Cranberries

While we are so excited to soak in these next few restful days with the girls, I wanted to incorporate some festive sensory play during our down time. Cranberries were the first thing I thought of, so I ran by the grocery store after dinner and bought a HUGE bag of cranberries for under $4.

Note: While cranberries are “taste safe”, they are a nice, little choking hazard, so keep an eye on your babes, especially younger than three. I fully plan to let my girls try these sour treats, but I’ll quarter like I would with a grape.

Here are three ways that we are going to use them in play.

Floating

The easiest, y’all. Cranberries float, so skimming them off of the water and transferring them was a huge favorite. These tools are from the Dollar Tree and we use them daily. Too cold outside? Don’t want to mess with water inside? Throw them in the bath with your babe!

Check out that sweet face of a little one whose Daddy is filling up her water table. Are the grandparents asking for a gift to give your kiddo? This Crate & Kids Sand and Water Table is used so regularly! A bit of a splurge, but would be such a meaningful gift your babe will use for years. Literally. YEARS.

Frozen

We used our Amazon silicone ice cube molds as well as two fun ones from IKEA. While it’s not super chilly outside in Texas, we opted to play with these inside on our Gathre mat by the fire!

Transferring

We also worked to put them into different bottles. This was quite an intense fine motor exercise! I also tried to find some bottles where the opening was too small to fit some of the larger cranberries. I’m trying to reinforce the concept of size. I’m noticing Emersyn has been interested in that when she works with her stacking toys. If she tries to put a larger one on top of a smaller one, she’ll say “noooooo” and try again. After playing awhile, I noticed that she was able to eyeball some of the larger ones and know not to try to put it in the bottle with the smaller opening.

For Babes Younger than Eight Months

For babes younger than eight months or so, you can use these cranberries in sensory bottles and bags. Ziploc bags taped to windows, doors, or used during tummy time are so much fun! Dump a hefty amount of cranberries in a bag of water and watch them try and move them around! Add in leaves, glitter, or whatever else you’d like!

Of course your little one can also splash in a bowl of water with some cranberries, or fill up a bucket and hold them as them “walk” on them to get a great sensory experience for those feet!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!