I ordered Mr Wolf’s Pancakes for Sophie with the idea to put together a story sack but unfortunately it hasn’t arrived yet. I still wanted to do a ‘Pancake Day’ themed activity so I put together this sensory box whilst Sophie napped this afternoon and left it set up in the kitchen. As soon as she saw it, she climbed straight in!

Contents:

• flour
• wooden play food – pancake ingredients (milk, egg, flour)
• frying pan, mixing bowl, flour sifter
• utensils – sieve, whisk, spatula, measuring spoons
• a real lemon
• empty egg carton

I considered putting some water or milk in a jug but I figured that the flour was going to be messy enough!

I showed her how to sift the flour but she was more interested in shaking the flour shaker that we use for icing sugar. This was very messy but smelt lovely!

Luckily, Sophie stays inside the tuff spot while she plays so most of the flour stayed inside the tuff spot. The icing sugar did leave a fine layer all over the floor though.

I took Sophie’s clothes off her so I could clean up without her trailing flour around the house. However, once she saw me tidying up she wanted to come back and play some more…

She loved the feel of the flour on her bare feet and sprinkled it all over her toes and belly. She explored how to slide her feet and move the flour. I dusted her down with a towel once she was finished and managed to only have a tiny trail of floury footprints to wipe up!

My top tip for tidying up is to use the flour to make playdough. I kneaded it in the tray which picked up most of the loose flour. I added some lemon juice and used the playdough in a pretend cooking activity later on.

Lemon Playdough

Ingredients:

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2 tbsp cream of tartar
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 cups of boiling water
• squeeze of lemon juice

1. Mix the dry ingredients together.
2. Stir in the vegetable oil and the boiling water.
3. When it has cooled, knead the dough. I did this in the tray to try to use up all of the flour. If it is sticky add some more flour or if it is dry add a little more water. I also added some lemon juice to make it smell.