Arctic Sensory Tub
As winter approaches it’s time to switch out the Autumn and Leaf books and look towards books that feature colder weather and some of our favourite Winter and Polar Animals. “Forever” by Emma Dodd is a beautiful heartwarming story about the love that lasts forever between parent and child. The story is the perfect way to end the day and is our favourite bedtime story. I wanted to create my son an Arctic Sensory Tub based on the story that could be used in the lead up to bed time.
My son has Sensory Processing Disorder and is a sensory seeker. Through trial and error, we have discovered that sensory tubs with heavier items have a calming effect on him. He enjoys exploring different textures and temperatures so I wanted to factor this into our Arctic Sensory Tub.
MATERIALS NEEDED TO MAKE AN ARCTIC SENSORY TUB
Frozen White Rice Steam Bags – I used three small steam bags
Large polar bear and Small polar bear
PREPARATION FOR THE ARCTIC SENSORY TUB
First I placed the mirror coaster into the middle of the white storage box. This would be used to represent the frozen ice. Next, I emptied three bags of frozen white rice around the storage box. The white rice is a perfect snow colour and as the rice is frozen, it adds an additional sensory element to the activity.
Around the edges of the sensory tub, I added the indoor snowballs. These crunchy snowballs are soft and feel just like snow without getting your hands cold. I then added white styrofoam peanuts and cotton wool balls to the sensory tub, before adding the large and small polar bears.
PLAYING WITH THE ARCTIC SENSORY TUB
He soon discovered his reflection in the mirror and placed the baby polar bear beside the frozen lake. He got the two polar bears to talk about how much they loved each other.
My son loves the part in the story that reads “If you’re ever feeling lost, know that I will find you.” My son wanted the baby polar bear to hide among the white snow in a game of hide and seek. The Mummy polar bear then had to find her baby.
The frozen rice remained intact, whilst my son explored the Arctic Sensory Tub. When it was bedtime I placed the rice in a Ziploc bag to store it in the freezer. It means that the contents of our Arctic Sensory Tub can be used time and time again whenever my son wants to explore the story Forever again.
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Emma Edwards
During a difficult pregnancy suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) Emma vowed to make every day an adventure once she had recovered. Adventures of Adam is the outcome of completing a 100 day play challenge with Adam as part of that promise. Emma has a section dedicated to HG friendly play activities so that Mums can still be part of their children’s play whilst they are ill.