[Sharing] Customized Sensory Play Set

Hi all!

How is everyone doing?

NewGen Xplorer was quite busy for the past few days preparing the customized sensory play sets and would like to share with you all some photographs of our work.

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25.05.2016

Made a Customized Natural Sand Play Dinosaur Series as per photo below.

The set comes with:-

1) Easy playing & storage container

2) approx. 2kgs of natural play sand

3) 4 pcs of random dinosaur 

4) A 5-pcs beach set.

For the natural play sand, we recommended the natural play sand which has been specially washed and smoothed to ensure it is not scratchy on delicate skin. 

Here you go, the birthday gift in cute wrapping paper has been sent out to our customer. 

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26.05.2016

Made a Customized Natural Play Sand Superhero Series upon request from a customer.

Compared to the first customized set, we made a XXL customized sensory play series this time.

The set comes with:

1) XXL Easy playing & storage container

2) Approx. 3kgs of natural play sand 

3) 1 set of Superhero figurines (8 figurines)

4) A 8-pcs large beach set

5) 2 pcs minions (Surprise FOC gift) 

Similar to the smaller container, it is also an easy playing & storage container ^_^ The sand and toys fit just nice in the container, eh?=D

Ta-Da, another set is done. 

Our customer was so happy to receive the goods! Hopefully the birthday boy would like it very much too! ^_^

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One thing special about sensory play series is we have fun playing with it all the time and we also spread the joy to others!

Make one for your kids or send as a gift isn't a bad idea at all ya?

Ding~ To customize your own sensory play set, you may reach us on Facebook or contact us at 018- 321 7228 (SMS/ Whatsapp).

Thank you for your time! 

Fun Freezing Sensory Play for Weekend? YES!

Happy Friday to all! Weekend is around the corner and any plans to spend your weekend?

Today I am going to share a new sensory play series which I find it very very very (really, VERY) interesting to kids and perhaps even to parents (including myself...=D).

*drum rolllllllll--> Fun Freezing Sensory Play!

Kids enjoy playing and exploring with ice! Here are some amazing, fun freezing sensory play ideas to try with your kids.

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It is simple to set up the freezing sensory play set for your kids, now let's follow the steps below:-

Step 1

All you need is a few small containers or ice trays, water and some toys, marbles, crystals, dinosaurs, action figures, fishes or any items that won’t be damaged by the freezing. Your child should be involved in the process from the beginning. 

As seen in the picture above, my daughter and I decided to freeze colourful crystals as part of the water play component.

Step 2

Put the items in the freezer. Explain to your child how long it will take to freeze. Let them take out the frozen items.

Frozen toys "fresh" from freezer. 

Frozen pony & dinosaur toys with crystals.

Step 3

Time to play! Let your child play experiment with the frozen items. This will teach them how long it takes for ice to melt depending on the size of the container. You could use almost anything to freeze. Each time your child plays, use different items.

Once the frozen item is taken out from the small container, let your kid play with it or place them in the water play container.

Frozen dinosaur? =D

Throughout the process, not only the bonding time with your kids, but also provide a good opportunity for kids to explore more knowledge and their imaginations in daily life. 

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Learning Outcome 

You can learn about reversible change, temperature, and properties of water. Melting ice is also great for practicing fine motor skills with spray bottles, squirt bottles etc! Older children will still have a lot of fun and benefit from playing with this sensory ice tub. The amazing thing about sensory play is that it opens the door to so many wonderful learning opportunities such as imaginative play, language exploration, fine motor development for pre-writing skills, coordination, social interactions and so much more.

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 We will be posting new ideas from time to time. Do follow us for latest ideas, write-ups and products:) 

Catch us on Facebook too for latest sensory play tips and sharing of the day!

Sensory Play-Play dough Series

It's play time after school! Yay! [make sure they completed their homework before play time ^_^]

Today I want to introduce a sensory play set called the "Play dough".

Play dough is a classic play set that is easy and fun for all kids of all ages. Using any type of play dough with young children is beneficial in so many ways apart from it being so much fun! 

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Learning Outcome

1) Fine motor development - The malleable properties of play dough make it fun for investigation and exploration as well as secretly builds up strength in all the tiny hand muscles and tendons, making them ready for pencil and scissor control later on. 

2) It can be squashed, squeezed, rolled, flattened, chopped, cut, scored, raked, punctured, poked and shredded! Each one of these different actions aids fine motor development in a different way, not to mention hand-eye coordination and general concentration. And as soon as you add another element to it, the list of benefits and creative play possibilities continues to grow!

3) Providing boxes, containers with various shaped compartments or moulds can lead to cooking play, sorting, matching, ordering and counting, all naturally and without pressure to learn. 

4) Various items elements can be used to create plenty of exciting, open-ended play times; princesses, toy figurines, play scissors, pine cones, small cups, utensils, shape cookie cutters, plastic knifes, rolling pins and the list is endless.

5) Calming and soothing - The effects of all that squeezing and pummelling are great for stress relief and can feel extremely therapeutic! Little children can struggle to express their emotions and using dough while talking and singing can really help that process. 

6) Imagination and Creativity - As soon as you introduce open ended play items to add to the mix, play dough becomes the perfect medium for numerous types of imaginative play and can represent so many things in a child’s eyes. A baking tray and rolling pin for example can lead to role play of a birthday part.

7) Play dough fosters cooperative play. Playing with dough with others helps children understand the importance of sharing.

8) Discussing what has been made helps build communication skills and develops imagination. 

Perhaps there are many more benefits aside from the above, all the parents have to do is prepare the play dough series for your children, and supervise your children at a side or even play with them! Probably they will surprise you with their "masterpiece" by then!

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We do have play dough set available if any readers are interested:) You can browse through our Facebook photo album for more photos and info too. ^^

That's all for today's sharing, hope you will like it ^_^.

Do stay tuned with us as another exciting sensory play set is coming real soon!

-Coming Up Next--> Sensory Play- Freezing Sensory Play Series-

Sensory Play- Sand Play Superhero Series

Hi there!

As mentioned in our previous post, I am here to share some photographs of Sand Play Superhero Series which I specially designed for Superhero fans:)

The Sand Play Superhero Series comes with a plastic container with cover for easy storage, one set of Superhero series (8 figures), and one set of space sand play set.

The sand play set and figures fit just nice in the plastic container=)

Ta-da. It is convenient for storage too. Parents could pack the sand play set and toys into the plastic container after use, cover it and play again whenever the kids want.

I also made this as a birthday gift to one of my daughter's classmates.

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I have two (2) more sets available for booking. 

Let me know if you are interested ya.

Aside, catch us on Facebook on more updates and exciting sensory play series!

See ya.

-Coming Up Next--> Sensory Play- Play dough Series-

Sensory Play- Sand Play Series

Sand play invites participation; it stretches the imagination; it allows children to make and test hypotheses; it provides a potentially soothing sensory experience; and it is an excellent avenue for children to learn physical, cognitive, and social skills.

Because sand play is open-ended, the child determines the direction and path of his or her own play. This freedom then clears the way for the child to build developmental concepts.

Most of all its fun!

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Below are some photos showing how creative the kids could be with the sand play set & their own toys.

The animal farm series.

The space sand play series, where the sand can be squeezed and mould into different shapes and sizes.

Simple and yet it's so fun! =D

Kids have so much fun playing with the space sand set by adding in their own toys^_^

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Benefits of Sand Play:

1) Development of fine motor skills.

2) Eye & hand coordination – watching and doing and coordinating these actions.

3) Promotes creativity and imagination through role and developing stories.

4) Sensory- Development of the sense of touch. Feeling and manipulating objects and moulding the sand.

5) Language development – playing with sand is a social activity requiring speaking and listening, also developing vocabulary. Practising and experimenting with language.

6) Teaches Mathematical Concepts - Using containers of varying sizes and shapes helps to teach children about ideas such as "more than," "less than," and "equal." Through trial and error, these children will be able to make predictions about which containers will hold more or less sand. Providing measuring spoons or cups could help children learn more specific measures as well as other mathematical terms such as "empty" and "full" or "heavy" and "light." 

7) Encourages Scientific Experiments - Burying metal treasures for example and provide children with magnets. Children will learn about magnetic force while going on a treasure hunt. Provide other objects for children to construct their own scientific experiments such as funnels, ramps, and rolling pins. Observe as the children make their own experiments to discover information not only about sand but also about basic scientific principles.

8) Incorporates Artistic Expression - Encourage children to draw pictures in the sand, develop elaborate sand castles, and create interesting moulds from household objects in addition to buckets. As children experiment with the properties of sand and create their own buildings and towns, they can decorate the objects with stones, leaves, and flowers that they find in nature. Provide sand combs and discuss different patterns and designs with children as they draw in the sand. Playing music while children work and play in the sand is another opportunity to encourage children to sing along.

9) Promotes Cognitive Development - Children learn the inherent physical properties of sand by playing with it and by comparing wet and dry sand. They can also learn the theory of the conservation of matter as they pour sand from one container into another and compare the amount of sand that fits in each. While playing in sand, children will learn to problem-solve as they try to figure out how to prevent their towers from continually falling over or their moats from collapsing in on themselves. 

10) Encourages Social Skills - When children play together in a common sandbox or at a sand table, they are often faced with problems involving sharing tools, negotiating for play space, and compromising about what will be built in the sand. Although each child may have a separate play space, many of them will engage in pretend play as they combine to "cook" with the sand or construct roadways, dig tunnels, and build towers for a small city. By working together in a common play space, children learn empathy and how to recognize and understand the perspectives of the other children while working together and sharing sand tools.

11) Promotes Physical Development - Muscle skills in the arms and upper bodies of children will be further developed through sand play. By digging, pouring, sifting, and scooping sand, children use their upper bodies and arms in ways that many of their other toys do not require them to work. Large amounts of sand can become very heavy and difficult to move, thereby creating further exercise and muscle-building opportunities for young children. If the sand becomes wet, it becomes even more difficult to scoop and manipulate, further flexing the young muscles of children playing in the sand. The legs and lower bodies of children get involved from squatting in the sand or from lifting and carrying buckets of sand to other areas. 

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Below are some pictures of space sand play set and also customized space sand play set designed for Superhero fans-->

The Space Sand Play Set

The customized Space Sand Play Set-Superhero Series

Perhaps, to parents who are running out of ideas on what to get for birthday present, Raya present, or even X'mas present (never too early for X'mas eh?=D), you may consider it as a gift to your beloved kids or their friends too.

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Also, we have few tips on sand play too:

1. Depending on the age of the child, adult supervision will be required;

2. Ensure that your children wash their hands after play;

3. If the dry sand becomes wet, you should dry it out;

4. As seen in the picture below, cover the sand after use and keep the pets away from it;

5. Sand and water reflect the sun so remember children should wear sunscreen when playing         outdoors for any length of time.

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Besides water beads series, now we have another choice of space sand play series, regardless to your kids' preference to water play or sand play, the bonding time between parents and children are priceless eh? :)

if you like our post and products, please show us some support by hitting the LIKE button on our facebook page ya!

-Coming Up Next--> Sensory Play- Sand Play Superhero Series-

Sensory Play- Water Beads Series

Have you ever played with water beads? It is a delightful experience for kids of all ages and therapeutic even for adults^_^

They come in various colours and are delightful to the eyes. They feel really squishy, slippery and give you an addictive sensory experience.

Water beads are commonly used for decorative purposes. (Please be cautious when your kids are playing with them as they are not edible. ) Supervision may be necessary depending on the age of the child.

This is how you use them:

Step 1

Put a handful of the dry tiny beads in some water (about 100 – 300 beads depending on the size of your tray). Leave it in a cool place until the beads enlarge. The process takes about 12 – 24 hours. As the beads grow, you can add in more water if required. It is best you get your child involved from the very beginning. It will be a fun experience for them watching it grow.

Tiny water beads before it grow.

Step 2

This is what your beads should look like once they are of full size. Now, they are ready for play…touch them!!

Ta-da! The colourful water beads "grown" after 12 to 24 hours^_^

Step 3

To make it more interesting, you can add in more things such as a fishing set, a few cups, toy figurines, marbles, ice, boats etc. Items you can add in are endless. You can add in various other items that the kids could play with. My daughter and her friends have hours of fun creating and playing with their water bins. All I did was encourage her by providing them with a basic tray and water beads. The rest of the items were put together from the existing toys they had. 

The DIY water play series done by my daughter & her friends.

Besides water beads, she also added in her own toys like princess series and little pony.

My daughter was holding a small container with her "masterpiece"- the freezing toy (will share in later post, stay tuned!).

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Learning Outcome

The material your child works with work with in the water bin have many sensory attributes — they may be of different colours, have a certain smell or odourless, warm or cool, wet or dry, rough or smooth, hard or soft, textured or slimy. Discovering and differentiating these characteristics is a first step in classification or sorting — an important part of your child’s science learning and discovery.

The Cognitive Experience - The most apparent cognitive skills sharpened by sensory play are problem solving and decision making; simply present a child with a scenario and various materials with which to find a solution, and you can almost see the connections their brains are making. For example deciding how to build a boat that will float or how to freeze a dinosaur toy. In addition, children can build math skills such as comparing size (small/big), counting and one-to-one correspondence (matching numbers to objects), timing (does water or oil move faster? How long does it take to freeze something), matching (same sizes and colours), and sorting and classifying (marbles, crystals or beans), and science skills such as cause and effect (what happens when I add water to sand?), gravity (water slides down a slide, not up) and states of matter (ice melts). Without realizing it, children grow into amateur scientists by making predictions and observations, and even develop analytical skills.

The Physical Experience- Fine motor skills are often defined as the coordination of small muscle movements (usually hand-eye coordination) that enable us to perform a variety of important tasks. For children, these tasks might include tying shoes, zipping zippers and even turning the pages of a book. Gross motor skills involve the larger muscles of the body and include activities such as walking, running, pushing, pulling and throwing a ball. Some examples of sensory play benefit the development of fine motor skills by encouraging manipulation of materials, such as mixing, measuring, pouring and scooping, while other examples, such as exploring surfaces, lifting, throwing, rolling and water play, help develop gross motor skills. Even recruiting your child to help you build a sensory table for future explorations is exercising motor skills.

The Linguistic Experience - Children can’t define parts of language until they’ve experienced the true meaning of the word. The attempt to convey something without the proper words to do so can be frustrating for children—and adults! Sensory play encourages children to use descriptive and expressive language, and to find meaning behind essentially meaningless words or gibberish. Take for instance, the word “slimy”. Sure, you can explain what it means with different adjectives, but until you experience something slimy first hand, that’s all it will be is words.

The Social and Emotional Experience- Remember that sensory play provides many opportunities for children to engage in active learning for development. Take a look at the different areas in your home and how your child can play there. With thoughtful adult support and interesting, open-ended materials, your child will have hours of learning through play.

I usually ask a few questions at the end or when I am also playing, such as how long did it take for the ice to melt? How come the ice from the bigger container took longer to melt? Did you manage to play without spilling any water? How come certain items float and some sink? You will be surprised with the answers you get and you can use this opportunity to teach them!

Since the children love it, this will also give you some free time to catch up on some work or chores that you have been putting aside whilst they play. The best part is the sensory bins can be placed nearby for easy supervision.

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For all you busy mums that have no time to create these bins, you could purchase a ready-made set, please contact us for more info (SMS/ Whatsapp 018-321 7228). Our Sensory Series 1.0- Water Beads Series comes with 1 plastic container with cover for easy storage, 1000 water beads, 2 cups, 1 fish that moves in the water and a fishing set that consist of 1 fishing rod and 6 random items e.g. fishes, ducks, starfish etc. 

Click here to place your order =)

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Few Tips:

1) Put a towel under the tray before your child starts to play so that it is easy for you to tidy up 

     later. 

2) Keep the beads in some water when storing so that they stay at the same size. I use the 

    beads as a centre piece in my kitchen and everyone can’t help playing with them when 

    passing by =D; 

3) Easy cleaning tips after play; as seen in the picture below, you could place a large kitchen     

    towel on your counter-top. Place all the rinsed water play items on it to dry out so that toysare 

    ready to be stored away for next time.

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Here you go for the first sensory play series brought by NewGen Xplorer,

if you like our post and products, please show us some support by hitting the LIKE button on our facebook page ya!

See you next time!

-Coming Up Next--> Sensory Play- Sand Play Series-