Your kids will have an awesome time celebrating St Patrick’s Day with this colourful edible sensory play idea. Imagine how excited they’ll be to get hands on with giant wibbly-wobbly shamrock and tasty chocolate treasure from the end of the rainbow!
Edible sensory play for St Patrick’s Day will stimulate children’s senses of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing and we’ve got lots of great tips on how to support their sensory learning too.
Supplies For Edible Sensory Play
Making And Having Fun With The Edible Sensory Play For St Patrick’s Day
It’s super easy to prepare and set up this fun edible sensory play activity but you’ll need to make the green jello the day before your kids are going to play with it, so it has time to set.
Make your lime jello following the instructions on your pack and pour it out into your heart moulds. You’ll need three heart moulds for each shamrock. We were so pleased to find these lovely coloured silicon heart moulds. Their vibrant rainbow colours are just right for St Patrick’s Day and I’m sure we’ll use them for lots of other play ideas too.
For each shamrock you’ll need to turn out and arrange three jello hearts onto a large tray. You can use some chocolate coins for the stalk and place the rest around the shamrock.
If your child likes to dig for their treasure you could pop a coin into each shamrock leaf. Kids will have so much fun pretending they’ve found the Leprechaun’s pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Child led play is fantastic. How will your child explore this edible sensory play activity? It’s not every day kids are allowed to play with food is it?
Your kids will be delighted to explore the jello shamrock, slurping and squashing the jello through their fingers and who can resist chocolate coins! (Little kids may need your help to peel the foil off the coins.)
Yes your child will get a bit sticky and messy but it will be worth it for the amazing fun they’ll have!
We can talk to our kids about what they’re doing and thinking as they play, helping them to identify different sensory stimulus.
If your kids have enjoyed this idea why not tempt them with our Squishy Squashy Sensory Play Balls Activity too?
How Are Our Kids Learning With St Patrick’s Day Edible Sensory Play?
The value of our edible sensory play for St Patrick’s Day is that it’s child led and all about the process and not the end product. Let your child freely explore at their own pace and in their own way and they will become really absorbed in what interests them. Watch what your child is doing and listen to what your child is saying and how they describe their play experience. You can help them to focus on their senses and support their learning through subtle questioning.
Developing Sight
Encourage your child to look carefully as they play, what do they notice? Here are a few questions you could ask:
- What colours can they see?
- What other things are the same colours?
- Do you know what shape the jello is?
- What can you see through the shamrock jello?
- Can you see the jello wobble?
- What do the coins look like, are they shiny, are they all the same?
- What colour and shape are the coins?
Developing Touch
Kids will love exploring the unique textures of this sensory play and it’s a great activity for fine motor skills too. As our kids handle the jello and chocolate we can ask questions to stimulate their sense of touch:
- Can you describe what the jello feels like? Talk about texture, weight, cold, warm, sticky etc?
- Can we shut our eyes and feel the shape of a coin.
- What happens to the chocolate when we hold it?
- Can we think about the texture of the chocolate and jello in our mouths?
Developing Taste And Smell
Kids will have likes and dislikes around food but most will like the combination of jello and chocolate! We can encourage them to focus separately on smell and taste. Here are a few questions you could ask:
- What does the taste of the jello remind you of? They may tell you fruits or candy.
- What other things do you like the taste of?
- What does it smell like?
- What can they tell you about the taste of the chocolate coins?
- What flavour is the jello? Is it tangy?
- Do things taste the same when we hold our nose?
Developing Hearing
Does Jello make a sound? Will kids notice the squelching and slurping noises as they squash it through their fingers?
- Slow down play for a minute or two to listen.
- What words could we use too describe what we hear?
- Can we make the sound quieter or louder?
- What different sounds can it make?
This St Patrick’s Day Edible Sensory Play activity is a super hands on learning experience that helps kids to be aware of their senses. They’ll love squishing, squashing, tasting and slurping their way through this fun activity, and we bet you will too!
More Fun St Patrick’s Day Crafts For Kids:
Edible Sensory Play For St Patrick's Day
Kids will adore this EDIBLE SENSORY PLAY ST PATRICK'S DAY ACTIVITY. Explore squishy shamrock leaves and tasty treasure from the end of the rainbow.
Materials
- Green Lime Jello
- Gold Chocolate Coins
- Silicone Heart Moulds
- Large Tray
Instructions
- Make your lime jello following the instructions on your pack and pour it out into your heart moulds. You’ll need three heart moulds for each shamrock. Let it set.
- For each shamrock you’ll need to turn out and arrange three jello hearts onto a large tray. You can use some chocolate coins for the stalk and place the rest around the shamrock.
- If your child likes to dig for their treasure you could pop a chocolate coin into each shamrock leaf. Kids will have so much fun pretending they’ve found the Leprechaun’s pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Notes
Child led play is fantastic. How will your child explore this edible sensory play activity?
Be prepared for mess and stickiness! But it will be worth it. 🙂