Click here to read Simple Sensory Foil Activity to Wrap, Strengthen Fingers & Explore Texture on Hands On As We Grow®
Aluminum foil is the unsung hero of my craft supply box and a wonderful material for sensory play! Use foil for this toddler-friendly wrapping activity!
Aluminum Foil: A Perfect Material for Sensory Activities
Foil is a fun and inviting material for toddlers to work with!
It is easy to crinkle and mold into shapes, making it perfect for toddlers to scrunch away while strengthening their hands and introducing them to new textures.
This type of sensory and fine-motor play primes little hands for big skills, like writing!
Or wrapping potatoes for baking.
That’s an important life skill too!
My 2 year old, Clara, already loves scrunching foil into funky sculptures.
I wanted to encourage her to use it in a new way: wrapping objects around the house.
Getting Ready for Foil Wrapping Activity
For this activity, you will need:
- Aluminum Foil
- Objects of various sizes to wrap:
- Boxes
- Blocks
- Empty oatmeal containers
- Cardboard tubes
- Balls
- Stuffed animals or dolls
To prepare for this activity, I raided my recycling bin and toy box to find objects that I thought would be simple for Clara to wrap.
I found boxes, containers, balls, and blocks in a variety of shapes and sizes.
I also grabbed Clara’s favorite stuffed animal to wrap with foil in our activity.
(It’s a Beanie Baby. I handed over her inheritance early.)
Ready, Set, Wrap!
To start, I showed Clara how to pull out a sheet of tinfoil and helped her tear it from the box.
She was fascinated by the shiny texture and wanted to step and jump on it.
This was a great opportunity to talk about smooth vs. rough, and to observe how the texture changed as she played.
For another fun foil exploring activity, check this out!
After she had finished exploring with her toes, I grabbed an empty oatmeal container.
I set it on the foil sheet, and showed her how to wrap the foil around it.
I only wrapped it partially, giving her the opportunity to wrap the rest herself.
The foil wrapping activity was on!
She was eager to try, and did a great job of wrapping, shaping, and smoothing the foil around the rest of the container.
Next, we tried wrapping a building block.
I set the block in the middle of a new sheet of foil and she figured out how to cover it up.
She pretended that she was wrapping a present!
Download FREE Go-To List of Fine Motor Pre-Writing Activities here!
Foil: From Sensory Activity to Imaginary Play
The last object she wanted to wrap was her stuffed kitty.
After wrapping it like an adorable burrito, she decided she didn’t want to stop at just wrapping the kitty.
She made a foil boat for it and took it for a ride!
Does aluminum foil have a place in your activity supply stash?
Share how your kids create with it in the comments!
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