Sand and Water. Summer doesn't get any more iconic than that!
A couple of weeks ago, we found the perfect day to head outside and discover all of the fun things we could do with our Sand and Water Table! We were blessed to have it passed on to us
by the Barrs when they moved to Alaska early in the spring. To break it in, we invited Rachel and her mom Sarah over to help us with some fun sensory activities, and decided that it might be fun to share them with you as well!
First, let's start with a couple of quick things:
- What is a Sand and Water Table? It's exactly what it sounds like. It's a child-size table that is divided in half. One half contains sand; the other half contains water.
- Where did you get the awesome toys in the photos? Glad you asked! The toys in the photos are from the Melissa and Doug Company. They make some of my very favorite kid toys that are super durable and can stand up to lots and lots and lots of playing! We have the Seaside Sidekicks Sand Baking Set, Seaside Sidekicks Brick Building Sand Toy, Clicker Crab Hourglass Sifter and Funnel, and the Finney Fish Spray Bottle x 4! Additionally, this post is part of the Melissa and Doug Summer Fun Calendar! Make sure you click the icon below to follow along with great ideas to make your summer a blast!
Sensory Activity #1: Touching
The first things the kids discovered was the texture of the sand. They would grasp it and then let it fall back through their fingers. It didn't take long before they started experimenting with taking a fistful of sand, putting it in the water, and then pulling mud back out. It's like magic! Our friend, Rachel, was a pro at this activity, and yet somehow managed to stay the cleanest of her little friends. The wisk in this photo is from the Seaside Sidekicks Sand Baking Set.
Sensory Activity #2: Splashing
Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Abby was going to town with the splashing. She thoroughly enjoyed splashing everyone around her and feeling the water droplets hit her face. Why did I take a shower that morning? Smacking the water with objects makes a bigger splash than if we just use our hands!
Sensory Activity #3: Scooping
Ellie quickly found the
measuring cups in our stash of toys, and alternated between scooping up the sand, then dumping it back out, and scooping up water, then...drinking it. As a side note, I washed the table before we started, so everything was clean. Besides, I didn't want to ruin what she was doing. By scooping and dumping from both sides of the table, she was feeling different weights and watching the materials leave the measuring cup at different speeds. A lot of education is worth a little dirt!
Sensory Activity #4: Funneling
I'm really glad that we got this
funnel! It is awesome because the kids could watch either the sand or water fall through it. The sand goes very slow, but the water falls very fast. The kids could also hear the difference between what it sounds like as the sand hits the table, and what it sounds like when the water does the same thing. Elijah thought is was really interesting to play with.
Sensory Activity #5: Sifting
Our
big mixing bowl has a sifter on top. This was such a great toy to use on the sand side, because we could bury toys in the sand and then shake it back and forth until we found them again. It's like a mini-treasure hunt! I also appreciated that it required a different movement than scooping and dumping.
Sensory Activity #6: Squirting
Based on how much we enjoyed the spray bottles, I can only imagine the number of water guns in my future! The kids were fascinated with the way the water came out of the bottle and hit their skin. The mission of the day was to figure out how to spray themselves! (The spray bottle has been discontinued, but these
squirters will do something similar!)
Sensory Activity #7: Packing
It had rained the night before, and that made for some perfect packing sand. We have these great little
brick sets that come with the brick mold and trowel. Ellie did an awesome job learning how to pack sand into the mold until it was full, and then turning it out to make a brick. Of course, it didn't last long as she learned how to build and destroy with her brick maker.
Sensory Activity #8: Tasting
Just consider this a bonus activity! I wish I could claim coming up with this one, but Caleb is the creative mind behind it. To fully absorb the sensory experience, you can also eat the sand. In case you were curious, it's
really crunchy.
It's true that Sand and Water Table activities can be messy (next time everyone will be wearing swimsuits so that I can spray them down afterwards), but all of the textures, sounds, and movement associated with those elements make it a very fun, and educational way to spend the afternoon!
Many thanks for Melissa and Doug for providing the toys in this post! This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.This post may contain affiliate links.
Sand and Water. Summer doesn't get any more iconic than that!
A couple of weeks ago, we found the perfect day to head outside and discover all of the fun things we could do with our Sand and Water Table! We were blessed to have it passed on to us
by the Barrs when they moved to Alaska early in the spring. To break it in, we invited Rachel and her mom Sarah over to help us with some fun sensory activities, and decided that it might be fun to share them with you as well!
First, let's start with a couple of quick things:
- What is a Sand and Water Table? It's exactly what it sounds like. It's a child-size table that is divided in half. One half contains sand; the other half contains water.
- Where did you get the awesome toys in the photos? Glad you asked! The toys in the photos are from the Melissa and Doug Company. They make some of my very favorite kid toys that are super durable and can stand up to lots and lots and lots of playing! We have the Seaside Sidekicks Sand Baking Set, Seaside Sidekicks Brick Building Sand Toy, Clicker Crab Hourglass Sifter and Funnel, and the Finney Fish Spray Bottle x 4! Additionally, this post is part of the Melissa and Doug Summer Fun Calendar! Make sure you click the icon below to follow along with great ideas to make your summer a blast!
Sensory Activity #1: Touching
The first things the kids discovered was the texture of the sand. They would grasp it and then let it fall back through their fingers. It didn't take long before they started experimenting with taking a fistful of sand, putting it in the water, and then pulling mud back out. It's like magic! Our friend, Rachel, was a pro at this activity, and yet somehow managed to stay the cleanest of her little friends. The wisk in this photo is from the Seaside Sidekicks Sand Baking Set.
Sensory Activity #2: Splashing
Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Abby was going to town with the splashing. She thoroughly enjoyed splashing everyone around her and feeling the water droplets hit her face. Why did I take a shower that morning? Smacking the water with objects makes a bigger splash than if we just use our hands!
Sensory Activity #3: Scooping
Ellie quickly found the
measuring cups in our stash of toys, and alternated between scooping up the sand, then dumping it back out, and scooping up water, then...drinking it. As a side note, I washed the table before we started, so everything was clean. Besides, I didn't want to ruin what she was doing. By scooping and dumping from both sides of the table, she was feeling different weights and watching the materials leave the measuring cup at different speeds. A lot of education is worth a little dirt!
Sensory Activity #4: Funneling
I'm really glad that we got this
funnel! It is awesome because the kids could watch either the sand or water fall through it. The sand goes very slow, but the water falls very fast. The kids could also hear the difference between what it sounds like as the sand hits the table, and what it sounds like when the water does the same thing. Elijah thought is was really interesting to play with.
Sensory Activity #5: Sifting
Our
big mixing bowl has a sifter on top. This was such a great toy to use on the sand side, because we could bury toys in the sand and then shake it back and forth until we found them again. It's like a mini-treasure hunt! I also appreciated that it required a different movement than scooping and dumping.
Sensory Activity #6: Squirting
Based on how much we enjoyed the spray bottles, I can only imagine the number of water guns in my future! The kids were fascinated with the way the water came out of the bottle and hit their skin. The mission of the day was to figure out how to spray themselves! (The spray bottle has been discontinued, but these
squirters will do something similar!)
Sensory Activity #7: Packing
It had rained the night before, and that made for some perfect packing sand. We have these great little
brick sets that come with the brick mold and trowel. Ellie did an awesome job learning how to pack sand into the mold until it was full, and then turning it out to make a brick. Of course, it didn't last long as she learned how to build and destroy with her brick maker.
Sensory Activity #8: Tasting
Just consider this a bonus activity! I wish I could claim coming up with this one, but Caleb is the creative mind behind it. To fully absorb the sensory experience, you can also eat the sand. In case you were curious, it's
really crunchy.
It's true that Sand and Water Table activities can be messy (next time everyone will be wearing swimsuits so that I can spray them down afterwards), but all of the textures, sounds, and movement associated with those elements make it a very fun, and educational way to spend the afternoon!
Many thanks for Melissa and Doug for providing the toys in this post! This post may contain affiliate links. For more info, please see my disclaimer page.This post may contain affiliate links.
