Texture Flashcards

I made these texture cards to entertain J on plane trips starting around 10 months old.  I reserved them for those special trips so that they would keep their novelty.  J loved them.  The cards are made of cardstock.  They have survived fairly well, though there have been a few that have found their home in the trash. Still they have served their purpose well.  You could also use thick cardboard to make them stronger. 

In choosing textures, I basically went through the house in search of interesting textures that would be fairly easy to attach to the cardstock (I was is a rush!).  I really didn’t get very creative with my textures, but J was still entertained. You’ll notice quiet a few cards with puffy stickers and foam stickers which were especially easy to make, buttons, sponge, styrofoam, post it tabs, duct tape flaps (I created windows and placed a sticker behind the window), fabric, clear plastic, net, velcro …  The only one I can remember that isn’t pictured is the velcro card.  J still really likes this card since it is interactive (he can remove and replace the velcro pieces).  It’s somewhere around the house, I just can’t find it for the picture!

The back side of the texture cards honestly don’t look so pretty.  I covered a lot of the back sides with packing tape or duct tape.  In hind site, I could’ve created duct tape flaps on the back of all the cards so that they would be double sided.

To create prettier cards you could cut larger pieces of the cardstock and attach the texture on half of the card.  You would then old the card in half, cut a window to see and feel the texture and finally glue the card shut.

For good teachable moments, discuss the similarities and differences about each texture, have your little one come up with adjectives to describe the texture (smooth, shiny, bumpy, squishy, crinkly, …), or sort the textures.

Texture Bags

Super easy and fun! Great for babies, toddlers and preschoolers.
Materials:
Double zipper sandwich bag
Hair gel, pudding, applesauce, yogurt, washable paint....basically anything gooey. :)
Glitter (optional)

Activity:
Put 1/4 - 1/2 cup of gel/pudding in a sandwich bag and zip tightly, removing most of the air. Flatten bag so that it's a drawing surface.
Let your child play!

Ideas:
Babies will enjoy just squishing. I have to keep an eye on my baby because she's a fan of chewing on these bags.
Toddlers: Play guess the shape/letter, let them try to draw with their fingers, decorate the bag, make dots and have them count them. Hand prints were a winner with my girls. She even figured out how to do a face print. :)
Preschoolers: Great for practice writing letters and drawing shapes. Bigger bags seemed to be more fun...larger drawing/writing surface. You can also make a letter sound and have them draw the appropriate letter, call out a word and they can try to write the beginning consonant, etc. Be creative!
You can also mix colors of paint for a swirl effect in the bag. It's also a good change to talk about what happens when you mix colors like blue and yellow!
If using pudding, yogurt, applesauce or some kind of food, I would really recommend hanging on to the bag for long. If you choose paint or gel, the bags are good for some time! I keep a few bags stored in my activity cabinet.

Cotton Ball Snowman

Winter is alive and well at my house, so we are still celebrating snow. Celebrations make you happy :) This cotton ball snowman is a fun texture activity. You can learn about snow, "soft", and circles all while making a cute art project. Pictured are Kaitlyn's (age 2.5--left) and Bradyen's (age 4.5--right)

SUPPLIES

• Cotton balls
• Glue
• Paper to put snowman on
• pen/pencil
• Items for buttons, nose, eyes, hat, and arms. We used paper for everything on the body and Do-A-Dot for the arms and hat.

PREP

1. Gather supplies
2. Draw three circles on paper.

ACTIVITY

1. Have your child put glue on the bottom circle. If your child isn't old enough for doing glue herself, do it for her. Oh, and take notice of my nice table cloth. I got this at the dollar store so I could protect my table from things like glue and paint. It is the craft table cloth, it cost a dollar, and I don't care what happens to it. Everyone has more fun.
2. Have your child put the cotton balls all over the circle.

3. Repeat for other two circles.
4. Create your arms, hat, nose, eyes, and buttons.
5. Allow dry and display!

Be sure to talk about how soft the cotton balls are as well as the shapes you are using to create your snowman. Talk about the biggest circle and the smallest circle to get some spacial relationships learning in there.