Today's Toddler Series theme is Colors! Be sure to stop over at Suzy Homeschooler's to see their Color Sorting with Big Brother’s School Supplies activity!
We decided to set up one of our favorite color activities - Discovery Bags! We still love color themed sensory bins, but these bags are much more fun! Over the course of the day I handed out the brown paper bags with a color name on the front (in matching color, with both uppercase and lowercase letters) and told them to fill them up with any objects they find of that color. Each time we make these bags the theme is different, so they never know what to expect! Once each of the bags were filled (and of course a parent can fill these themselves if they want to make it more of a surprise!) I spread a comfortable blanket on the floor and arranged the bags. For one child, you could set them up in a semi-circle or you can set them up around the edge of the blanket. We set this up for two children, so we arranged five bags along the edge of the sides. This way they can take turns choosing a color and put it back when they are done.
You can let them choose one bag at a time or let them select multiple colors. We opted for one bag at a time. It was interesting to see what they did with the objects inside. They played with some, built with others and created some neat combinations!
They both ended up "cooking" with most of the items. They had found several silicone muffin molds and popsicle sticks and eggs and little bugs, so they used them to make soups and other delicious dishes!
They also discovered they could fit their felt eggs inside plastic eggs! They had so much fun filling them and then "cracking them open" to see the egg spill out!
They used the blocks, stairs and ramps from the yellow bag to create a bridge for Princess Belle.
Yum! Bug soup!
Bean spent a few minutes scooping out the insides of the bug to make soup.
Bean basically created a guillotine from the contents of the pink bag. She used it to chop up the felt eggs.
The brown bag didn't have too many items in it, so they simply bounced the bunnies around.
The green bag had the most items.
Bean loved combining the bristle blocks with her special blocks (sorry, we still have no idea what they are called!).
For most of the bags were were able to compare the color shades. They were able to make groups of similar colors and groups made up of a light, medium and dark color.
The sponges even made it into a soup!
It was so awesome when we discovered this little guy could sit on a block and slide down it!
Most of the building happened with the red batch! Munchkin made a car showroom. :)
Bean made a sailboat and a Captain America building.
The white bag included lots of vehicles.
As did the black bag.
Finally Bean realized that there had been crayons and markers in each bag! So she decided to color with the black marker.
Munchkin wanted to add his own artwork, so he made a turtle! He's been having a lot of fun drawing outlines, like we do with chalk at the park.
And then they opened the last bag! They saved purple for last, since it is Munchkin's favorite color!
They had so much fun exploring each bag and deciding what to create with the items inside!
For younger toddlers who are still putting objects in their mouths, you should be careful of what is included in the bags. I only included objects that I knew my children could play with safely. You can also use big paper bags, which is what we used when my children were younger, this way when they tip them over they can pull all the objects out and even explore inside the bag!
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