Color Mixing sensory bags

Keywords: HOH assist, hand strength, finger isolation, tactile stimulation, visual stimulation

Materials: ziplock sandwich bags, shaving cream, food coloring or paint in red, blue, yellow, and duct tape or packing tape

Directions: Holding clients’ hands, help them to press down and dispense some shaving cream into the ziplock bags. Pick 2 colors of paint or food coloring to squeeze into one half (either left or right side) and the other color into the other half. Seal it up, and tape over the ziplock side to prevent leaking/popping. Have clients squeeze the colors around and form a new color by mixing.

This simple activity provides clients with a sensory experience. They will need to tolerate HOH assist to dispense shaving cream into the bag, and use hand and finger strength to squeeze paint into the bag. Zipping up the bag requires finger isolation. They will feel the squishy tactile stimulation against their palms and watch the colors mix for visual stimulation. When they are done with the bag, you can open it back up and “finger-paint” with it for increased tactile experience.