Sensory Tubs?

[musicalgrl]

The topic of sensory tubs came up in another forum on this board and while they sound like a cool, interesting idea, I have to admit that I don't really get it. What age range is this for? And how exactly do they 'play' with it and generally speaking, for how long each time?

This sounds like an explosive mess waiting to happen in my house and something that would last about 5 minutes tops, or as long as it would take to completely empty the bin! But maybe I'm selling my kid short. If it's a good learning tool and something she'd really enjoy, I'd considering creating one to be used outside. I'd love to hear someone's experience.

[Indianamom2]

I don't know how old your daughter is, but both my almost 8 yr. old (with sensory issues) and almost 3 yr. old like to play with this sort of thing. We have used different types of sensory play with DD while she was in therapy. Sometimes the therapist would just fill a large bowl/container with shaving cream and have her find hidden objects in it. Same thing can be done with sand (definitely an outdoor activity), rice, dried beans, mud (again outside), dried pasta, cotton balls... They all provide sensory input to the child.

Right now, we have a sand/water table combo that we bought on a great sale early this spring. The kids have been using it with dried pinto beans inside the house. They're easy enough to pick up and they like to scoop them into other containers, drive their little cars through them, just run their hands through it, hide small objects and find them, etc... I may clean all the beans out and take it outside and fill it with water this weekend, but we can always store the beans and switch it out again when we want.

I have to admit, it's kind of soothing to play in the beans. It feels good on my hands, kind of like how it feels good to squish your toes in the wet sand at the beach. It's sort of relaxing!

[wellyes]

It's always been a bust (meaning a mess) when I've tried it. Much more fun to fantasize on pinterest about than to actually do.