Sensory Play Guide: Beach Babies

The month of June was the definition of chaos in our house. We had my brother-in-law and his wife over for a few days. Then we went to Wilmington, NC for some R&R to celebrate a good friend’s birthday. After that we drove to my mother’s house an hour up the Carolina coast. All of this with no breaks in between. However, I knew this craziness was coming, so I planned our theme accordingly. I wanted to prep Vicky for the tactile experience of the beach. Last time she wasn’t thrilled with sand and water. I also wanted play ideas that were simple and could involve other parts of our family, aside from me, with little instruction. I also wanted to capitalize on the recurrence of Baby Shark fever in the house. Yay. Super excited about that last part. No. Not really.

The overall theme was a success and I really like how this all turned out. I awarded myself bonus points since Vicky took to the beach like a seagull. She ran full speed into the waves and loved every minute of it. We also took the chance to visit the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, which was an excellent add-in to our overall ocean/beach conversation.

Check it out!

Supplies Needed

• canola oil
• flour
• water beads
• sand toys
• ocean animal toys
• shoe box
• super glue
• red felt
• permanent marker
• white paint marker
• poms (for the record, we are still using the same poms from the beginning of the year’s escapades with that voracious caterpillar)

The Plan

Reading: Moby Dick: A BabyLit Ocean Primer

I found this book in our local library and loved it. While it doesn’t tell the story of Moby Dick the way we remember it, it delves into different words for items that you see at sea and on ships. With the high contrast of blue, red, and white, it is also very visually appealing.

Nursery Rhyme: Baby Shark

Do you know how I picture Hell? I’m standing in a line, where people continually cut in front of me. I’m also in stiletto heels and holding a poorly stacked tower of pizza boxes (that I can’t eat…because it’s Hell). I’m in line and playing in the background ad infinitum is Pinkfong’s “Baby Shark”.

Jokes aside, she’s been on a Baby Shark kick again. I’m sort of thankful since I was pretty much Elmo’d out at this point. She’s also learned the universal sign to signal that she wants to watch it, which brings her great joy. For reference she opens and closes her hands in pantomime of a shark that is biting.

Focus Words: Ocean Beach

Sensory Activity: Beach Sensory Bin

Ever since I knew we were going to the beach, I have been prepping this idea in my head. The last time we had been to the beach, Vicky had cried about the sand and was slightly petrified of the water. I wanted a way that she could explore the concept of sand and getting her hands wet from the comfort of home.

Now, first off, before I go into the preparation, let me just say one thing: Protect your floor! Or take this outside. If you’re going to play with this “sand” inside, I would highly advise a sheet underneath the table. I noticed that Vicky slid a bit when she was working, so next time we’re just taking it outside.

Anywho, I got the sand recipe from Parenting Chaos. Depending on how much sand you want to create, you will use a ratio of 1:8. For us, that translated to 1/2 cup of canola oil to 4 cups of flour. Since sand and the mixed flour are pretty close in color, I didn’t bother with any food dye, but you can totally add that in as well. I had picked up some cheap sand toys from the local dollar store and threw those in.

For the other bin in the table, I reconstituted some purple water beads (in my defense, I thought they were blue the night before) and tossed in a few bath toys, again from the dollar store. Voila! The beach!

As you can see below, she totally loved it! This is definitely a one-day bin or an outside bin. The mess can get pretty intense, especially when she started combining the water beads and the sand. Afterward, we ended up stripping her down to her diaper and just took her directly to the bath tub when she was done. My dining room, however, will never be the same. Honestly, that’s a lie. The consistency of the final product lends itself to clumping, so clean up is pretty easy with a decent vacuum.

Fine Motor: Feed the Shark

A very important milestone for your two year old is the ability to sort shapes and colors. Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that Vicky doesn’t know her colors right now. However, I use this simple craft to talk about each color. “OOoo, you’re feeding the shark a red fish!” “Look out, he’s about to eat the green fish!” Not only does this activity work on colors, there’s also a fine motor aspect as well. I constructed the shark’s mouth to have an opening that would require some dexterity and manipulation of the poms.

To build our shark, I cut a hole in a Stride Rite shoebox of Vicky’s that I had been holding onto. By the way, ever since starting the blog, I have become a veritable hoarder. Egg carton? That’s mine. Shoe box? Pass it here. You better not through that Coffee-Mate dispenser in the trash!

I digress. I cut the hole in the shoebox and then cut another piece of cardboard from another Amazon box I had lying around. I didn’t use a stencil, I just freehanded the shape of the shark’s head with an exacto knife. Afterwards, I drew in his black oval eyes and sketched out a mouth and teeth, which I also cut out with the exacto knife. I outlined the mouth in black permanent marker and then used a white paint marker to give them their ivory glow.

Next, I opened the box and super glued a piece of red felt inside. I didn’t attempt to make it flush to the sides. I wasn’t going for a precise palette. I just wanted the red to reflect off the inside of his shark mouth. I left the box unsealed. After all, you want an easy way to release his “supper” back for a new game.

This was an instant success! We spent the better part of the morning feeding the shark. She also a has a minor addiction to poms, so she loved stuffing them all in, and then pulling them all out.

Gross Motor: Beach Ball

Your toddler will probably learn how to use her arm to throw a ball at around 18 months, but catching will usually not be mastered until she is 3 years old. If you find your toddler isn’t attempting the skill, try rolling a ball first. It’s less intimidating. ⠀
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Some parents might not want to encourage this gross motor skill development, but it’s important to see how she is progressing as it relates to spatial awareness and balance. You can also judge how she is coordinating opposing sides of her body, as well as how she interacts with the environment. ⠀

In keeping with our beach theme, I busted out an old beach ball that we had gotten at a recent festival. Vicky and I took turns rolling, kicking, and throwing to each other. She also got a big kick out of watching her father and me play a version of volleyball inside the house. The lightweight nature of a beach ball allows her to explore each physical action without ramifications such as breaking things or hurting herself. Of course, it also makes an excellent chair.

Art: Shark Hands!

This was a bit of a bust. My intention was to trace her little hand in black and draw the mouth and eyes of a fish on the opening of the hand. The idea was to see how she would color her fish, and if she would attempt to trace other things. Nope! Three days in a row she would color for a few minutes and then throw her crayons the floor. Maybe next week?

Did you try out any of these activities? Comment below and let us know how it went!