Eyes on Early Years 3 | Page 13

Texture Eggs A Sensory Play and Language Activity by: Ashlee Looking for a fun Easter activity for your little ones? Make your own texture eggs; you can add these to a simple Easter themed discovery basket. Different colours and textures will be stimulating for your children and help encourage their fine motor skills whilst adding an additional sensory element to the treasure basket. All you need is some plastic eggs filled with a few with beans (you could fill them with anything - rice, dried pasta, beads, etc.) for sound effects and then hot-glue them shut. You can then glue items to the outside of the eggs such as ribbon, fabrics, pompoms etc. You can encourage further learning and development by talking to your children about the way they feel, look etc. Repeat words and give your children time to respond to what they see and feel. You could hide the eggs around the room. Have children find the eggs and describe them to you; you could add positional language by having them explain to you where they found their egg. For example, under the table, on the table etc. You could also expand this learning opportunity by hiding the eggs (dependant upon age/stage of development) and give your children directions and clues about the whereabouts of each egg. This will help your children cognitively as they will begin to practice following directions and simple prompts. For example, “put the green egg on the table”, “the red egg is under the table”. The fun is endless and you can extend this activity as much as you like. You could also use them as story prompts!