Arts & crafts: Sensory gloves

A fun use for disposable doctor's gloves

One of the things that I absolutely love about doing activities with my children, is thinking of new and different ways to use everyday items. I have come to learn that almost everything has an alternative use and disposable rubber gloves are no exception.

My youngest daughter has been sick this week. Our very dry Joburg air combined with spring pollen and dust has caused her allergies to play up and despite my best efforts she spiked a fever and it was off to the doctor we went.

When the doctor gloved up to examine my littlest baby I asked her if she would mind parting with a few extra gloves as I had come across a sensory activity that they would be perfect for. Luckily she obliged and I came home with both gloves and medication for my daughter.

Once she had a rest and my other daughter was back from school I decided that this would be a quiet and fun afternoon activity for my girls.

What you need:
• Rubber gloves
• A variety of different items to put into the gloves. I used cotton wool, rice, flour, keys, lego bricks, air and water.

The activity is really simple: fill each glove up with your chosen items and tie them closed. Just a quick tip, to fill the gloves with items like rice or flour, place the glove in a glass and then stretch them over the opening. It is a LOT less messy.

Once all the gloves are filled, give them to your little ones and let them poke, prod, feel, smell,throw etc… each of the gloves. I tried to get mine to keep their eyes closed when initially feeling each glove but they were too excited. In retrospect I should have brought out the blindfolds at the start!

They were very curious and really loved feeling the objects in the gloves. It is amazing how different common items feel when stuffed into a glove and I asked them to describe what they felt.

The glove filled with water was a hit and the cold temperature made them hold the glove up to their cheeks to feel. Once there they commented on how the water made a funny noise inside the glove. Having never been on a water bed I imagine this is what it would be like (only a much bigger version)!

The flour was also a hit and so once they had finished feeling all the gloves I gave them some face sticker that I had found ages ago and never found a use for. They made hand faces and thoroughly enjoyed playing with their creations (including distorting them by moving around the flour). If you don’t have any stickers to use you can simply give your little ones some markers to decorate their gloves.

This activity turned out far better than I had anticipated and because it was a nice and quiet, it was perfect for my under the weather baby to participate in. If you are lucky enough not to need to visit the doctor any time soon you can also find disposable gloves at your nearest pharmacy. Most will sell them to you loose so you don’t even need to buy a full box.

Post originally appeared on Clamber Club's Jog's Blog.