Sophie is beginning to enjoy touching and feeling things. She has
started to stroke people’s jumpers as they hold her and cuddled a soft toy
(before trying to attack and eat it!) So I decided to make some sensory
balloons.
What you need:
· Balloons
· A funnel – I made one from an old coke bottle
· Fillings – I used flour, salt, lentils and marbles (but you could use
coffee beans, playdough, corn flour, hair gel etc.)
· Cup – to put the balloon while you fill it to avoid spills!
· Scissors
What to do:
1. Blow the balloon up and let it deflate. This makes it easier to fill. Sophie loves helium balloons but she has never seen a balloon being blown up. She was very unsure about it and didn’t seem to like the noise when I let the air out.
2.
Fill the balloon with your chosen filling using the funnel. I rested the
balloon in the cup to avoid spills and tapped the funnel – this was very
helpful when it came to the flour!
3. This step is optional but I wanted to add additional layers to prevent
the balloons from splitting. I cut the end of a second balloon off and stretched
it over the first balloon to create a second layer. I repeated this again so
that each balloon had three layers.
4.
Repeat steps 1-3 using different types of filling.
I sat Sophie in the Boppy pillow so that she could sit up and look at
the balloons. Next time I think I will sit her in her highchair and put them on
the tray so that she can reach them more easily. She touched them when I held
them up to her and she tried to take them off me. I did have to stop her from
trying to put them in her mouth a couple of times.
If I made these again, I would put less of the filling in each balloon
as I filled mine up so much that they are quite firm and hard for Sophie to
squish. I think she might get more of a sensory experience from them when she
is a little older and is able to really grab and squeeze them.
For older children, you could get them to try to guess what was inside
the balloons and even cut them open after they have guessed.
Always supervise
your child while they play with the sensory balloons.
