Stay At Home Educator

intentional teaching for purposeful learning

  • About
    • Copyright / Disclosure / Privacy Policy
    • Contact
  • Preschool Lesson Plans
  • Literacy
  • STEAM
  • Thematic Activities
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My Account

Googly Eyes Sensory Play for Toddlers and Preschoolers

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no cost to you, I may earn a small sum if you click through and make a purchase.

August 13, 2018 by Beth Rosenbleeth

This icy sensory play for toddlers and preschoolers is so engaging and very easy to put together.

Do you know the best part of connecting on social media and parenting groups?

It is the fact that you all take our ideas and make them your own. Many times, YOUR ideas leave us bloggers speechless.

This was the case for our sensory play with googly eyes. Laurel from @nutritionist_mama had tagged me in a post on Instagram, which led me running (literally) to the store. The fact that googly eyes can be added into ice was such a simple and fun way to ramp up the average ice play.

And you know what? My boys LOVED it. They thought it was hysterical that their ice bin was staring right back at them. The other perk is that googly eyes come in a couple different sizes. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

Yup! This sensory play has 2 parts:

  1. Child-led learning using the sense of touch.
  2. Extending the activity by sorting the googly eyes into groups of small and large.

Googly eyes sensory play for toddlers and preschoolers

Icy Sensory Play for Toddlers and Preschoolers

This sensory play idea will have your toddlers and preschoolers exploring the sense of touch, along with adding an important early learning math skill with sorting.

Materials:

  • Googly Eyes – 2 sizes
  • Ice Trays
  • 41 quart under the bed storage bin
  • Plastic shower liner for underneath the activity (optional)
  • Paper
  • Marker
  • An assortment of kitchen tools that you no longer use

Simple Steps to Sensory Play for Toddlers

The night before, add some googly eyes to your ice trays. There is no specific rhyme or rhythm. Just simply drop a couple into each tray.

If you wanted to get technical, you could freeze the water with googly eyes halfway. Once they are frozen, add the rest of the water and refreeze. This will keep the googly eyes in the middle of the ice.

Again, these are preschoolers. You can freeze either and they will still think this is a SUPER COOL activity.

Icy sensory play for toddlers and preschoolers

When you are ready, simply dump the ice into your storage container. Add random kitchen utensils, or allow your preschoolers to come up with the next move. Keep in mind, preschoolers play really well on their own terms.

Sensory play for toddlers with ice and googly eyes

How to Sort After the Sensory Exploration is Finished:

Once the sensory exploration had come to a stopping point (on my preschooler’s terms), we began to look at what was alike and different.

“Do these googly eyes all look the same? Let’s think about one thing that is the same, and one thing that is different.”

“You’re right! All of the googly eyes have this black center, yet they are different because they are not the same size.”

Sensory play for toddlers and preschoolers with ice and googly eyes

You can create this sorting chart in less than 3 minutes! I didn’t actually time it, but I am certain anyone can whip this up in no time.

Begin by taking a large piece of white paper and adding two circles Label them small and large. Allow your preschoolers to extend this googly eye sensory play by now placing the eyes in the correct category.

Sorting after icy sensory play for toddlers and preschoolers

In conclusion, your toddlers and preschoolers will love this googly eye sensory experience. Not only is the surprise of finding googly eyes hidden in ice the “greatest thing ever”,  but it will also help reinforce classification and sorting.

Beth Rosenbleeth
In 2001, Beth began teaching. Beth loved being an educator. Now that she’s a parent, She loves being a mom. Beth thrives on staying motivated and is confident her experience with education can inspire. Her goal is to help us all (including herself) find the balance between preschool education, and keep preschoolers busy. – Because we all know, mom needs a minute too! Join her as she merges motherhood with preschool education, fitness, and a hint of design at her blog, Days with Grey.
www.dayswithgrey.com/

You might also enjoy:

No related posts.

Filed Under: Sensory Play

« The Best Tools and Toys for the Preschool STEM Classroom
Sneaky Squirrel Counting Game + Other Fall Printables for Preschoolers »

Trackbacks

  1. 5 Activities for Teaching Colors to Preschoolers with Free Task Cards says:
    July 13, 2019 at 9:03 am

    […] toddler and preschool years are the perfect time for teaching colors. Starting as early at 15 months, […]

Search This Site

Stay Connected

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Find preschool printables at the Stay at Home Educator on Teachers Pay Teachers buy learn with play book and ebook

PRINTABLE SHOP
PLANNING
LITERACY
MATH
DEVELOPMENT
THEMES
PLAY
Visit Sarah @ Stay At Home Educator's profile on Pinterest.
Stay At Home Educator

© Copyright 2015 Foodie Pro Theme · Genesis Framework · Customizations by Kara Carrero ·

Wordpress