It has been a pleasure to take part in the 31 Day Sensory Play Challenge Blog Hop hosted by the Adventures of Adam blog. Taking part in this series has helped me step out of my usual blog posts and create this fun winter sensory "sticky" play activity. I bought a roll of sticky clear contact paper from Walmart and dreamed up this fun winter wonderland scene to share. This creative sensory play is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers to explore.
Bubble Wrap Art
I wanted to create a textured snow landscape that could easily stick onto the "sticky" side of the contact paper taped to the sliding glass door. What came to mind was painting bubble wrap with blue finger paints and sparkly silver glitter glue. I mixed the blue finger paint with the glitter glue and swirled it together. Little Bee used his fingers to transfer the sticky paint onto the bumpy bubble wrap and he also used a round scrub brush. I let the painted bubble wrap dry and then I placed it onto the bottom half of the sticky contact paper on the window.
DIY Paper Snowflakes
I cut out several small paper snowflakes to add to this fun winter scene. Just in case you need a step-by-step guide to creating your very own snowflakes, I've included a picture tutorial for you to follow. I cut out strips of paper, folded a corner into a square shape, cut the long part off to have only the square shape, folded in half and then folded in half again as shown above. Finally I cut into the sides of the folded snowflake to create this unique design. Little Bee used the blue finger paint and glitter glue to hand paint the snowflakes for our winter scene.
Glitter Glue Painting
I also had these pre-cut store bought giant snowflakes in my craft drawer. Little Bee enjoyed using the orange glitter glue to paint these pretty snowflakes. The glitter glue is sticky and fun to explore.
Next, I cut out several winter wonderland evergreen tree shapes for Little Bee to paint with a green glitter glue. He used his fingers to spread the glue around and sometimes the trees would stick to his hands. At one point he lifted up his hand with the tree stuck to it and said, "Sticky." Little Bee loved playing with these gooey crafts.
Fine Motor Exercise - Winter "Invitation to Play"
I set up a tray full of materials to stick to the contact paper winter scene. Inside the tray were paper trees, paper clouds, paper snowflakes, small pompoms, gold sequins, forest animal stickers, and cotton balls. Little Bee helped me stick all the materials onto the contact paper.
Little Bee especially enjoyed using his fine motor skills to pick up and place the gold sequins onto the contact paper.
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Love the painting on bubble wrap. my boys would have loved it. Now, they just like to dance on it 🙂
LOL! Yep, dancing on bubble wrap is fun! 🙂
You are just so creative!! I don’t think I could have thought of these activities. That’s why Pinterest exists for me! 🙂 Definitely pinned for later!
I love the glitter glue! My kids are so weird about textures they would never get their hands dirty. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
How old would you recommend the child be for these?
My son is 16 months old and I am always nervous about doing these things with him as I dont know if he’ll be mentally ready or not but at the same time, how do kids get ready? Ahh i dont know what to do advice is always welcome 🙂
Hi Jessica, I would do something more simple for a 16 month old. You could place the contact paper on the window and draw the outline for a sheep or snowman with magic marker on the sticky paper. Then you can just have your son place the cotton balls on the sticky paper and encourage him to put them inside the lines. However, it’s ok if he puts the cotton balls where ever he wants. This activity is just for a fun sensory experience. Enjoy!
These are fabulous! I love them all!