Grinch Heart Sensory Bag
Today we’re sharing a grinch heart sensory bag inspired by How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This sensory activity works on fine motor skills, size sorting, and reasoning.
Grinch Heart Sensory Bag
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Now why did the Grinch hate Christmas so much? The most likely reason is that his heart was two sizes too small. He tried to stop Christmas in Who-ville by taking the presents and decorations, but he did not succeed. Instead he learned what Christmas is about and his heart grew three sizes. His growing heart is the inspiration for our sensory bag. Read he book here – How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Supplies Needed for Grinch Sensory Bag
- Plastic storage bag (gallon size)
- Hair gel (clear)
- Washable liquid watercolors or food coloring (green or blue and yellow)
- Red craft foam
- Scissors and/or heart punches
I purchased most of these supplies at the dollar store. That makes this sensory activity pretty inexpensive. After we colored our hair gel, it occurred to me that it looked like aloe vera gel, so I suppose you could try that and you wouldn’t even need to buy food coloring.
How to Make the Grinch Heart Sensory Bag
First, we colored the hair gel. I squeezed some gel into a small plastic cup. (You could probably do this in the plastic bag itself.) My daughter added in a few drops of blue and yellow washable liquid watercolors. You can find liquid watercolors in craft stores or online. I prefer using the liquid watercolors over food coloring because the watercolors are washable. Food coloring has the potential to stain clothes and surfaces.
Next, we transferred the colored hair gel into the plastic storage bag. (Use rubbing alcohol to remove the label from the bag.) We used about half the bottle of hair gel to get a good layer of gel in the plastic bag. I cut out 3 different sizes of hearts. I started with a heart punch and then cut two smaller sizes.
I drew 3 circles onto the plastic bag. The goal of the sensory activity is to sort the hearts by size into the 3 circles.
Add the foam hearts to the plastic bag. Try not to let them overlap. If they do, just move them apart before allowing your child to explore. Push the air bubbles out of the bag before sealing it. (You can tape the bag closed if you are worried your child will open it.)
Encourage your child to move the hearts around. Say something like: “Can you sort the hearts into the circles? Place all of the big hearts in one circle. Place the smallest hearts in another circle. The middle sized hearts go in the third circle.” You may want to show your child how to move the hearts and talk about which hearts are which size.
After the hearts are sorted, your child can continue playing with the gel squishing it around and moving the hearts. You can even write letters or draw pictures in the gel.
More Christmas Sensory Activities for Kids
Looking for more Christmas sensory activities? Check these out:
- Snowy Train Sensory Bin inspired by The Polar Express – Make your own snow and enjoy the play.
- Set up an invitation to explore pine needles.
- A collection of science activities inspired by How the Grinch Stole Christmas
More Grinch Activities for Kids to Enjoy
How the Grinch Stole Christmas Family Movie Night Recipes
Pin this Grinch Sensory Bag to Make Later
Trisha Stanley
Trisha is an educator with a passion for science literacy and mom to Aiden, Lily, and Elon.
She’s the creator of Inspiration Laboratories, a blog dedicated to encouraging learning through creativity and play.