In our house we can’t learn about Rosh Hashanah without some fabulous sensory exploration and this Apple Scented Cloud Dough and Honey Sensory Bin is such a fun hands-on learning experience!
I made sure to set this up for our first day back to school because we all know apples tend to be associated with back to school, but more importantly, I knew my kids would need some no-pressure, open-ended sensory exploration to help them regulate after the first day back. My two littlest ones played for over an hour as soon as they saw the invitation. Such a wonderful way to regulate and have fun while doing so!
What You’ll Need
- 8 cups flour
- 1 cup oil
- Apple fragrance oil
- Red powder paint *Warning: Do NOT do this activity in your playroom that has light carpet! I’m still hoping the carpet shampooer will get the color out … but really wish I had done it at the kitchen table or outside
- Wooden or plastic apples. We got our wooden apples from Woodpeckers Crafts and they are fabulous and have lasted for years. Use the discount code WithLoveIma5 if you get some too!
- Rice
- Yellow food coloring
- Vinegar
- Bee figurines. Last year we made these adorable bee figurines using Woodpeckers Crafts (use WithLoveIma5 for a discount!) products and I absolutely adore them! They are so cute and fun and can provide opportunities for play but also counting and color matching. Yay! If you don’t feel like DIYing, these realistic bees look like a great choice because they would be so great in bee learning and exploration units as well.
- 2 sensory bins
Putting It Together
- Make the apple scented cloud dough by mixing together the flour, oil, drops of apple scent, and red powder paint. I didn’t measure the red powder paint or apple scent. Start with a smaller amount and you can always add more to get the scent and color you desire. If you check out our Instagram reel, you’ll see I mixed the ingredients together then realized I needed more red powder so added more. Easy peasy!
- Set up your cloud dough in a sensory bin.
- Add wooden or plastic apples.
- If you want, you can stop right there and have a lovely Rosh Hashanah Apple Scented Cloud Dough sensory experience! Let your children play and explore, talk about apples and their importance to Rosh Hashanah, and just have fun.
- I added a bees and honey component as well which was sweet and simple if you want to try!
- Dye your rice yellow with the vinegar and food coloring.
- Once dry, add that to a second sensory bin.
- Add some bee figurines.
- If you have any kind of honeycomb items, like this honeycomb ice tray, add those too!
- Invite your children to dip their apples in the honey, talk about apples and honey, discuss the symbolism of these special foods, and add a fun discussion about bees and the importance of bees to our world too!
Finished & Loving It!
This was a simple and easy sensory experience for me to set up. Either sensory bin would be totally fine on its own, but it was fun to make them both together and allow the kids to make the apples and honey connection. Do you think we sang the “Dip Your Apple in the Honey” song? For sure we did! Singing, learning, playing and exploration is all so amazing!
I intentionally set up this Apple Scented Cloud Dough and Honey Sensory Bin invitation for the kids’ first day of school because I knew it would be an especially tiring and big feeling day. Even though some of my kids were excited to return to school, the energy involved in the transition back to school is HUGE! Sensory play invitations can really help with regulation. And also, just allowing them to have some quiet time to process the change as well.
The kids loved that the cloud dough had an apple scent! What a fun surprise for them! I loved that I could easily talk about apples and honey, that we sang one of our favorite songs, and I know they got a meaningful learning experience that was also fun!
We have a whole page dedicated to the High Holidays, our High Holidays Hub. Check it out! It includes some of the High Holidays activities we do this year, as well as the activities we’ve done in previous years.
And don’t forget our Rosh Hashanah Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards, our Yom Kippur Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards, or the High Holidays Montessori-Style 3 Part Card Bundle, all a wonderful way to introduce High Holidays!
The following sites are amazing resources for learning more about this holiday:
Chag Sameach!!
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