Shavuot Theme: Ice Cream Shop Sensory Bin

 I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Sweet dairy delicacies like ice cream are a big part of the holiday of Shavuot. As a little girl, I had no idea what Shavuot celebrated, but I did know it as "the cheesecake holiday." Here's a sweet treat of a sensory bin that will be a great addition to you Shavuot or Summer themed play this year. I call it our "Ice Cream Shop," and it is a favorite activity for S each time we use it! As a bonus, your little ones will not just be "playing," but will likely also develop fine motor skills in transferring, scooping, pinching and manipulating the pompoms as well as mathematical skills like sorting by color and size. Who said learning can't be fun? The sweetest part of this sensory bin is that it is also easy to create on a low budget with many of the materials being ones you may already have on hand.

You can use:

• a large batch of cotton balls or pompoms--enough to fill your bin of choice. We found value packs of pompoms at a craft store and I keep them on hand for sensory play and crafts. I like the element of color and size variety in the pompoms. You can also buy a few bags of cotton balls at the dollar store and use them as is, or dye them/color them to look like your favorite flavors of ice cream.
• plastic ice cream scoops (available at dollar stores and discount stores or maybe even your kitchen...)
• recycled plastic cups from applesauce/fruit for ice cream bowls
• baby spoons (we have a set in our play kitchen that I bought at the Dollar Tree)
• cardboard tubes for ice cream cones: I cut each toilet paper tube vertically and then cut a triangle off each corner of the bottom before stapling a cone shape. If you have an eager artist in your house, you may want to enlist him/her to draw details of an ice cream cone as well.
• recycled ice cream containers if you have on hand
• you can add a scent (like vanilla or peppermint extract) to your cotton balls/pompoms if you'd like for an added sensory element
• anything else you'd like! Perhaps you would like to color code your cups or cones for color sorting or provide a variety of sized containers for sorting by size...

When he was smaller, S liked to get right in the bin with these pompoms. Now he prefers to play from the outside and although both methods can lead to pompoms outside of the bin, they are a material that is easy enough to enlist his help in cleaning up! (He even managed to sneak a few of them into the bathtub the other night, so now they are really clean...)

Want to do more? This ice cream craft looks good enough to eat and is a great sensory experience for little hands. It's gooey and sticky and pleasantly messy! You can prepare it at home using materials you likely already have on hand. Here's a simple homemade puffy paint recipe to create your own ice cream art.

You will need: 

• shaving cream
• white school glue
• food coloring
• brown construction paper and construction paper in your background color of choice
• markers, glue stick
• rainbow sprinkles (optional)

To prepare your puffy paint, mix a blob of shaving cream and school glue to get a thick consistency. I never measure and the results are always slightly different, but lean toward a thicker consistency for a puffier result. Little hands love to help with this! They can even choose their colors of food coloring to create their "flavor" of choice. I used a little bit of red to create pink when mixed in with the white glue and shaving cream. You can pre-cut and detail your construction paper cones and use a glue stick to affix it to the background paper. This is best done ahead of time so that your little artists can dig right into the painting experience. Many kids like to do this part with their hands, however craft sticks or paint brushes can be used as well. If you are using sprinkles for detail, they can be sprinkled on top of their paint before allowing it to dry. I have noticed that in our humid southern summers, we often need an extra day or two to allow these creations to fully dry. Once dry, however, the puffy paint should be smooth and hard to the touch and look quite delightful to display in your home just in time for Shavuot or Summer!

One more bonus for you--a fun little ice cream song to sing as you play!

Sweet & Happy Playing!