Another month another host of tuff trays. A quick thank you to those of you showing us the love for them over on instagram, it helps us keep the spark through the month.
*There have been fewer trays this month as the children changed the way in which they wanted to learn however things should be going back to normal going forward
Seashell tuff spot
Seashell tuff spot – Huge collection of seashells (in reality these can be whatever you have, we just happened to have collected loads as my children are magpies), bowl of water, collection of jars, tubs, bowls etc.
The children had just returned from a holiday on the Isle of wight and where we had happened upon a beach at Ryde which had the biggest array and quantity of shells we had ever seen. So the children (and to be fair the adults) set to work collecting their body weight in as many different kinds of seashells as they could find. We set the shells up in the tray and let the children have at it. To begin with we had just put in the family collection, the children had their own collections, however after around five minutes they decided they wanted them all combined so everybody could share. This kept them entertained for ages, they washed the shells, sorted (Riley’s favourite pastime) into different categories and talked about what animal may have lived in them. They then got the scales out and began weighing them. The children then developed their own game where they took a few coins and their friends (softies) had to weigh the shells and the coins. When the amounts were equal their friends could then buy the shells with the coins.
Cloud gloop/dough tray
Cloud gloop/dough tray – cornflour, shampoo (2:1 mix perfectly otherwise it doesn’t come together and you spend ages trying to get it balanced and yes I talk from experience).
The kids again adored this one, let’s be honest it is massively sensory so it was always going to be a win. I left the children to bring the mix together themselves (for young children just pre mix it for them), Rileys we managed to get the measurements exact, I did 2 mugs of cornflour and 1 mug of shampoo and for Samantha I had just under 2 mugs but thought it wouldn’t make a difference (don’t make my mistake!), it did. Samantha had to show great perseverance and patience (not something she has an abundance of) trying to balance out the mix. We got there in the end but it did take a little while.
Once together the children loved it, they brought (with some encouragement) items from their kitchen to make marks and patterns in the dough, then changed it to making food and pizza’s with the dough and some gems they had as toppings. This was a great calming sensory activity for them and the smell from using the shampoo was heavenly and filtered through the whole house (so be careful what scent you pick). They were visibly calmer and more regulated throughout the day with this activity, which was why when it was requested the next day I had no hesitation bringing it straight out. As a side note this has been going for a month now, has been out several times and is still going strong, we just keep it in an airtight container.
Slime tray
Slime tray – Slime baff, spoons, animals, rubber ducks
The children enjoyed this, as they always do with slime. They enjoy pouring the slime from one object/container to another but in all honesty they just enjoy getting their hands in to it. There really isn’t a lot to be said about this one other than it is a great sensory experience for them and I’m glad I don’t have to get my hands in it (although I quickly realised that I was out of luck with that one when it came to tray clean up time, blegh).
Lavender rice tray
Lavender rice tray – pre-coloured (with poster paint) rice scented with lavender oil, bottles, funnels, animals
I wasn’t expecting this to hold their attention for long if at all if I’m honest however, wow it beat out the slime tray. The children played for ages with the rice, pouring it, running their hands through it, they measured it with the scales, they put it in jars, they did mark marking in it, they worked as a team with it helping each other (which is a rarity for my two). They demonstrated they understood the properties of the lavender by playing games with the animals, incorporating sleeping potions. The children repeatedly returned to this tray throughout the day and it was only put away when we had to clear away for dinner, with the children ensuring that they could have it out again soon.
Bug hunt tray
Bug hunt tray – Lots of autumnal resources (collected from last week’s walk), plastic bugs, magnifying glasses, jars, callipers (any measuring device).
The children got straight into this, enjoying spotting some of the bugs whilst they finished lunch. As soon as they were finished they were in. The bugs were picked up with tongs taken from the kitchen (I hadn’t thought of that), put in jars, with the children carefully thinking and discussing between themselves which bugs could safely be housed together, which bugs were dangerous and could sting or bite and how to recognise it. The children quickly realised that although there were bees, there were no flowers for them so out to the back garden they went and collected some, depositing them into the tray to stop the bees from being grumpy. The children then investigated the size of the bugs using the callipers and measured food from the tray (plant life). If the food was of equal measurement to the bug then it was suitable. The children also enjoyed investigating the bugs under the magnifying glasses. This tray did not last as long as some of the others but it wasn’t as sensory for the children which is what they truly crave in a tray. They also did not return to it, so I think it was a one hit wonder but that’s fine overall I think it kept them occupied for around 30 minutes, so I will always take that.
Potion tray
Please excuse the lighting, randomly it was a nice day.
Potion tray – lots of jars filled with liquid soap, bath bomb shards, bicarbonate of soda, white vinegar (coloured with food colouring), purple cabbage water, oil, denture tablets, cornflour, glitter, lavender rice, water beads, googly eyes, you get the picture, I got a little carried away, labelling all of the bottles and jars with weird and interesting ingredients for example, never ending nightmares and bee venom. Pipettes, test tubes, bottles, cauldrons, some toy snakes for good measure, the weighing scales and a pestle and mortar.
The children couldn’t get past me fast enough for this one. After reading a few labels the first thing I had to do was cast a protection spell on everybody at the table, as Riley who suffers with extreme night terrors and nightmares didn’t want to touch or mix the wrong things (in hindsight ‘never ending nightmares’ as a label probably wasn’t the smartest parent move!).
Moving on from this there was an insane amount of fizzing, popping and giggling going on. They enjoyed measuring out the amounts as ‘they have to be precise’, reading the labels to find out what they were adding next and the inevitable overflowing potion from acid hitting bicarb. They revelled in guessing what the ingredients were ‘in real life’ and maybe even learnt a little science along the way. This was a clear winner for my two. It kept Samantha amused for a little over an hour and Riley for an hour and a half. For the children to have concentration on anything for this long, especially without an excessive movement break is almost unheard of and I am already being harassed to bring out the potions again
Pumpkin carving tray
Please excuse the ironing in the background, we are living it true! 
The children carved these entirely on their own and the pride shows. 
Pumpkin carving tray – pumpkins, we had several of different shapes, sizes and colours, that we had been using for the last week for different topics of learning (seperate blog here), knives, if you have children at an age or ability that can be trusted with them (ours used them heavily supervised), spoons, we also had wipes as we had previously used them for an art project.
First off this was one of these trays that didn’t necessarily need to be in a tray however in saying this, it contained all the mess in one place and was a quick tidy up.
The children showed serious perseverance on this tray. Fist strike and they realised just how hard this was going to be however rather than let it beat them they buckled down and took it in turns to carve exactly what they wanted from all three pumpkins.
This was also fantastic for their sensory needs. Riley had a little struggle with the stringy guts to start with but after a little he adjusted and processed it and dug in and ended up really enjoying it.
The children also learnt the joy of using the (mostly) whole product. After a week or so of using them in our education and ‘lessons’, they carved them, photographed them for prosperity. We put aside a small amount of seeds from each pumpkin to plant in the spring. We then roasted the seeds for snacking on later. We roasted the flesh and when cooled we blended it and froze it in portions to use in baking and cooking, after we had made muffins, brownies and oat cookies for the puppy. We cooked and blended the stringy guts and have frozen them down to use later in risottos. We also put a small amount of pumpkin guts in a sandwich ziploc bag sealed at the top with sellotape for extra measure. The kids have loved squidging this around and it has really satisfied their sensory needs. We have had it in the fridge for around 10 days (they take it out when they want to use it) and so far so good.
Aside from the skin on the flesh, this was all the waste we were left with. 
All the consumables from our pumpkins. 
Our seeds for planting and the children’s pumpkin guts sensory bag.
