Food is a great tool for sensory play; not only do different foods have different textures and colors, but you can also eat them! It’s no secret that kids love to play with their food. You can encourage your child to play with their food for the sensory experience and then eat it afterwards so that the food doesn’t go to waste. Here are a few fun ways to use food for sensory play.
Use Food for Sensory Play
There are many ways your child can use food for sensory play. Food provides sensory stimulation in the form of texture, color, and taste. Here are just a few fun games to try.
- Jello: Make a bowl of jello with different edible objects suspended inside the jello. You can ask your child to identify what each different object is, then let them squish the jello between their fingers as they reach into the bowl to retrieve the items. What’s left of the jello bowl makes a great dessert with whipped cream!
- Cornflour: Cornflour has the amazing quality of easily moving between solid and liquid states. Simply mix 1 cup of cornflower with ½ cup of water in a bowl. When the cornflower is resting in the bowl, it looks like a liquid. When your child grabs a handful of the liquid cornflower and squeezes, it becomes solid. When the solid cornflower is returned to the bowl, it returns to a liquid state. This activity can be tons of fun for a child, and when the play is over, you can use the remaining cornflour for baking.
- Hot Cocoa: Marshmallows are a fun food to play with because of their firm outsides and squishy and sticky insides. You can ask your child to make observations about a marshmallow’s texture and smell. When your child is done with the marshmallow, you can pour a cup of hot chocolate into a bowl of marshmallows and let your child stir it around with a spoon as they eat their way through the delicious drink.
- Cereal: Children love cereal, not only because of how delicious it tastes but also because it often comes in vibrant colors and unique shapes. Cereal makes a great craft item and can often be eaten afterwards. You can have your child make a cereal necklace with a string and cheerios.
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