As I transition from sharing ideas I have done with my kids at home to sharing ideas that I use in my preschool class the way I post is changing. I hope that you will continue to join me on this journey and I will continue to share how I would use these ideas in either a home or class setting. This simple writing tray is very open-ended, many of my students were simply exploring making marks but a few incorporated the printable letter cards. Some used the letter cards for alternative play and that is wonderful as well. The target age for this activity is really 3.5-5 but as I shared on my Instagram older kids like it too ( he’ll be 10 in a few weeks!). For younger students like most I teach this is really just a fun way to explore using a utensil to make marks and the quinoa helps to slow the process down and promotes hand control. Here is how I made this simple sensory writing tray.
Gather your materials. You will need some quinoa, a tray ( got this pumpkin one at Walmart), a paint brush, scissors, and the letter cards.
Blank pumpkin letter cards ( you can laminate and write on them using a dry erase marker)
Alphabet letter cards with upper and lower case ( and a few numbers because why not?) Click the image or the link to print the PDF, you may want to make sure that the image is scaled to fit when you print. For some reason it’s showing up smaller, I am trouble shooting that now. When printed and scaled it’s still a great image!
Start by printing out the letter cards and cutting them.
I laminated mine.
Pop the quinoa in the tray and the letter cards in a bowl.
Invite the children to make the letters using the paint brush.
My students explored with their fingers as well.
I liked using quinoa because it’s tasteless and vacuums up well. Please remember to always make sure if you are using a food or any sort that you have up to date allergy info about your students.
I love that all of these activities are tactile!