Changing the sensory table

I am often asked: How often did I change things in the sensory table?  My answer has always been that I changed what was in the table every week.  There were two main reasons why.  The first reason was that building the apparatus for the sensory table was a creative outlet for me.  (I do believe that we all need a creative outlet to stay fresh in the classroom.) The second reason was that I wanted to offer children novel sensory experiences on a consistent basis.  To that end, I was able to offer something new in the sensory table every week of every school year I taught.

To make that a manageable proposition, I employed three strategies.  The first was to keep an apparatus for a second week, but change the medium that was in the table.  The second was to again keep an apparatus for a second week but add something to the existing construction.  The third strategy was to again keep an apparatus but change its orientation. (Orientation is highlighted on the right-hand column of this blog.)

Let me give you an example of the first strategy.  For this example, I offer you an apparatus I called horizontal channels. 

 

 

I constructed this apparatus from a box in which a new easel arrived.   It was long, wide and narrow.  I wanted to take advantage of those features so I cut out one complete side and inserted channels. This apparatus rested on top of the cover of the sensory table.  You can find the original write up for this apparatus here. 

The first time I set this apparatus out, I used regular play sand as the medium.  I subsequently replaced the sand with feed corn.

 

 

The corn and sand had different textures; sand felt gritty whereas the corn was smooth.  They made different sounds as they were dropped or slid across the cardboard surface: the sand made scraping sounds whereas the corn made popping sounds.  They had a different smell; the sand had an earthy smell whereas the corn smelled like---well---corn.  There was also a difference in how the vehicles performed in the media; the sand was a little heavier so it took more effort to move it down the channels with the vehicles whereas the corn was lighter so less effort was needed to push the corn.  Because I changed the medium in the sensory table, the children experienced the same apparatus differently.

 

I rarely used the same apparatus more than two weeks in a row.  However, I did find other media to use in the channel apparatus in other years.  

 

One year I used a white play sand.  The sand was soft and dustless and very fluid.  (When buying sand, make sure that it does not contain free silicates.)

 

For the second week, I replaced the sand with wood pellets, which had many of the same properties as corn, but was still a little different.  For example, the pellets were like round, miniature logs that rolled easily through the channels and down the chute.

By the way, if I knew---and remembered---I elicited the children's help during the last class of the week to assist in emptying the medium out of the apparatus into a storage container.

 

 

Clean up and play became synonymous when the children willing helped.  From my experience, children were almost always willing to join in the work if it was real work that made a difference in the classroom and if they felt appreciated for their contribution.

 

Stay tuned for examples of strategies two and three in subsequent weeks.