Edible Eyeballs - Sensory Activity For Babies And Toddlers (Halloween Activity)

sweetpea (66)in #steemiteducation • 7 years ago

Wow, is it just me or has this month simply flown by! Just a few more days until Halloween is upon us and soon it will all be over! There's still some time to squeeze in some fun Halloween educational activities though and now more than ever, kids around the world are starting to get all hyped up and ready for the spooky night. Take advantage of this and direct the focus onto so something that fits in with the festivities but from an educational perspective.

Over the past few days I have been super busy compiling ideas on how to incorporate this "horrifying" holiday into lesson plans, some of my submissions include:

Today's addition:

Edible Eyeballs - Sensory Activity For Babies And Toddlers

While most of my activities include experiments that are focused at older age groups, I though this would be a stimulating activity for the little kiddies (I have a two year old and I know how they are always on the move, looking for things to do)! It's fun, safe, completely edible and can potential keep young minds busy for a good amount of time, while igniting the senses and exploring something new. Did I mention it is super gooey and slimy?

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What you will need:

A packet of unflavored gelatin
Food coloring (I found red and green to be the spookier colors)
Raisins
3/4 cup water
Cooking Oil
An egg tray or bottom halves of plastic easter egg cups
An egg carton/box

Instructions:

It's best to make the jelly eyeballs the night before, so that they are all set come play time. Heat the water up in a pan and heat until it boils. Add a few drops of food coloring and the pack of gelatin, stir it in until it completely dissolves.
Lightly grease your molds (Easter egg cups or egg tray) with some cooking oil.
Pour the gelatin mixture slowly into each cup, and then add your raisins (one each).
Allow to set over night. You can use an old egg carton to hold the molds up if necessary.

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When your babies and toddlers are ready for some stimulating fun, plop the eye balls onto a tray or a sensory bin (preferably outdoors, since things can get messy). Allow them time to observe and explore the squishy eyeballs. They are fun to poke, wobble, squish and eat (mind you, these won't be very tasty since there is no sugar added, if you want to use them as a Halloween treat, then rather use instant jelly packets).

** You could also add a scent to the jelly eyeballs e.g. vanilla extract

Use this sensory activity to encourage your children to touch and hold the cold smooth jelly. Teach them the colors of the eye balls and encourage them to make the match between "real" eyes and pretend eyes.

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Source Link: http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2013/10/halloween-sensory-bin-for-baby-and.html

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Why is sensory play important for babies?

What is sensory play? Toddlers and kids learn best through their senses. Any play which stimulates the use of touch, smell, sight, hearing, using fine motor musclesetc is considered sensory play. Stimulating neural pathways through sensory experiences is a crucial part of kids’ early brain development.Sensory play lays a crucial foundation for later learning skills. Stimulating senses through play sends signals to the brain which help develop its ability to identify objects and explore the world. Learning to differentiate sharp from round, smooth from rough, cold from warm is a basic step in empowering the brain’s ability to discover, classify and sort more sophisticated information later through life. - http://kidsfirstcommunity.com/child-development/the-importance-of-sensory-play-in-the-development-of-a-healthy-child/

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I hope you will be able to make use of this idea, the ingredients are very basic and affordable and the activity itself can be done at home or at play school as group play (this makes a perfect party "trick" too).