This month at RisingOaks Early Learning | St. Patrick, the toddlers enjoyed a creative sensory experience using watercolours, droppers, and cotton pads in a sensory bin.

The toddlers explored how colours moved and mixed as they squeezed watercolours onto the cotton pads using the droppers. This activity supported the development of fine motor skills as the toddlers practiced grasping and squeezing the droppers. Many after seeing a demonstration of how to use the droppers, quickly got the hang of it. Dante was first to squeeze a large amount from the droppers followed by Augustus and Robbie, quickly covering their cotton pads in colourful combinations. As we had more join the activity, we pretended the cotton pads were ice cream by stacking the cotton pads into a pyramid inside the sensory bin and then decorated the ice cream with the watercolours. Many pretended to lick their imaginary cones, while others repeated “ice cream” as they decorated the cotton pads.  

The toddlers also engaged their curiosity and creativity in the activity by experimenting with different colours, observing cause and effect, and making their own unique colour combinations. The toddlers showed excitement as they watched the cotton pads absorb the coloured water and noticed changes in the patterns and shades they created. Zoey seeing all the liquids absorbed as she added her watercolours, became curious to see what would happen as she squeezed the cotton pads. Grasping them in her hands she began squeezing each pad out. Lily, seeing this, began following and squeezed her cotton pads out creating a large stack of squeezed cotton pads.

Throughout the activity, they demonstrated focus, problem-solving, and sensory exploration while engaging in meaningful hands on learning. It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm, creativity, and growing confidence as they explored colours and textures in a fun and engaging way!