All Ages
CraftsSensory Activities
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.
One of the things that we love most about sensory play, is that there are just so many different types of things that you can include in a sensory bin.
With Halloween just days away and signs of Fall finally starting to show up around our neck of the woods we decided to add a touch of Fall to our sensory play this week in the form of pumpkin seeds!
And while they were fun to play with, we decided that we could make them a lot more fun if we made them different colors!
A lot like coloring Easter eggs, this was probably one of the easiest sensory materials we’ve ever made.
It takes a little bit of time, but most of that is simply letting it sit.
To make some of your own, you’re going to need:
– Pumpkin Seeds (washed and dried)
– A cup or bowl that you don’t mind using with food coloring
– Water
– Vinegar
– Food Coloring
In your cup (or bowl), mix 1/2 cup of cold water with 1 1/2 tablespoons of vinegar and add a few drops of food coloring until you have your desired color.
Give it a stir until your food coloring is all mixed in and then start adding pumpkin seeds.
You’re going to need to stir them around a bit until all of your pumpkin seeds are wet because they will float on top of your colored water mixture.
Now, let them sit.
We left ours for about half an hour and really liked the colors that we had at that point but you can adjust the time as desired. If you’re looking for lighter colors, shorten the time. Leave them in a bit longer if you’re looking for something darker.
Once you have your desired color, simply scoop your seeds out of your container and lay them out on a paper towel to dry.
After an hour or so, transfer them to a cookie sheet lined with wax paper to let them finish drying. You’ll want to make sure that they are completely dry before using them so that the color doesn’t accidentally rub off on your skin or clothes and stain.
We left ours overnight and they came out perfectly!
Now that we’ve discovered just how fun playing with pumpkin seeds can be, I can’t wait to see just how much more fun they’ll be now that they’re colored.
We’ve got quite a few projects in mind for these beauties so it should be a blast!
