Preschoolers love bubbles, so bring the fun indoors when you add liquid dish soap to your water table. Let preschoolers squirt a few drops with a medicine dropper, and then mix around before dipping the end of a straw into the mixture. Some preschoolers can blow bubbles across the water and into the air while others try to catch or pop them.
Help preschoolers discover the comparative volumes of different sized cups and bowls with water or sand at their sensory table. Invite students to guess which cup will hold more, and then pour from one container to another. Transfer sand or water with spoons for added fine motor practice. Make sure to compare at least one short wide glass and one tall skinny glass to amaze preschoolers when the amounts are equal.
When it's too cold or rainy to go outside to play, let your preschoolers make some clean mud pies at your sand and water table. Have your preschooler shred toilet paper while you grate one to two bars of white soap into the table. Mix the soap and shredded paper together and add water until you get squishy mud. Add some plastic construction toys and shovels, and your children are ready to dig in.
When you are excited about finger painting but not about the mess, empty your sand and water table and squirt some finger paint onto the bottom. Make sure preschoolers are wearing their art smocks and let them enjoy finger painting the bottom of the table while you wipe and rinse after each masterpiece. Add two primary colors, such as red and yellow or blue and red, so preschoolers can enjoy discovering how colors mix.
When preschoolers are craving cold weather, snowmen and snowball fights, whip up some "snow" for them to roll and mold. Mix 2 cups of warm water with 1 cup of pure laundry soap flakes. Beat with an electric mixer. The mixture should become very fluffy and will dry after it is molded. Add food coloring if desired or leave white to more closely mimic snow. Add silver paper to the bottom of your sand and water table, and let students make mini-snowmen or igloos for a sparkling miniature winter wonderland.
Surprise your students with a sensory table filled with colorful rice instead of sand or water. Pour 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol and 1 tablespoon of food coloring into a plastic zip-top bag and add 2 cups dry rice. Mix together until the rice has absorbed the color, and pour onto wax paper to dry. Make a few different colors for students to sort, pour and enjoy.