Petal Play

A lovely guest recently bought me some white roses, and when they had died and I was about to bin them, inspiration struck! I plucked the (not dead) petals, and put them in a tub in an inch of water with a dash of rosewater to heighten the scent...

For a bit of interest, I added a few drops of food colouring: a bit of yellow, blue and red. Eden thought it was pretty amazing to see the coloured water swirl around and make new colours (a bit of colour mixing learning added to sensory play never hurt anyone!), but in the end it was a big ol' tub of brownish-purpley water. 

A few of the petals that had some colouring dropped directly onto them, soaked the colour up, and ended up looking like this:

Pretty cool!  I also buried some 'treasure' under the petals for Eden to discover, in the form of little bells, some shells and a few strings of beads.

Eden played for ages with this tub, initially watching the water swirl around and change colour, then feeling around for 'treasures', and lastly feeling the petals themselves, smelling them and rubbing them against her skin. It was a fantastic sensory experience for her and she even seemed more relaxed afterwards, almost as if it was a mini spa treatment! 

When Eden's interest began to wane, I grabbed some bits n' bobs from the kitchen for her to 'cook' with. She made lots of rosewater cakes and rosy tea (a la Dorothy the Dinosaur), and had heaps of fun with the strainer.

If you're planning on giving this a go, don't use too much food dye. I used heaps, and (as you can probably see) it stained her hands! Plenty of soap and scrubbin' got rid of it, but I'd prefer to avoid the staining entirely next time. Other than that, it was lots of fun and a great way to spend a bit of time with a sensory tub!

Thanks for reading! ~ L.