Seaside Sensory Tray

Seaside sensory tray with beeswax creatures 🌊

Today is another hot day, so hot I have machine washed our duvets confident they will dry properly in the heat.

We have been talking a lot about the beach and seaside ahead of our holiday in a couple of weeks and so today I thought it the perfect opportunity to make a little tray for play.

We collected petals this morning to fill our silicone seaside moulds (from @amazon) then I melted some beeswax pellets and poured over the top, the result are some beautiful seaside treasures, great for the seasonal table and play, they are great in the bath too (as long as it’s not too hot)

The little one is loving throwing her sand all over the floor at the moment so I always collect that and make some sand dough to give it a little longevity. It’s great for indoor play as it looks like sand minus the mess…just switch half the flour in your regular play-dough recipe for half sand and away you go. My recipe is as follows

3 cups flour

3 cups sand

1 cup salt

3 tbsp cream of tartar

3 tbsp olive oil

2 cups boiling water

This makes quite a sizeable amount and I will usually keep half in the fridge then swap when the other is a bit hard.

Finally I added some real shells and some black eye peas which have been coated with some paint and left to dry in the sun. Bubbly sea the little one calls it.

Lots of lovely play today with this tray, I’ll pop everything in a tub later and it will be a regular fixture in the playroom for summer.

Yarn Octopus

Yarn Octopus 🐙

This months Waldorf Magic guide ‘Worlds under water’ has been such fun to work on. I cannot wait for August and our own family beach holiday to explore this guide and deepen our connection to the ocean.

I see many of you going on holiday now..or preparing to, so thought I would share one of the wool crafts from the guide (out the 26th July).

This wool octopus is so easy to make and great as a handwork project for older kindergarten age children, plaiting allows children to cross the midline and unravelling the yarn requires those gross motor movements and hand eye coordination.

✨Have a go yourself at making this octopus and if you would like to make some friends then sign up to my mailing list to be notified when the Worlds under Water guide is released✨

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You will need:

- an old pair of tights

- wool stuffing

- wool yarn

- a pair of scissors

- buttons/beads/sticky dots for eyes.

What to do (follow accompanying images)

- stuff the toes of your tights with wool to form a head. Think about the elongated shape of an octopus head. Tie off at the bottom and trim the excess tail.

-wrap wool around the centre of the head this stops the wool slipping later on and tie off.

- Unravel the wool into looped lengths around about 4 times longer than your octopus head. Keep unravelling, you want as much as you can so as not to leave bare patches. I used a whole 25g ball of @jamiesonsofshetland Shetland spindrift for this project.

- Knot the wool at one end and then cut the loops on the other end so you have what looks like a giant tassel.

- Turn the wool over with the knot in your hand hidden under the wool, insert your head with the knot at the crown and smooth the wool yarn over the head, brushing with your fingers to leave a smooth finish (make sure there are no gaps)

- Use a piece of wool to tie and secure at the base of the head.

- separate the wool around the head into eight legs and plait each securing with a tie of wool

- Finally add some beads or other material for eyes (I used Velcro sticky dots and superglue)

Hello octopus! A simple summer make that is great for play and the seasonal table! Enjoy

Seashell Fairy Boats

Seashell fairy boats 🐚

I see so many posts this time of year with the cutest walnut boats. I’ve been meaning to make them but haven’t any walnuts….so went for something we have a lot of ..seashells!

A little Stockmar modelling wax, some fine twigs and petals and leaves for sails! They look so sweet and float really well, perfect for a little flower fairy to take a turn on the water, soak up the summer sun and enjoy the summer.

Today has been so HOT and the little one has been indoors most of the day. But my mum and her partner are coming for dinner then we are going for an after dinner walk and drink at a local restaurant to sit in the cooler evening sun. Followed by some garden play.

How has your day been? I hope you have been enjoying some lovely weather?

K x