Sensory Exploration Creations

Enjoy these fun sensory activities!

We were so excited to be at the Fraser Walk for Autism on Saturday, August 1, 2020! We love that this year’s event was modified to a drive-thru experience to keep everyone safe, and we still want to share our creative sensory explorations. We hope you will have fun playing and exploring as a family at home. Please feel free to modify and adapt these activities to best suit the interests and needs of your family. Sensory Friendly programming is made possible by U.S. Bank.

Color Creation with Shaving Cream

On a table are three resealable bags of dyed shaving cream: orange, blue, and green.

Materials needed:
· Resealable bags
· Shaving cream
· Food coloring
· Optional: dried beans, beads, popcorn kernels, and/or rice to add different texture elements

Note: If the texture of shaving cream is enjoyable, you can also explore with bare hands on a mat, tray, or bathtub wall. However, the type of food coloring you use may be difficult to wash off.

Fill a resealable bag with shaving cream and add a few drops of food coloring as well as any textured elements like dried beans, beads, popcorn kernels, rice, or anything else you like. Push out as much air as possible in the bag before resealing it to ensure it won’t burst open.

Ways to Explore
· To exercise fine motor movement, take turns using each finger and your thumbs to mix the food coloring with the shaving cream.
· To explore different ways to use your body, try mixing with different parts of your body like your ear, elbow, and toes.
· Observe how the shade of the color varies depending on how many food coloring droplets are added.
· Create and name your own unique color by mixing different food colorings together.

Inside a resealable bag, shaving cream is spotted with different amounts of red, yellow, blue, and green food coloring.

Extension

On a table are four bags of shaving cream with a piece of paper labeled with an emotion and corresponding drawn facial expression. The green bag is happy, the blue bag is calm, the orange bag is nervous, and the brown bag is grumpy.

Draw faces to represent different emotions that are frequently felt. Which feeling face would you give each color? Would everyone in your family give each color the same feeling face? Why or why not?

Extension Reading Companion Suggestions
· The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh by Supriya Kelkar
· What Color is my Hijab? by Hudda Ibrahim
· My Cold Plum Lemon Pie Bluesy Mood by Tameka Fryer Brown
· The Color Monster by Anna Llenas
· Color Dance by Ann Jonas

Seasons of Touch

On a table is a bowl of frozen cotton balls, a bowl of a mixture of flour and water, a bowl of water, and a bowl of dried leaves.

You will need at least one thing to represent an element of nature or weather for each season. The aim is for each thing to mimic a sensory sensation specific to a season.

Here are some suggestions:

Winter
· Ice cubes
· A fan on high for the cold wind
· Frozen cotton balls to represent snow

Spring
· A flower
· Mud (you can add water to dirt from outside or represent mud by mixing flour and water together)
· A spray bottle of water for rain

Summer
· A heater for the warmth (or going outside to be in the sun)
· A bowl of water to represent a pool
· Fresh leaves

Fall
· Dried leaves
· A fan on a low setting for the breeze
· A small pumpkin or a gourd (decorations or the real thing)

Take time to explore the physical sensation each item you have chosen can give you. Depending on what you’ve chosen to represent each season, this exploration might be best outside. You can explore by using just one area of skin on your body or by discovering the ways the sensation feels different for different parts of your body. How is it like the sensations you experience during the season it represents? How is it different?

Ways to Explore
· As you engage with each element, list different things you do in each season and how the temperature, textures, and smells unique to that season play a role in those activities.
· For each element, discuss how you normally interact with it during its season. Then, decide news ways to interact with it. For instance, if you usually step on crunchy leaves in the fall, what does it feel like to have their texture on your arm?
· Use your nose to determine if any of the things remind you of scents for each time of year.
· Talk about your favorite time of year. What does the air feel like during that time? What can you touch and smell during that season that you can’t during the rest of the year?

Extension
Create a story focusing on one season. Using your selected sensory element(s), craft a tale about how what you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste during your chosen season affect what you do during this time of year. This story could be based on your life, inspired by your imagination, or a combination of your lived experiences and creativity! As you tell the story, you can utilize your sensory element(s) and your acting skills to bring it to life.

Reading Companion Suggestions

· We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell
· Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn and Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter by Kenard Pak
· One Hot Summer Day by Nina Cruz
· The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
· Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel

We’re looking forward to more sensory explorations in our Adventures in Sensory Drama for ages 4–6 and ages 7–12 classes this fall! If you have questions about Adventures in Sensory Drama, email education@childrenstheatre.org. Space is limited, so sign up today!

— Article By Madeline Geier