Pumpkin Soup Making Sensory Play

I set up a fun sensory table the other night in the backyard.  I scooped out a pumpkin, and set the seeds and guts in a bowl.  I then added shakers full of sand, squirt bottles of water, dirt, leaves, grass, and water to our table.  I had lots of ladles, spoons, and bowls for mixing too.  Then, I invited the girls to create their own version of pumpkin soup.  It was a huge mess and wonderful fun!

 Jillian was not at all sure about the pumpkin, its guts or seeds, for a long while.  Eventually though, she was right in there with her sisters.

 I only had one shaker for sand.  My natural inclination would be to provide three to erase any fighting, but having one was wonderful for practicing language, turn taking, and sharing.  The shaker was a favorite, and the girls were so cute shaking sand in their soup.

 I know I keep saying it, but you wouldn't even know this little lady has a hand special need.  She does everything her sisters do, and sometimes she is even better at it despite being two.

 Sometimes, soup was created inside the pumpkin.

 Other times, the soup was mixed in some bowls I provided.  Anna added so many natural elements to her soup.  She is quite the chef.

 This girl watched and watched her sisters with this shaker.  She loves shaking sand, and I could see she wanted a turn.  Then, without any prompting from me, she signed my turn.  I was thrilled.

Here she is overcoming her fear of the pumpkin and adding the guts to her soup.  She was great with the tongs.  Jillian loved showing these pictures of our play to her teachers, and she has signed "pumpkin soup" to ask to play this again most every night.  We will be getting more pumpkins as this game made our special treasure very, very happy.













Just watch Molly use the ladle to get water and dump it in Jilly's bowl..

After her sisters had moved on to playing in the hose with Daddy, Jillian was even using her hands in the pumpkin guts.  My she has come so very far!  My heart overflows watching her!