Of all the sensory experiences, this is probably Riley’s favorite one so far. The mixture is just baby cereal, water, and food coloring. I got the recipe from the Play At Home Mummy. Riley loved scooping and pushing the mixture around with her spoons, ladles, and rubber scrappers. The longer we played with the mixture the more daring she became. She started putting her hands in the mixture and tasting it. Soon the mixture was all over her legs, arms, face, and clothes. This activity had Riley engaged for a good 20-30 minutes. We had to stop because it was lunch time, but I feel very confident that she would have happily continued on for longer.
What you'll need
- Baby cereal - We used rice cereal, but baby oatmeal would work too
- Water,
- Food coloring (this is optional).
- Plastic table cloth
- Tape
- Heavy baking dish
- Blunt plastic or wooden kitchen utensils
There are not exact measurements. I made the mixture the same consistency as I would feed it to Riley. You don’t want it to be very runny, a thicker consistency would be best. If it becomes too thick, add more water. If it’s too runny, add more cereal. I added food coloring to make it more colorful. Don't worry about staining clothes, the food coloring washes out.
Set up
I used a plastic table cloth folded in half and spread out on the floor, this will contain the mess. I recommend taping it down to the floor with painters’ tape. When Riley moves, she often brings the table cloth with her. To hold the food mixture I used a 9x13 Pyrex dish because its heavy enough that Riley won’t flip it over. She can still move it back and forth, but she isn’t able to flip it. I also provide Riley with other tools to use while playing in the mixture such as kitchen utensils. These tools can be anything that you don’t mind getting messy and are safe for baby to play with.
Age group 4 to 18 months
Riley is 10 months old and is able to sit up independently, but this activity would still be great for younger and older babies or toddlers as well. We started feeding Riley at 4 months and her first food was baby cereal. This activity would have been a great activity on her high chair tray to get her comfortable with her high chair, and experiencing food in a fun way. At 4 months, I would not recommend adding the food coloring especially if your child is just starting off with food. Let your child get use to the texture and taste of the cereal as is. This also would be a great tummy time activity. If you aren’t sure about having this in a shallow tray or plate during tummy time, you could instead put it in a clear, plastic bag. I recommend taping or gluing the bag shut. Allow baby to play with the bag and squish the food around that way. Taping the bag to baby’s tummy time mat or the floor would also be an option. Lastly, this would be a fun supported sitter activity. Sit behind baby with baby between your legs so that your body is supporting them as they sit up. Play in the mixture together and use the hand over hand technique to encourage baby to play with the mixture if they aren’t sure about this experience. The hand over hand method is where you gently take their hands and guide them through the experience. Be sure to talk about what you are doing, seeing, and experiencing.
Benefits
- Fine motor skills - sensory play exercises those hand and finger muscles by encouraging
baby to reach, grasp, hold, and manipulate the materials.
- Gross motor skills - whether this is a tummy time activity, supported sitter activity, or
mobile baby activity, baby is using their body strength to move, interact, stabilize, and hold themselves up. This is also helping with baby’s coordination.
- Language development - since all these activities are closely monitored, take the time to
narrate what is happening, what baby is feeling and experiencing. This expands baby’s vocabulary, gives baby context, lets baby know that this is fun and safe (social/emotional development as well), and aids baby’s language development.
- Cognitive development - during sensory play there are many neural pathways being formed
as more senses are involved
Links to materials
