Sensory Dirt and bugs

I have wanted to play with dirt for ages. As Hartley still puts everything in his mouth I decided to make my own sensory dirt first.

I found a recipe for sensory dirt at Frogs & snails & puppy dog tails sensory dirt and then made my own with what I had in the cupboard.

I used;
flour
cocoa powder
instant coffee
rice

This made a dry dirt with lots of textures. It smelt lovely too.

I then added some giant bugs. I also provided some spades and a magnifying glass.

 Hartley had lots of fun exploring the dirt and the bugs. He liked looking through the magnifying glass, finding the bugs and digging in the dirt.

I then decided to add some water to the dirt, which turned it into a chocolatey, gloopy, mixture.

Hartley loved investigating the gloop.

 He had lots of fun mixing, squishing, and stirring the gloop with his hands.

It was lovely to observe him fully exploring the mixture with his hands. He enjoyed clapping his hands together and the way the gloop felt between his fingers.

 And just to prove I really am a messy mummy Hartley printed some lovely, messy hand prints on my trousers!

The next day I added even more water, this turned the mixture into a  chocolatey mud. It smelt great too.

Hartley was so excited he jumped in!