Children can use a sand table to use the sense of touch to dig through sand and find different objects. Fill one dish pan for every three children. Place the toys in the dish pan first. Use things such as blocks, toy cars or other objects. Add the sand to bury the objects. Children can then dig through the sand looking for items. Discuss what items they find in the sand.
One way to explore sight is through mixing colors. Do this by giving children eye droppers full of food coloring to drop in water. Watch as the colors mix. This can also be done with tempera paint. Fill egg cartons with paint and ask the children to mix colors as you call them out. For example, paint a red line and cover it with a blue line. Ask children what they see. They should respond, “Purple.” Allow them to use finger paints to add touch to the sensory exercise.
Fill a dish pan with water. You should have one pan for every three students. For one activity, drop dish soap into the water. Ask children to blow into the water with a straw to create bubbles. Talk about what their action does. For a second activity, use cups and measuring cups to dump water into different containers. Talk about how much water it takes to fill up the device.
One way children can observe the differences in things is to use buckets and cups to demonstrate the size. Fill a tub with water and let children fill a variety of cups and measuring cups or bowls with water. Talk with the students about which items hold the most water and how some cups may look like they hold more, but actually hold the same amount of water.