If you have just stumbled across my post or this is your first time seeing one of our crafts, WELCOME! I am so happy you are here and I am so thankful for all the continuous love and support I receive about my blog!! One thing I do have to mention is that being a mom is not easy. I am sure we can ALL agree! I know it is hard to find the time to do this kind of stuff! Most of my preparation or crafting happens during nap time IF both of my girls nap together or late at night. Tough at times but in my eyes it’s extremely worth the effort and dedication to implement skillful activities into their daily lives!

With that said, I am so very proud of this post. I love how this sensory turkey turned out and my girls LOVED it!

Materials:

Construction paper
Elmer’s glue
Hot glue gun
Plastic straws
Dry pasta
Feathers
Coffee stirrers (wood)
Rhinestones
Pipe Cleaners
Cotton Balls
Foam stickers
Pearls
Marker
Glitter

What is a sensory board?

A sensory board or in this case, turkey, is a surface with different tactile and visual stimuli that babies and toddlers can explore through sensory play. This makes it easy for a baby or toddler to touch and explore with their hands a bunch of different objects and textures. Sensory boards have a lot of developmental benefits!! You can buy one or make your own!

What are the benefits of a sensory board?

Any activity that stimulates your little ones senses is beneficial. This activity involves touch and sight to explore new textures. For this activity, I have included stimuli and textures that are commonly used or seen everyday. This includes plastic, wood, cotton, foam, soft and rough textures. These are things that will be around my girls everyday. Touching these textures and becoming familiar with them will help brain development.

Sensory Play for babies

Infants learn about their environments through sensory input and introducing them to a sensory board is a great way for them to explore more textures and sensations. I put our sensory board on the wall to increase Gianna’s natural curiosity as well as work on her reaching, fine motor and dynamic sitting balance. Naturally, she did try to rip it off the wall and was instantly attracted to the rhinestones, she is such a girl! She does not understand that she has to feel each feather as it represents a new texture so I guided her hand through each texture and explained verbally what they all were.

How to make a sensory board

Making a sensory board is so much fun! You can use almost anything. (cardboard, construction paper, slab of wood, etc). We used a bunch of textures but you can also use:

Ribbon or Lace
Sandpaper
Wool
Rubber wheels
Metal chains
Bath scrub alofas
Googly eyes
Cuts of carpet
Bubble Wrap
Aluminum foil
Sea shells
Tissue paper

Most of the objects on our turkey are hot glued on! I wanted to make sure everything was 100% secure because I am dealing with a toddler and baby who love to pull things OFF. Always supervise your little ones if you have small objects on your sensory board! When they are exploring their board make sure to let them know what they are touching and what kind of texture it is.

Thankful for my senses is correct! I am so thankful to have the ability to touch, smell, see, hear and taste! Teaching my children to appreciate their senses is also important. We had so much fun learning and exploring. Tag us on social media and show us your sensory boards @cota_mom !

Need more Fall inspired crafts? Stay awhile and check out some of my favorites including:

If that is not enough you can also make thanksgiving a learning experience with my felt buttoning turkey, custom made for your little one! Click the picture for yours today 🙂

Do not forget to subscribe, comment and share <3 HAPPY HOLIDAYS