Sensory Bags

We aren't ones that like to stay home during the day, especially when the weather is good. So, imagine our frustration when Nylah picked up another bug and we had to stay home for a few days. It was nothing but runny noses, the same boring toys and constant whining.  Also, what's the deal with the term "Stay at Home Mom?" It just doesn't sit well with me for some reason. First of all, I do everything BUT stay at home. We like our play dates, our baby enrichment classes, our trips to the park, summer activities and so on and so on. We are not big fans of TV or staying home for long periods.  When I think of the term "Stay at Home Mom", that's exactly what I visualize: staying home, and that's it! I don't get any happy visuals with "stay at home mom."  If you ask me, we need to change it to "Work at Home Mom", because that's exactly what we do. We are always busy!

So, last night after I put Nylah to bed, I wanted to create a sensory play area for her; something different from her usual toys. Something challenging and fun since we were stuck at home. I've wanted to do sensory projects since she was little but never really did. So, I jumped on Pinterest and got a few ideas, then got to work. Most of it was done on a whim, but at least it was something different for her to wake up to this morning.

We have a little section of counter space where we had bar stools once upon a time, and I have been wanting to do something with that area for a while, since moving the stools out. So I decided to lay the sensory bags underneath and duct tape them to the floor. Up above them, I attached her flashcards so that we could practice our ABC's while pointing at the objects.  She loves that. We have flashcards hanging up all over the house, and she loves pointing to them and waiting for me to name them for her.

Daddy took her right over to it when she woke up, and she was very curious about it right away. She immediately started to crawl and walk all over them. Unfortunately, the two bags that had water in them didn't last long, which I figured. The blue bag leaked out all over her white pants and socks. Luckily for me, I didn't use regular dye like a lot of people do. I used the Crayola bath dropz, which washed out right away.  I may try double bagging them next time.  All the other bags were non-liquid and are standing strong.

In the first three bags are brown sugar, yellow water with caps, and blue water with cut up straws)

 In the last two bags are jelly beans and bath salts with yellow caps

I am definitely not a Pinterest mom, but over all I like how it turned out. I'll change up a few things for next time, and later on in the week the hubby might help me make a sensory board to hang in the hallway for her.