Don’t you just love it when you have an idea to share with your kids and it doesn’t feel at all like learning!?!? I love those activities! These flower themed activities for preschoolers are just like that! We practiced our colors and numbers while planting flowers in our super special “dirt” with this flower sensory play idea, plus the other ideas from the #PlayfulPreschool team are amazing!
Materials for Flower Sensory Play:
1 Can of shaving cream
1 bag of craft sand (or other clean sand)
Green pipe cleaners
Fake flowers with holes in the center
Foam leaves
How to prepare:
Mix the shaving cream and the sand together. No exact amounts required just until you decide that it is a fun texture.
Cut the pipe cleaners in half and tie a “knot” in each one about 1/3 of the way down the stem. (This is to give the flowers something to rest on.)
Then allow your little one to plant a flower garden!
We started with the stems, then the leaves, then the flower petals.
While this flower sensory play set up could definitely just be a time of play, you can also work in some preschool learning concepts while you are at it.
Count the stems as you ‘plant’ them in the garden. Then, count the leaves and the flower petals.
Placing the flowers on top of the stems is great for building fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination!
Talk about the colors of the flower petals. Ask your child to find an orange flower or find two blue flowers.
Plant the flowers in a row and create a pattern with the colors.
Shiloh hates touching “messy” things, but she had a lot of fun with this! After we had planted all the flowers, she decided to pick them all. Then, she decided it was time for play and combined the carrots that we had used in our carrot play dough with the sand dough.
She had a blast creating textures in the top of the dough and planting the carrots.
Check out all the other great ideas from the #PlayfulPreschool team!
Alphabet Activities: Flower Vases by Growing Book by Book
Spring and summer are full of opportunities for preschoolers to pick flowers from the yard. Bring a bouquet inside and have fun arranging them while learning about the alphabet in this fun and playful activity.
There are few things that excite our senses like the fragrance of flowers! Come try a lavender scented sensory paint to enhance pre-writing skills! Free lavender pre-writing printable for use at home (or in the classroom)!
Get outside with your preschooler and explore nature while hunting for flowers by color! Use the included printable to record your findings and then practice various math concepts with your data.
Flowers are not just beautiful, they have a purpose too! Many flowers turn into the food we eat. Honey bees are to thank for this! Grab your markers and celebrate the pollinators with this bee craft and science activity for kids.
Children love to create art using a variety of materials. Grab some colorful cupcake liners, buttons, and pompoms and watch their creativity bloom! – Fun-A-Day
Take learning outdoors. Fill the driveway with letter flowers and provide your child with plenty of opportunities to practice writing, matching, and tracing the alphabet.
There is so much playful math involved with our Flower Number Garden! Our kids especially loved the “magical” way we made them “grow!”
Learn colors, count, and practice fine motor skills with flower sensory play for preschoolers!
Ask your child to make a beautiful flower garden with their fingers, sit back, and watch the magic.
Work with preschoolers on letter recognition with this reusable flowers activity that is simple to make and can be used again and again.
Amanda says
I like that there are so many different ways you can spin this activity! My kids are a little too fond of messy play (my floors are not) so we may try this one outside!
Kim says
I only do messy play on a very big shower curtain inside! Otherwise it stays outside. 😉
Nicolette Roux says
my kids love messy play! This flower garden is perfect.
Cerys says
Fantastic activity – I love the tip about tying a knot I would have been bending the pipecleaner at all sorts of funny angles!
Danielle says
I still need to try the sand and shaving cream combo. I am sure Evan would like it. I love how colorful and inviting this is!
Theresa says
Our kids would love to thread the flowers onto the pipe cleaners and ‘plant’ them. What fun!
Jodie @ Growing Book by Book says
Sand and shaving cream……we need to try this!
the preschool toolbox says
What a beautiful flowers sensory bin! I’m sure you had a blast with colors and “planting”!:) Nice post!
Ashley says
Thanks for this great idea! I love how many different ways you can take it. My daughter is 4 and we’re starting to casually incorporate teaching into activities. Anything where she can get messy is a big hit for her 🙂
Kim says
I’m glad that you like it!! We had a blast!
Emma says
Now I’m wondering what shaving cream mixed with sand feels like, lol! I love the colorful flowers – they make for some perfect “sneaky” learning 😉
Natasha Johnson says
Sand and shaving cream, sounds like some fun.I love that there are so many ways that we can play this.
Laura at Mommy Maleta says
I love these bright and sunny activities. I will be featuring this post tomorrow at the Thoughtful Spot! T’hanks for linking up your creativity.
Kim says
Thanks for the feature! I’m glad that you like them!