Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Squishy Board (DIY)

sensory experiences, diy kids fun, entertain kids in car

Yesterday I happened upon this blog, Play Dr. Hutch, and this post of hers with the most fun looking kids activity.  
I've done Squishy bags before (ziplock bag, hair gel inside, maybe glitter).  Kids can smoosh these bags for sensory fun.  Older kids can draw shapes, lines, letters, numbers, or spelling words on them.  Super fun.

Well Dr. Hutch takes it a step further and duct tapes these bags down onto boards---making them more stable, less likely to leak, and super portable for fun in the car.

I decided to grab the supplies and make our own.

Supplies

  • Foam board (I bought one large poster sized from the Dollar Tree and cut it to size)
  • 1 gallon size ziploc bag
  • Duct tape--pattern of your choice
  • 1 bottle clear hair gel (from Dollar Tree, you'll use about 1/2 of it)
  • 1 bottle glitter glue (3 pack from Dollar Tree)
  • 1 small container silver glitter (4 pack from Dollar Tree)
  • Scissors
Squeeze the hair gel and glitter glue into baggie.  Add small container of glitter.  Use colors of your choice--I did red glitter glue and silver glitter.  Zip up bag and squish around.  Lay bag on cut out of foam board and tape on.
The back will look like this. Ugly.
Add tape around the back to make the board more stable and prettier.  Who can resist the splatter paint pattern of duct tape?!

Now the back of the board will look like this:

Finished board: (I swear it is more fun in person. These phone-pictures are ick!)


Finally, turn this over to your preschooler and watch them enjoy!  :)


















shared at: Chaos&Clutter, MirandaBee, Serenity Now

14 comments:

  1. I have also done the bags before. Never thought about attach it to a board. Cool idea!

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    1. I know! I loved the idea of putting it on a board. It is really stable this way. My little guy has been pretending it is a keyboard or computer too. He loves it. :)

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  2. Hmm, maybe we will try this today. :) It looks fun!

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    1. You should! It only took about 10 miutes to make and probably $1 of supplies. Frugal AND fun! :)

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  3. I am always looking for sensory fun ideas for the kids. This looks so simple!

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  4. Thats pretty nifty. I bet my little guy would likeit. Pinning to my kids arts & crafts board on Pinterest and tweeting it too. :)

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    1. He would! Thanks for the pin and tweet, I appreciate you helping spread the idea. :)

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  5. What a great idea for a car ride. We have one coming up in March--I might have to make this! I'm pinning!

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    1. Oh for sure! It will be a great tool of distraction for the kids. :) I'm thinking we could even make a mini one with a snack size ziploc bag and keep it in my purse for doctor visits, etc when the kids get bored.

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  6. ha! Wish I knew about this when my kids were young!

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    1. Just stash the idea away in the back of your mind for when the grandbabies start to arrive! :)

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  7. Interesting idea...seems like it would be good to stimulate the senses.

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  8. This is a great idea! It'd be so easy to keep it in a drawer in the dining room and pull it out to keep the kids entertained while you're cooking dinner!

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