I made this DIY Lag Ba’Omer Bonfire Sensory Tray for the kids last year but we were all excited to take it out again this year and enjoy some simple sensory fun!
What You’ll Need
- Cardboard, two pieces (I used pieces around 9 x 14)
- Scissors
- Sharpie
- Glue gun
- Food coloring or paint in red, yellow, orange and brown
- 3 types of sensory filler, such as rice, lentils, beans, chickpeas, salt, oats, pom poms
- Paint sticks or crayons in red, yellow and orange
Putting It Together
- Draw the outline of your bonfire on one piece of cardboard.
- Cut equal width strips (approximately one inch wide, but whatever size you want) from the other piece of cardboard.
- Set up your cardboard strips along the sharpie lines. Cut off any excess.
- Trace your sharpie line with the glue gun, adding the cardboard strips to the glue before it hardens.
- Prepare your sensory fillers so you have four fillers, each a different color (one red, one yellow, one orange, and one brown). Use food coloring or paint to dye the fillers these colors.
- If you want, you can paint or color the bonfire the different colors as a guide.
- Invite your children to scoop up sensory filler and match it to the colors on the sensory tray to create a sensory bonfire.
- Pair with your favorite Lag Ba’Omer book and/or with a real bonfire or campfire outside!
Finished & Loving It!
My kids love all kinds of sensory activities and this was no exception. It let them explore multiple textures and enjoy the timeless activity of scooping and dumping.
Having the colors as a guide was helpful for encouraging matching, but if you don’t want to practice that skill or want the activity to be more open ended, leave out the paints and just let the scoop and dump however they want. It will still look like a colorful bonfire!
I love how simple making your own sensory trays from cardboard can be. Not only is it a great way to recycle cardboard, but you can make whatever creation you want. And it should last for more than one time of use! I love that we were able to bring ours out again after a year in storage and the kids had so much fun exploring it.
We have a whole page dedicated to Lag Ba’Omer, our Lag Ba’Omer Hub. Check it out! It will include some of the Lag Ba’Omer activities we do this year, as well as the activities we’ve done in previous years.
And don’t forget our Lag Ba’Omer Montessori-Style 3 Part Cards, a wonderful way to introduce the holiday!
Check out our recommended Lag Ba’Omer books from our Bookshop.org Shop!
The following sites are amazing resources for learning more about this holiday:
Chag Sameach!!
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