Tissue Paper Sensory Bag
Some of Harris’s favorite toys are crinkle paper toys and his favorite books are crinkle paper books. These items teach him cause and effect, as well as help him develop fine motor skills. Sensory bags like this tissue paper bag are a great way to provide these toys without spending a fortune. For many of us, we have tissue paper and ziploc bags at home already, and if you don’t, they are very affordable and can be found at Dollar Tree, Wal-Mart, Amazon, etc. Not only do things like this help your child, but they help you too! You get to make an awesome homemade toy for your baby to love, and you get to free yourself up to do things while he is preoccupied with independent play. And if your baby is anything like Harris, crinkle paper will occupy him for at least ten minutes! :-)
What You Need:
-Tissue Paper: Any tissue paper will work. I bought this on Amazon because we didn’t have any at home already. I got 40 sheets for under four dollars. Now we have tissue paper for sensory bags and for gift bags!
-Zip Loc Bag: I use the large gallon size, but if you use less tissue paper, you could use the quart size. You can use the sandwich size if you cut your tissue paper in half. I recommend the regular zip over the sliders because your child could slide the slider off and then he has an open plastic bag to play with, which can be dangerous. It would be much harder for him to squeeze the regular one closed. If you are planning to use these when you aren’t supervising, definitely glue the bag closed and then there’s nothing to worry about.
That’s it!
What You Do:
Choose three (if you are using the gallon size bags) pieces of tissue paper. Choose your colors carefully, the bolder the better, and the more contrast the better. For example, red, blue, and white work better than yellow, orange, and red because they are distinctly different, whereas the yellow, orange, and red are too closely related. Remember, your child’s eyesight is not fully developed yet, so the more contrast, the clearer he can see the colors.
Take the tissue paper and make it into a crude ball shape. Don’t do this too tight or it won’t make the crinkle sound. Place the three crude balls of tissue paper carefully in the bag. Close the bag, and that’s it!
How to Play:
I have about three of these, one for tummy time, one for high chair time, and one for the car seat (glued shut). He loves to just bang on it and squeeze it. He recognizes that he is the one who is creating the sound, and I can actually see him begin to understand cause and effect. These bags work just like the crinkle paper toys and books. He doesn’t seem to know a big difference between these bags and those toys, and these bags are way cheaper! Plus, there’s the added bonus of knowing you made something your baby loves.
