St. Patrick sensory box

St. Patrick's Day is March 17 and I made a new sensory box today to honor it! The base is split green peas (they feel so nice, smooth and cold) with an addition of green and gold coins.

Kitten was very excited even in the store while I was loading 5 bags of peas in the cart. And when I got them out she just run and run her hands through it.

Scooping and spooning. Baby doll is having fun as well!

I cut a slit in a plastic lid of an empty container and she had to find coins that I hid in peas and put them in the container. She loved it and did not stop until she found all of them.

Cheburashka and macaroni

Meet Cheburshka, Kitten's new beloved toy. He is a Russian cartoon character and when pressed he sings his song from a movie. Usually I don't approve such toys (from Waldorf's standpoint) but Kitten saw him at a friend's house, fell in love with him and they offered to let him visit for a couple of weeks. I was hoping she would get over him fairly quickly but it is taking longer than I expected. At least now she is not constantly listening to him sing! Anyway, back to the point. I gave Kitten a new sensory box, this time with just elbow macaroni as I find that she gets distracted and overwhelmed if I add too much stuff. Of course, Cheburashka had to join the fun!

 He was taking a macaroni shower...

 hiding in it...

and even when Kitten was spooning on her own he could not stay aside and not help. I left for a minute and when I came back I saw this:

Apparently he filled the whole cup on his own! What a good little helper!

Valentine Sensory Box

 I used small and large beans as a base, added heart confetti, red pompoms, large and small glitter balls, several heart boxes, fake roses and window gel stickers. I usually add extras gradually, when Kitten gets tired of playing with basic stuff. She liked beans the best.

 Scooping and transferring big balls to little cups was a hit as well.

 We also discussed the concepts soft/hard and fluffy/smooth/rough, arranged flowers and even learned letters "O" and "X" (same as "H" in Russian). She kept saying "h" holding a letter "X" and would find an "O" when asked, I guess we should move onto learning letters ;)

Winter Sensory Box

It looks a bit like a Christmas box because I bought a lot of stuff on 90% sale in Joann's. But it is our first one and I will switch it before Valentine's day anyway. Kitten and I liked the "ice" best, she spent a long time looking for all of them in rice, which is so great for fine motor. It just feels so nice to run a hand through rice and feel smooth round glass balls. We also sorted snowmen (there are 4 pairs, they used to be tree ornaments but I cut loops off). I wasn't going to introduce this to her yet because I thought it would be too much for now but she herself found a pair and showed me.