Squishy Bags For Sensory Play

I’ve worked with some kids who don’t like to paint, touch anything wet or get their hands dirty so I decided to make squish bags. This way they could feel the squishy texture without getting dirty. I took the larger ziplock bags with the actual sliding zipper that seals the bag. Then in a cup, I mixed flour, water and food coloring. Three bags used about one small box of flour. I can’t remember how much water I used in each. You probably want to start with a quarter to half a cup and see how thick the mixture is. If you want it thicker, just add more flour. Mix with the amount of food coloring you want. I used blue, yellow and made pink for a third bag. After sealing the first bag, I put another bag over it in case the first bag popped. After closing both bags, I reinforced it with packing tape.

The kids enjoyed playing with the bags. Even the kids who didn’t like to touch squishy things liked them. They made hand prints, trails, wrote out letters and numbers with their fingers and made creative designs. Another good thing was that once they were done with their design, they could shake up the bag and it was like a blank drawing board. You could do this with other things like pudding, shaving cream, marshmallows or any other thing that can be squished. Another teacher did the activity with pudding and the kids enjoyed that, but one of the bags popped and it made a huge mess. Doubling the bags works well though. Only use it for a day or two because the mixture starts to smell bad on about the third day.