Sensory Tub - Rice & Animals

We tried our first sensory tub last week. I figured that since we live in Vietnam, why not use the local staple food and play with rice. Little Bean had a blast.


This activity packed nicely into a tub with a lid. Easy to pack away and bring out again as needed. Great for days when I want a ready-made activity at short notice.

 Little Bean had fun just unpacking the box and exploring the items. I included some small squeaky animal toys, a large baby spoon, a Vietnamese style soup spoon, a small plastic bowl, a cup, a jug and one of his stacking cups.

He watched as I hid the animals in the rice, then it was his job to find them. We did this a few times until he lost interest.

Then I pushed the cups and bowl into the rice so that they wouldn't fall over. I showed him how to pick up rice with his hand and sprinkle it into the cups, which he copied. Then I showed him how to scoop rice with the spoons into the cups and let him try it. Mostly, he just wanted to scoop it on to the floor. He also did some pouring from the cup into the tub.






This activity kept him amused for around 20 - 25 minutes. I learnt that if you do an activity like this, don't put pants with cuffs on your baby. If you didn't notice that the cuffs were full of rice, I imagine you'd get it everywhere. Luckily I noticed as we leaving the bathroom.



Doing this first sensory tub activity has strengthened my resolve to make a sensory tub table. I'll buy a cheap wooden table and cut a hole out of the middle that I can slot the tub into. It was a little hard on my back doing this activity on the floor and at times it was difficult for Little Bean to balance and maneuver around. I think it would be much easier for him to do whilst standing at a table. Then we'd also have the surrounding table top to use during the activity as well.