#23 Sensory Holiday Crafting

Sorry blogging challenge, but I just can't adjust my blog to your prompts today. I am once again going rogue with a post that will be useful to my regular readers.

Now that Thanksgiving is over we are working on getting into the Christmas spirit. Today Tom and I did a craft project and then read some holiday books.

Our supplies

I wanted Tom to help me create a holiday table arrangement. We used the following materials:

• Cinnamon scented pine cones
• Fake holly berry stems
• Silver glitter stems
• Tissue paper (to fill up the basket)
• Basket

Tom did a great job helping me with this craft. I can really tell how much better he is with tasks like this  since he has been in daycare/preschool. They do so many amazing little crafts and his hand dexterity is really improving.

First I crinkled up the tissue paper and put it along the bottom of the basket. Then we began adding the pinecones.

He did a great job of locating the basket with one hand and then putting the pinecones in with his other hand. It takes more planning to do tasks like this when you can't see. When Tom was in Early Intervention his Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) used to do lots of work with Tom on taking items in and out of containers. They also used to sort items by size and shape. I can see all that work paying off now.

He loved the scented pinecones but he was satisfied only smelling them. I think the prickly texture kept him from tasting the pinecones, but he couldn't resist taking a taste of the holly berries.

Tom thought getting caught with the holly berries in his mouth was pretty funny. I was able to convince him that we could snack after the craft, so the rest of the project proceeded without further munching. We made sure to notice all the different textures in this project - from the prickly pinecones, to the smooth berries and feathery silver stems. 

He had fun bending the silver stems and helping me put them in. The good thing about this project is that we can bring it down to smell and he can re-arrange it and enjoy the textures again each time. It looks festive any way you arrange it. You can't mess this one up! I added the ribbon to the basket at the end but the arrangement was a true joint effort of ours. I love it!

Ta da!

Project cost:

• Basket $6.00
• 4 holly berry stems .64 cents
• 4 Silver stems .74 cents
• 1 Bag cinnamon pinecones $2.99
• Ribbon - my own supply

The total cost of this project with tax was $15.53. That's not too bad for a cute little holiday project that involves smell and texture. Our next holiday project is going to be making some holiday ornaments out of dough.

I found several recipes for scented play dough. You could make pumpkin pie scented dough by adding pumpkin pie spice, or use cinnamon or peppermint scented oil. I also have some recipes for edible dough that I plan to try with Tom. He usually can't resist exploring items with his mouth so it would be nice to let him have a taste of the dough if he likes. I sure can't get him to stop tasting Playdough when we use it. Maybe he likes the taste! 

I'll share the best dough recipes I find on this site. Leave me a comment if you have a good dough recipe to share!