rocksalt glitter

Split peas sequins

Couscous cinnamon

Poppy seeds ground ginger

Lentils Cumin

Rosemary Lavender

Sawdust Sand

Any herbs or spices can be added

Cloud Dough

Recipe:

7 cups any type of flour

1 cup vegetable oil or baby oil

as much glitter as you wish!

Mix it all together until the oil is evenly dispersed throughout the flour. Use your hands.

Salt Dough

1 cup plain flour

1 cup of salt

½ to ¾ cup of warm water

Stir the flour and salt together then gradually mix in the water until it forms a sticky dough. Knead it until the stickiness disappears.

Put finished item on baking parchment on a baking tray and put in oven for 3 hours at 100oc this will harden it but may need turning too. Check to make sure they are no longer doughy if they are return to oven.

This dough can be used for making imprints of items such as shells, hands feet or anything solid with a texture. It can be used to make Christmas tree ornaments, models, use letter cutters to make names. Once hardened it can be painted and decorated.

Gruffalo Playdoh

Use the no cook recipe and add either 3tbsps of instant coffee or cocoa to the water

This can be used as you read the description of the Gruffalo

“his eyes are orange” (orange buttons, sequins, bottle tops)

“his tongue is black” (black liquorice, black foam, lolly stick painted black)

“he has purple prickles all over his back” (purple dyed rice, pasta)

Green wart at the end of his nose (green jelly sweet)

Terrible tusks and terrible claws (white card cut to these shapes or any other items you can think of)

Knobbly knees (marbles, balls of dough, maltesers)

Let your imagination run wild!!!

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

White Playdoh

This playdoh is not only white but also gluten free

1 cup cornflour

1/2 cup salt

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp cream of tartar

1 cup boiling (or nearly boiling) water

few drops liquid glycerine (not essential, but makes it even smoother!)

silver glitter- optional! (but soooo pretty)

Mix cornflour, salt, cream of tartar and oil together, add glitter if you wish, then as before gradually add the water.

Snow puffy paint

Snowy puffy paint (air dries)

Combine ½ cup of white PVA glue with ½ cup of shaving cream in a bowl and mix together until it looks like thick whipping cream. Sprinkle in lts of silver glitter and stir through.

You can add 2-3 drops of vanilla extract for added sensory bonus !!

Use a paint brush to make your picture

Three bears porridge oats playdough

You will need:

2 cups plain flour

1 cup salt

2 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

2 cups of boiling or near boiling water

1-2 cups of porridge oats

Instructions:

Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar, oil together. Gradually add the water to form a dough, once formed add the oats and knead them into the dough.

Moonsand You will need:

5 cups of fine play sand

2 ½ cups of cornflour

1 cup of water

Food colouring

Instructions:

Put all the dry ingredients into a bucket/bowl and mix together. Add the food colouring to the water and gradually add water until it sticks together but make sure it is not too sticky.

Rainbow Foam You will need:

2 tbsp of washing up liquid

¼ cup of bottled still water

Electric mixer

Food colouring

Add the washing up liquid, food colouring and water into a bowl. Use electric mixer on its highest setting for 1-2 minutes. The foam should be able to form stiff peaks that hold their shape. Scoop it out of the bowl into a container and repeat above steps with remaining liquid in bowl until you have desired amount of foam

Rubbery Plastic You will need:

4 oz of milk

1 tsp of vinegar

Mixing bowl

Instructions:

Put milk into a pan and heat it on the stove until it curdles (when the milk begins to form lumps. Next, slowly pour off the runny liquid and place lumps in a jar along with vinegar, leave to stand for an hour. The lumps should turn into rubber, you can add food colouring to give it colour.

Giant Bubbles You will need:

6 cups of water

½ cup washing up liquid

½ cup cornflour

1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda

1tbsp glycerine

Instructions:

Add all ingredients into bowl and mix

Fluffy Slime You will need:

1 cup of pva glue

1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

Food colouring (gel works best)

Shaving cream

Contact lens solution (buffered solution)

Instructions:

In a bowl add the glue and the bicarbonate of soda and mix together. Add the food colouring and mix it in, then add 1 tbsp of contact solution and mix until it comes away from the edges of the bowl with a stringy consistency and clumps together. Add anywhere between 1-4 cups of shaving cream to the mix and keep mixing until it becomes fluffy.

Slime recipe UK