Sensory activities for little ones that eat everything???

[AmandaKDT]

Normally I agree with mickyc but on this, I respectfully disagree....kids are taught and learn better/quicker when they are exposed to things. Take the necessary precautions to make things safe and make sure you are constantly supervising. When they turn 2 they don't just magically know what to do. We work with multi-age groups and I'd rather "train" them all at the same time. Kids that start with me young grow up here knowing the rules. I of course do age appropriate things but I try not to limit the young ones experiences. I may alter the things in the sensory bin/art activity to be appropriate to my current group though.

But is it worth it if all they do is stick everything in their mouth? There are so many other things you can do, if all that happens is that they put it in their mouth then I would just wait a few months. It isn't a missed opportunity, it is just waiting until they are developmentally ready to fully appreciate the activity. When you have several kids at once it isn't always easy to see what they're all doing at one time - as you know. They can be so fast in putting things in their mouths, especially when they know you don't want them to do it. I'd rather save myself the headache and wait. I have a now 2 year old dcg that put EVERYTHING in her mouth last summer and now she is totally fine and I can trust her to actually PLAY in the sandbox - not just fill her mouth with sand. :-)

I do lots of sensory stuff, but the idea of putting a bin full of oatmeal in front of little ones that are just going to stuff it in their mouth just sounds exhausting.

I have done sensory bags, which might be a possibility. Fill a ziplock bag with hair jell or jello and then put a bunch of different fun objects inside. They can squish the bag around and get a sensory experience with no mess.

What about changing up the water table activities. Give them lots of cups, buckets, measuring spoons so they can dump and pour. Give them baby dolls so they can give them a bath, etc.