Sensory Car Wash

Sensory Car Wash

Setting: classroom or playroom

Materials:

PCP Pipe

Paper

Markers

Blue Balloons (to make stress balls)

Stress balls (stress ball recipe is further down on the blog, see the side for direct recipe)

Tissue paper or streamers

Loofas

Sponges

Strips of shower liner

Wax Paper

Feather dusters (4)

String

Tape

Scissors

Instructions:

 Create stations using PCP pipe and create titles to go on top of the PCP that say “wash, soap, scrub, dry, wax, buff”. Tape these to the pcp pipe.

 Create stress balls (please see further down on blog for this recipe and tie them to string to hang down from the wash station. Tie the strings at the top of the PCP pipe.

 Next take tissue paper or streamers and hang down/tape at the soap station.

 Tie together loofas and sponges and tie them with string from the scrub station on the PCP pipe.

 At the scrub station tie 4 feather dusters with string and hang down at the dry station over the PCP pipe.

 Hang down and tie wax paper on the wax station on top of the PCP pipe so that it hangs down.

 Finally on the buff station cut strips of a shower liner and tie them to the top of the pcp pip so that it hangs down.

 Allow the child to go through the station and play.

 Have them describe the different feel of the dangling objects at the different stations.

Purpose: This is a fun way to use play and imagination to experience different sensory experiences. Play and imagination helps the child to problem solve and identify with roles, even if they are imaginary it prepares them for when they are older and the issues are no longer imaginary. Sensory exposure helps them to identify with emotions. This activity can also promote social play with other children since it is a bigger sensory project. Maybe watching the movie Cars before or after this experience can promote imagination and roles through the car wash! This sensory activity also exposes the child to a variety of touch feels along with use of gross motor activity to work their way through the car wash in a military man crawling position. 

Pedia Staff. (August 22, 2012). Adorable Gross Motor and Sensory Idea-Sensory Car Wash.

Retrieved from:http://www.pediastaff.com/blog/adorable-gross-motor-and-sensory-idea-sensory-car-wash-10052