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St. Patrick's Day Sensory Jars

Mar 4, 20148,059 views
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Sensory Activities for kids : St.Patrick's Day Sensory Jars Save
treasure jars for st patricks day Save
stirring sensory jars for st patricks day Save
st patricks day sensory activities for kids with green water Save
adding sensory elements to colored water Save
st patricks day crafts sensory activities with jars Save

by TurkeyMom in Sensory bins

Ages3–6 yrs
Prep10 min
Activity20 min
Leveleasy
MessMedium
Works for1:1 · Small group · Class

Kids pour water into jars, tint it green or golden yellow with liquid watercolors, then add coins, beads, confetti, glitter and pom poms while guessing what will sink or float. A simple themed sensory jar to play with and display.

⚠️ Safety first

  • Use glass jars judiciously. Depending on the child's age, switch to plastic bottles.
  • Coins, beads, confetti, pom poms and glitter are small parts and a choking hazard. Supervise closely and keep them away from children who still mouth objects.
  • Bamboo skewers are pointed. Show kids how to stir gently and supervise their use.
  • Liquid watercolors can stain hands, clothes and surfaces. Cover the table and wipe spills quickly.
  • Wash hands after play, especially after handling glitter.

Before the kids arrive

  • Gather the jars (or plastic bottles for younger kids) and set the knick knacks out in a divided tray or small bowls.

Steps

  1. Set out the jars, water, liquid watercolors and a tray of St. Patrick's Day knick knacks.

  2. Pour water into your jar using a spouted measuring cup.

  3. Add green liquid watercolor, or yellow for a golden treasure jar, and watch the color swirl into the water.

  4. Stir the colors together with a bamboo skewer.

  5. Sprinkle in confetti, shamrock confetti and glitter.

  6. Before you add each item, guess whether it will sink or float. Then drop it in and see.

  7. Drop in a pom pom and watch it float. Push it under with the skewer until it soaks up water and sinks.

  8. Stir the beads and coins with the skewer and bring them up from the bottom.

  9. Display your bright golden and green "treasure" jars.

Tips

  • You don't have to use the same materials we did. Just set out whatever St. Patrick's Day themed knick knacks you have on hand, or go theme-free!from the author
  • Please use the glass jars judiciously. Based on the age of the child, you might want to switch to plastic bottles.from the author
  • Let the kids enjoy watching the colors mix with the water before they add anything else.from the author
  • Pom poms are the star. They float as soon as you drop them, and once pushed under they suck up water and sink. Guessing first gets the kids excited to watch.from the author
  • My 3 year old had a grand time mixing up all the contents, especially stirring the beads with the skewer and bringing them all up.from the author
  • Liquid watercolors give gorgeous color for both sensory and art activities.from the author

Make it your own

  • Make a golden "treasure" jar with yellow liquid watercolors.
  • Go theme-free with whatever knick knacks you have.
  • Make jars for other seasons and holidays, such as spring potion jars, fall sensory jars, Valentine's Day sensory jars or snow jars.

The story behind it

By TurkeyMom · March 2014
materials for sensory jars
You don't have to use the same materials for our sensory jars. Just set out whatever St.Patrick's Day themed knick knacks you have on hand, or go theme free!
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St. Patrick's Day Sensory Jars: the original post

Sensory Activities for kids are such enjoyable experiences, especially if they don’t involve a whole of clean up after play. Ever since we did our Spring Potions Jar last year, then our Fall Sensory Jars the kids and I have been enjoying making seasonal sensory jars. Today we share our latest seasonal sensory activity in the form of our St.Patrick’s day themed sensory jars. {Don’t forget to check out our Valentine’s day sensory jars and our Snow Jars} Materials

materials for sensory jars You don’t have to use the same materials for all our sensory activities, especially our sensory jars. Just set out whatever St.Patrick’s Day themed knick knacks you have on hand. There is always the option of going theme free! Either way you go these sensory jars are fun and easy to make and the children will have a great time playing with them afterwards ( Please use the glass jars judiciously. Based on the age of the child you might want to switch to plastic bottles) Juts like usual, the children started off by pouring the water using a spouted measuring cup and immediately added the gorgeous liquid water colors. I cannot stress the color of these watercolors enough. They are gorgeous and are great for both sensory activities and for art activities for kids. {all our liquid watercolor art activities here} st patricks day crafts sensory activities with jars After the fun of watching the colors mix with the water died down, the kids mixed up the colors with bamboo skewers and added the confetti and all the knick knacks. st patricks day sensory activities for kids with green water We again did an exercise on sinking and floating. They took turns in guessing which item will sink and which one will float. This time my 3 year old had a grand time mixing up all the contents, especially the beads with the skewer and bringing them all up. stirring sensory jars for st patricks day We also did an amazing “golden” treasure jar with yellow liquid watercolors. adding sensory elements to colored water Simple sensory activities like these gave our family such bright grins and excitement. treasure jars for st patricks day Pom poms and the stickers were great additions, especially the pom poms. As soon as you drop those, they float. Once the child pushes the pom poms into water, they suck up the water become heavier and sink. Guessing whether the pom poms will sink or float before experimenting is a bit interesting and it gets the kids excited to watch the floating pom poms sink . Sensory Jars St.Patrick's Day Theme Display your bright and cherry golden “treasure” jars.

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