I’m showing you how to put together a fun mushroom preschool sensory tray. It’s a great way to include the littles when you’re doing a study of mushrooms together. Also, look at my pages How to Homeschool Preschool and Fun Hands-on Free Mushroom Unit Study and Kids Learning Activities for more ideas.
If you’re looking to combine sensory exploration, nature-based learning, and imaginative play, a mushroom sensory tray is the perfect hands-on activity.
A sensory tray is a container filled with materials that stimulate the senses—touch, sight, sound, and even smell.
Mushrooms are fun to preschoolers. They’re colorful, oddly shaped, and part of so many fairy tales.
It’s a great opportunity to talk about nature, fungi, forest animals, and even safe vs. unsafe plants with not just preschoolers but with all your children.
And although mushrooms are not plants, but fungi even little children understand that fungi help recycle dead trees and plants.
MUSHROOM BOOKS FOR KIDS
Next, look at some of these fun mushroom books for all ages.
9 Mushroom Unit Study Books
Grab some of these fun books to learn about mushrooms, the part of a mushroom and the life cycle.
This mushroom foraging book is packed with vital information that will help you identify the exact types of mushrooms you are looking for when you’re out foraging. You’ll learn how to identify the caps, stems and gills, which all have different physical characteristics like shape and texture, and color.From the Neobulgaria pura and the Mitrula paludosa, discover newly-found fungi species and complex ones which can only be viewed microscopically. The detailed illustrations and identification charts will help you name the mushrooms you find or hope to search for.
GROW YOUR PLANT ALL YEAR-ROUND: This organic mushroom indoor kit allows you to grow your own crop all-year round; Just place the box near a window with indirect light, mist twice a day, and you'll see delicious, beautiful mushrooms growing within a week; Included in this kit is an organic plant-based soil infused with mushroom spawn and a booklet with instructions
See the world in a whole new way! Acclaimed illustrator Julia Rothman combines art and science in this exciting and educational guide to the structure, function, and personality of the natural world. Explore the anatomy of a jellyfish, the inside of a volcano, monarch butterfly migration, how sunsets work, and much more. Rothman’s whimsical illustrations are paired with interactive activities that encourage curiosity and inspire you to look more closely at the world all around you.
Featuring a durable vinyl binding and over 700 full-color identification photographs organized visually by color and shape, the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms is the perfect companion for any mushroom hunting expedition. Each species is accompanied by a detailed physical description, information on edibility, season, habitat, range, look-alikes, alternative names, and facts on edible and poisonous species, uses, and folklore. A supplementary section on cooking and eating wild mushrooms, and illustrations identifying the parts of a mushroom, round out this essential guide.
Elise Gravel is back with a whimsical look at one of her family’s most beloved pastimes: mushroom hunting! Combining her love of exploring nature with her talent for anthropomorphizing everything, she takes us on a magical tour of the forest floor and examines a handful of her favorite alien specimens up close. While the beautiful coral mushroom looks like it belongs under the sea, the peculiar Lactarius indigo may be better suited for outer space. From the fun-to-stomp puffballs to the prince of the stinkers―the stinkhorn mushroom―and the musically inclined chanterelles, Gravel shares her knowledge of this fascinating kingdom by bringing each species to life in full felt-tip-marker glory.
The 2017 offering from Big Picture Press's Welcome to the Museum series, Botanicum, is a brilliantly curated guide to plant life. With artwork from Katie Scott of Animalium fame, Botanicum gives readers the experience of a fascinating exhibition from the pages of a beautiful book. From perennials to bulbs to tropical exotica, Botanicum is a wonderful feast of botanical knowledge complete with superb cross sections of how plants work.
FUN FAMILY GAME: See if you have what it takes to be the mushroom master in Funky Fungi from Ridley's Games! In this card-collecting game that will definitely grow on you, forage for the best fungi to be the first player to reach ten points and win the game.
Introduces the characteristics and uses of a variety of mushrooms and discusses some of the beliefs and customs connected with this plant family.
Mushrooms are exciting to find, beautiful to look at, fascinating to identify, and delicious to eat. When you know what to look for, a mushroom hunt is as safe and enjoyable as a treasure hunt. Katya Arnold ranges through the world to find hundreds of varieties of mushrooms, as well as fascinating anecdotes and fun facts that make these wonders of nature exciting and immediate. A walk in the woods will never be the same!
Also, look at more resources about mushrooms.
MORE MUSHROOM ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS
- Fungi Fun: 11 Unconventional Mushroom Gift Ideas for the Adventurous Spirit
- Fun Hands-on Free Mushroom Unit Study and Kids Learning Activities
- Free Life Cycle of a Mushroom Worksheet & Fun Meringue Mushrooms
And also look at more preschool activities.
PRESCHOOL ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS
- Fun Bat Anatomy Toilet Paper Roll Craft | 8 Bat Science Activities Preschool
- Make Cute Felt Leaf Sachets For Fall Leaf Crafts for Preschoolers
- 10 Egg Carton Crafts For 2 Year Olds and Fun Nature Color Match Activity
- Fun Resources and Books About The Human Body For Preschoolers
- Fun Corn Life Cycle Preschool Sensory Bin and Printable Lifecycle Foldout
- Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play
- Fun Ice For Kids Inexpensive & Easy Nature Sensory Activity
- How To Make Confetti Fall Leaves Crafts For Preschoolers
- Over And Under The Snow Activities For a Free Literature Unit Study
- How to Make an Egg Carton Bobblehead Penguin Preschool Craft
- Fun and Easy Preschool Hibernation Science Activities to Nurture Learning
- Explore the Magic: Easy Northern Lights Crafts for Preschoolers
Finally, look at how to design this mushroom preschool sensory tray.
HOW TO MAKE A MUSHROOM SENSORY TRAY
First, look at this easy list of supplies.
- Craft foam sheets
- Pre-cut mushroom tops (semi-circles or domes)
- Pre-cut mushroom stems
- Small craft foam circles (to use as mushroom spots)
- Pom poms in various colors
- Tray or bin
- Optional: glue dots or double-sided tape for sticking pieces together
And you could even change this out and add in bark or moss pieces, wooden mushrooms and forest animals.
Set up the tray. Arrange the foam mushroom tops, stems, and spots in a divided tray or scattered in a bin. Add a handful of pom poms for extra decoration options.
Build a mushroom. Let kids pick a top and a stem, then match them together to form a mushroom.
Decorate. Use the foam circles to add spots to the mushroom tops. Kids can also stick pom poms on top or around the mushrooms.
Make a mushroom patch: Encourage children to build several mushrooms and lay them out to create a magical mushroom patch.
