This activity can be adapted in so many ways. Even more ways than I first realized, but Riley showed me. One way is using many different textures for the sensory path. Another way is that your child can walk, crawl, or even roll over the path. Riley showed me that you can also rip up the path as you crawl over it. I hadn’t thought about that possibility. Now I know…more tape is needed to really secure the path to the floor.
Materials
- Different textured squares
- Felt
- Contact paper (sticky side up)
- Sensory Squish Bag
- Tin foil
- Silk play scarf
- Bag of pom poms
- Bag of dry beans
- Bubble wrap
- Painters’ tape (LOTS OF IT)
Tip: I had also added a water bag with food coloring. I double bagged it in hopes of preventing leaks. She popped it almost immediately. I don’t recommend a water bag.
Directions
- Collect all your materials. Don’t feel limited to the list I gave. Feel free to come up with your own textures to add to the path.
- Tape down the path. I recommend lots of tape especially for the exciting areas such as the bag of pom poms. That was the first thing Riley went for and ripped off the floor.
- Let your little one explore. This can be a great crawling or walking activity.
Note: Since we have a dog, I laid down our sensory path in a low traffic area. I didn’t want the dog accidentally ripping it up as he walked over it. We had a bubble wrap path for about a week in a high traffic area. Felix ripped it up with his claws as he would run to the door and bark at all the people walking by.
Riley's experience
Riley was very excited about the path-maybe too excited. She took to it right away. She immediately crawled over and went for the bag of pom poms. She didn’t hesitate as she pulled it off the floor and handed it to me. I love that she handed it to me as if I didn’t mean for it to be on the floor. Thanks Riley! She then proceeded to try to free the tin foil. That proved to be too time consuming so she went for the silk play scarf. After the silk play scarf, she crawled the rest of the path. She stopped on top of the water bag as she tested the sticky contact paper. She turned and crawled back over what was left of the path. Now, we only have the tin foil square left to our path. She will go over to it a few times during the day to crawl over it and pat it. I think she’s okay with that one staying on the floor because she hasn’t tried to pull it up anymore.
Play modifications
- Change out the textured squares
- Add more textures
- Create smaller paths all around the house
- Make this a tummy time activity by taping the different textured squares to the play mat
- Encourage baby to roll along the path if they are not yet crawling
Benefits
- Coordination: walking or crawling along varied textures requires balance and coordination to navigate the different surfaces
- Gross motor skills: this activity encourages your little one to move along the path by either walking, crawling, or rolling
- Cognitive development: Sensory activities allow for multiple senses to be involved at once which makes stronger neural pathways to be formed
- Language development: Introduce new, contextual vocabulary to your little one as they go over the different textures on the path. Give words to what they are feeling- bumpy, soft, squishy, sticky, etc.
##Links to materials ##
