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Pond Life Sensory Table

By Karen Cox | Affiliate Disclosure | Filed Under: Pond Life Theme, Sensory Table Ideas

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These two sensory table ideas are great to set up during a Pond Life unit. Children can play in the water in the sensory table while also exploring a model pond habitat and a float and sink lily pad table.

Pond Life Sensory Table Ideas

Lily Pads, Turtles, Frogs, & Fish

This is a fun sensory table to go with a pond or water animals theme. First, cut green craft foam sheets into lily pad shapes. Pour water in the sensory table, and add the lily pads. Then add some small plastic animals, such as fish in the water, and turtles and frogs to place on the lily pads. The craft foam lily pads will float even after you put animals on top of them.

Turtles & Lily Pads Sensory Table

Turtle Habitat

This sensory table resembles a turtle habitat, either a lake, pond, or a riverbed. I placed large river rocks in the bottom of the table (purchased in the floral department of a craft store). I filled in the Ā bottom of the table with natural-looking aquarium rocks. I added some aquarium grass and the small plastic turtles.

Pond Life Sensory Table

More Sensory Table ideas

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13 Comments

About Karen Cox

Karen is the founder of PreKinders.com. She also works as a full-time Pre-K teacher in Georgia. Read more...

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. abbie says

    April 26, 2011 at 9:58 pm

    That is so cute. Love the green craft foam lily pads.

    Reply
  2. Donna-Lee says

    April 27, 2011 at 12:39 am

    I love the lily pads! I will have to remember this one for our summer water play at home.

    Reply
  3. Alyson says

    April 27, 2011 at 10:57 pm

    This is my new favorite website and I am telling all my coworkers about it! It is so well organized and useable. The pattern block patterns are perfect for my little guys. I can’t wait to try the playdough mats. Hopefully I can still find some post-Easter grass for our sensory table. And the plasitc carrots – wonderful!

    Some fun additions to the pond sensory table – fish nets (the kind that you would use to catch a goldfish from a tank) and plastic plants.

    Reply
    • Karen says

      April 28, 2011 at 7:34 pm

      Thanks so much, Alyson! It’s nice to know that other teachers can use the things I make! šŸ™‚

      Reply
  4. Kerri says

    May 2, 2011 at 1:33 pm

    FANTASTIC!!!

    Reply
  5. Val says

    November 17, 2011 at 10:32 am

    You’re site is great! Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      November 19, 2011 at 12:37 am

      Thank you, Val!

      Reply
  6. Melinda says

    January 25, 2013 at 2:40 pm

    LOVE your website!!!! I am new to teaching PreK and I get ideas on here almost every week!!!! Thank you!!!!

    Reply
  7. Cheryl Ward says

    April 28, 2013 at 7:38 pm

    I have been using this sensory table activity during our pond unit (we are an environmental studies school and have a frog pond on our school campus). I also add tree branches and rocks as well as white sand for the bottom. We add plastic frogs, turtles and other pond creatures (dragonflies, water beetles, etc.). The students use the logs/rocks for the frogs/turtles; predicting how many will fit and then counting them.
    Thanks for so many great ideas! I have shared your site with many of my colleagues!

    Reply
  8. Valerie says

    March 31, 2014 at 7:39 am

    With the pond do you need to change the water daily or is there a way to keep it for a week?

    Reply
    • Karen Cox says

      March 31, 2014 at 7:46 pm

      I always change water in the sensory table daily because of germs and the smell.

      Reply
  9. Michelle says

    April 14, 2015 at 2:07 pm

    I love your website. I use your ideas all the time in our Centers: Science, Art ,and Math.
    Thank you so much!

    Reply
  10. Lisa says

    April 2, 2018 at 10:03 am

    Thank you so much for the free alphabet lily pad mat. I am starting my FROG unit this week in speech therapy and love this activity.

    Reply

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Welcome!

Glad you're here! You'll find hands-on learning activities, themes, and printables for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten kids. I'm Karen Cox, a Pre-K teacher in Georgia. I have taught 4-5 year olds for 20+ years! Read More…

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Welcome!
Would you like to join my FREE weekly update newsletter? Join 85,000+ subscribers!
We collect, use, and process your data according to our Privacy Policy.
Don't worry - we never sell or share email addresses!