Make your own sensory books with preschoolers!
This long summer, we got our our favourite Touchy Feely Books and made our very own.. such a fun summer craft for preschoolers. I love touchy feel books, they really do grab (sometimes literally) the attention of the smallest readers amongst us. Having said that, Red Ted (now 2.5yrs) still likes to look at all our touchy feely books, especially now that Pip Squeak (7 months) has taken an interest. is not my
Sensory activities of any kind are a fabulous activity for kids. Have you asked yourself Are sensory bins really worth the mess? Well.. the short answer, whether it is a sensory bin or a sensory craft, is YES… let’s read on.
The Books
That is not my Puppy, Fiona Watts and That is not my Monster. We LOVE all the Fiona Watts “That is not my..” range. They are simple, lovely books – nice to hold with nice textures – some better than others though… our two favourite ones are “That is not my Puppy” and “That is ot my Monster”. Red Ted LOVED the monster one when he was small (6mths onwards) and I THINK Pip Squeak really likes the Puppy one – but that is maybe because Red Ted always runs off with the monster book!
Check out some more great Touch and Feel Board Books for babies. So fun.
The Craft
I have been wanting to make a touchy feely book with Red Ted for ages. And have silently been collecting bits and bobs whilst figuring our what we will be doing. Also, I want to make a “special one” as a keep sake for Pip Squeak, so didnt want to let loose to early. I decided the best course of action, was to let Red Ted have a go and to do mine separately. Red Ted’s actually turned out very well, is mine needed?!
All the pages that Red Ted and I made today are relevant to us- I decided to combine photos with texture, so we have
1) Our friends budgies & feathers
2) Pip Squeak, erm, eating sand & sand paper strips
3) Red Ted and his lovely beach ball & circles cut from a broken beachball
4) Our cat & some furry material (don’t ask where that came from, but Ali, dear lady, YOU know!)
5) Red Ted’s dandelion & some wool
I did all the cutting and Red Ted did all the sticking. He was surprisingly good at it and only had to show him once to put the glue on the pack of a photo. I did have to stop him once from sticking EVERYTHING on the photo, and I had to help with the wool as he didn’t like it sticking to his fingers, but otherwise he did it himself.
I “bound” Red Ted’s book by cutting a normal folder down.
My version of the sensory book
I love Red Ted’s book and I think it came out brilliantly. And I was very much in two minds about to makeing “mine” too. I didn’t want to “devalue” Red Ted’s book. I did go ahead. The main reason being, that I still have many touchy feely bits that I have saved (corrugated card, rustly paper) and that Red Ted only had so much of an attention span and the second reason being, that I wanted to make a little keep sake. I don’t know if either of these excuses are enough, but I guess you could also say, that by “doing your own”, I am giving craft ideas to mums with wee babies as well as uncles/ aunties etc that would like to make something.
I made my book out of an old presentation – used the front and back as front and back and the presentation deviders (a little thicker paper) for my pages. This however would look FABULOUS if you bought a simple card photo album. Thrifty me decided to recycle.
So here is my attempt. I have only made the 1st 5 pages, as like Red Ted, my concentration span is limited + I haven’t decided on the final pages. I am using bull dog clips to hold it all together for now (so I can add pages), but will “bind it more permanently (staples?)” once it is done (I have 12 pages!). I hope you like!
Hope you feel inspired to create your own sensory book!
In the meantime, try out this Five Senses Preschool Craft too?
See more fabulous preschooler resources here: