Under the Sea

If you've been checking out my boards on , you may have guessed what our next theme here at Camp Scarlet will be.  That's right, the board that contains the pin that started it all is the focus of our next few weeks: Under the Sea.

We're starting off pretty low key, since Pal just got back from a family vacation and we've got a birthday this week, but yesterday I set out an Under the Sea sensory bin for the kids to play with.

 I started with a 5 lb bag of blue aquarium gravel, then added some sea-glass type "gems" from the dollar store.  Next I searched the house for ocean-y looking things, and found some blue and white pom poms, some ball-pit balls, and a couple of bouncy balls.  I added some shells leftover from a project years ago (I remember buying them in Fairfax--that's how long ago), and some sea creature toys and bath toys.  I also buried some plastic coin treasure and added a submarine.  I love that we've got so many different shapes and textures in there.

I placed the bin on fishy beach towels on top of a bedsheet drop cloth (to hopefully contain the gravel so I'm not picking it up with the vacuum for the next several weeks), and added some fun tools: a net for scooping, tongs, ladles, spoons, bowls, a muffin tin.

We've been playing dry, but the kids have been asking to add water, which we will definitely do when the weather warms up and we can play with the bin outside.

The kids have so much fun playing with this bin--yesterday I overheard Pal saying, "I'm so glad your mom made this for us," to Roger.  They don't even realize that they're getting some great fine motor practice and sensory input.