Preschool Christmas Sensory Activity & Science Experiment

This preschool Christmas sensory activity is bright, colorful, and full of alluring sounds and textures! It would be a brilliant walk in a sensory room or even adapted as a set of sensory toys for a sensory table!

Did you know that just the sole of one foot can have more than 200,000 nerve endings?!* That is more than 200,000 spots to feel sensory input! A lot of the time we set up sensory activities and toys for the kids to touch with their hands, but their feet need attention too!

I really love sensory-rich activities because they double as science experiments for young kids. In this activity, for example, right before they touch a new texture they predict how it will feel, then they test it with their foot, then they analyze their results, and - often - they retest by wiggling their foot around or running through the entire "walk" again! Watch the video and see how often they wiggle a foot, let it sit, wiggle it again, and then re-test their results before moving on to the next texture. You will also see her set a foot in the bin and then just stand there for a moment while they process what they just experienced.

Our preschoolers have been calling it the Christmas Walk and, to be perfectly honest, the older kids can't help walking along it too! 

I was inspired by a video I saw on Facebook, and I thought, "We could make this into a sensory activity with a Christmas theme!" 

Preschool Christmas Sensory Activity

It was super easy to set up, and you can use any supplies you have on hand...or in your Christmas bins!  If we had the space, I would totally leave it set up for a week as a sensory room floor. 

Here are the bins I started with:

1- Bells

2- Large Plastic "Icicles"

3- Cardboard Snowflakes

4- Christmas Handtowel

5- Large Plastic Christmas Ornament Balls

Later the kids added bins with Christmas colored pompoms, fabric, and fuzzy sticks! They also re-organized my bins several times--they were sorted by type, size, color, and more!

Just be sure to leave enough room in each bin for the kids to get their foot in and have room to play with whatever object is in the bin with their feet!

Also, make sure you use safe items in each bin. I like the large, plastic, shatter-proof ornaments, metal bells, and fabrics the best because they are so safe to touch.

Let them walk through each bin and feel, discover, test, and experience each sensory item with their feet! If they decide to use hands too, that's totally okay!

It is a wonderful combination of a sensory toy, sensory activity, and science experiment all at once! We will be repeating it every time we pull out a new set of Christmas decorations during the next month or two!

Do you have a favorite sensory activity for feet? Or any that are preschool Christmas themed?  I'd looooove to see them! Leave me a picture in the comments or send me an email!

*Source: http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/index2.html 

Happy Educating,

Carla

Have you seen HEEP? It is a preschool homeschool curriculum! Learn more here!

I may share at any of these parties!

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