The Toddler Diaries - Sensory Bags

 The Toddler Diaries is a blog series I created to showcase the toddler activities I attempt with my 5, 4, 3, and 1 year old.  I also rate our experience to let you know if I think it was worth the time (and the mess)!  Feel free to check out all of my Toddler Diaries posts.

Sensory Bags

 I've seen pins and posts about sensory bags and thought the idea looked intriguing.  It's a pretty simple concept that starts with a bag of balloons.

 Next, search your home looking for items to put in your balloons.  I chose the following:

rice

rotini noodles

buttons

yarn

paper clips

lotion 

 Next, fill your bags.  I made two of each item....so, two balloons with buttons, two balloons with noodles, etc. so that the kids could match the balloons according to feel.  I DID NOT use the same color balloon with any two of the same sensory item.  I wanted the kids to be able to match the bags by feel OR match them by color.  I also realized that a very full balloon of rice felt very different then a balloon with just a little bit of rice, so I did two of each.  Similarly, I made two balloons with a small ball of yarn each in them as well as two balloons with some yarn just randomly stuffed inside.

 L4 seemed to have the most fun with the sensory bags.  She could understand the concept of matching them by feel which was a little harder for my younger 3 year old to grasp.

Rating:  Educational activity that promotes good thinking skills.  However, the bags are slightly time-consuming to make and really don't hold our kids' attention very long.
Time Commitment For Me:  It took little more than an hour to find the materials needed to make the bags and fill them.
Toddler Time: 5-10 minutes.  This is the most disappointing part of the project.  I thought the kids would have more fun feeling the bags, trying to guess what was inside them, and matching them.  Unfortunately, it really doesn't hold their attention.
Additional Comments: We've actually had these bags for a couple months now, and I rarely pull them out.  Honestly, I forget that we have them.  I'm afraid these bags were just a little underwhelming for our toddlers. Pin It Now!