Sensory Shape Patterns

This is an activity that I got from one of my education classes. I bought a box of snack size (dollar store brand) Ziploc baggies <--- they have to have a zipper on it. I also got some hair gel from the dollar store and foam paper from Hobby Lobby.

Then I made basic shapes on plain white paper, to use as a stencil. You can use any shapes, letters, or anything else you can think of.

Then I cut out the shapes on the foam paper, two sheets at a time. This was very time consuming and not something I would have done while kids were awake. When I was at hobby lobby I looked for pre-cut shapes (foam paper) but I could only find stickers. Since I had never used stickers I didn't get them but I am seriously considering trying it next time.
This was just a trial run, so I made my own pattern. Since my daughter is only 2 1/2 years old we will be doing basic patterns at first. For older kids (4 and up) you can use abbabb or abbcabbc patterns and so on. They can also be color patterns, there are numerous ways to switch up this activity.
I also stored the extra shapes in some of the baggies and separated them by color.
I had to carefully put the pieces in the bag in the correct pattern order. It was a little more difficult with the dollar store brand bags because they are thinner and sticks to itself more than the Ziploc brand bags. So you would have to help smaller children with this part.
Then I squirted the hair gel above the pattern, inside the baggie across the whole length of the bag. I repeated this a couple of times to get a good amount in there (but it does not look like I used any by looking at the bottle).
Then I closed up the baggie and smooshed all the gel down to the bottom of the bag.
It gives it a really squishy and fun feel to the shapes.
It also allows the shapes to be moved around easily to create new patters out of the same shapes or for the little ones to just play with and move everything around. The patterns can be sent home with students, if done in a classroom, so they can share with their family or your child can have a keep sake. I do suggest taping, gluing, or stapling the top of the baggie closed and picking them up when your not around to avoid a mess.

I can't wait to do this with my daughter, I wanted an example to show her while explaining it. I am cutting out several different colored sheets of the same shapes, so she can make a bunch of them.

This activity covers:

-Shapes

-Colors

-Patterns (Math)

-Sensory Play

-Movement of objects/Friction (Science)

It's a fun, engaging, multi-concept, educational activity for several different ages.

Let me know what you think.