Pair Books with Play will be a new focus on this blog!
Each week we’ll talk about a book and create an activity based on the book’s theme.
This week, Lil and I read “Five Little Monkeys Wash the Car” by Eileen Christelow. I paired it with a sensory play activity that we called the monkey car wash!
Here’s the synopsis:
The book is about five little monkeys who try to sell their Mom’s dirty, old car. They wash it, paint it, and then they accidentally drive it into a swamp! The problem is that crocodiles are inhabiting the swamp and the monkeys have to figure out how to get out of the swamp safely. With some quick thinking and a little persuasion, the monkeys convince the crocodiles to push the car back up the hill they drove down and to buy the car! It’s a fun story that maintains an engaging rhythm for those nights when you’re half asleep and can barely read another bedtime book (can I get an amen?).
After we read the book, we decided to fill our sensory table: half dirt and half water. We submerged some cars into the dirt and viola! We had a swamp on one side and a cleaning station on the other. Lil enjoyed covering the cars with dirt at first.
Then, she moved over to the water and started scrubbing the cars. You could easily add sponges and towels here….but, we are in the middle of a move and I haven’t opened that box yet….
Lil started getting messy quickly which was wonderful to watch because my little girl does not like a lot of sensory experiences. We did have a water bucket nearby so that she could rinse her hands when she got *too* muddy!
When she was done, we went straight to the bath! Disclaimer: this is a MESSY activity…but, so worth it! We had a blast retelling the story as she got the cars dirty and then cleaned them off – what fun!
Do your kids enjoy messy play?
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