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Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Sensory Tables Overload...

A few months ago I asked a good friend of ours, Thomas, if he could help me bring a project for my dayhome to life!
Thomas took on the project of making me my sensory tables for the children a couple months ago. He quickly took my visions of a few different styles and put them together to create (NOT ONE, BUT FOUR!) Sensory Tables for the kiddos to start exploring and playing in. What he came back with far surpassed my expectations - the care and details that went into the construction was so thoughtful!!
We went with four separate tables so that I had 2 for inside play and 2 for outside play. Although I haven't gotten the time to stain these beautiful creations yet (it really is a BIG decision as to what colour/stain to use), they are part of our daily motif!
Once I selected the bins (which are all Sterilite 10 gallon bins with locking lids from Wally World and were approx $12 each) Thomas went to work! He built two levels to hold the bins, so that instead of empty space under the tables, they served a second purpose of storage for a second bin. He also made small grooves to correspond with the bin so that the bin actually "locks" into place and doesn't slide around while the children are playing with it! This man is genius - seriously! He also sanded the tables down so they were smooth and ready for play!
Since before I opened my dayhome, I felt it was a strong desire to incorporate this type of learning/play in our daily regime, due to the overwhelming amount of benefits to the children. If you want to learn more about Sensory Play, please check out this great article by Earlychildhood NEWS - Sensory Experiences Can Be Messy Fun
I wanted to share a couple photos of the stunning craftsmanship that Thomas brought to our home! Thanks Thomas!!!
So for our first bin - my little guy is all about Diggers, Dozers, Skidsteers, Graters, Dumptrucks - pretty much ANYTHING CONSTRUCTION! So I though it was only fitting that this was our first bin!
The key to building a bin is gathering as much as you can from current stuff you have laying around the toy room and home to begin with...
I have been keeping my eyes peeled at garage sales for little additions as well!
I scored a bag full of "Bob The Builder" figurines and toys at the beginning of the season, and the small CAT equipment was another garage sale find! The measuring cups, ice cream scoop, and spoons came from the Dollar Tree and the construction pylons and signs were kicking around from other toy sets in the home. I decided to use black beans as a medium for this bin as they were nice and glossy, felt great in our hands, and were black - just like DIRT!(Plus - they are pretty easy to clean up if they happen to get spilt outside of the bin!) I kid you not, my little man can't wait to get up in the morning and finish breakfast so he can go and play "Con-SRUC-sion"!!!
Once Thomas' daughter Daria returns from her summer holidays in Polland, I have asked her for some help on building some of the bins! Well, I would love to hear some of your ideas for our future boxes!!! Please feel free to leave a comment or two below! You never know, I just may use your idea in our dayhome!
~MWAH
Bootybella

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