Squishy Feelings

The basic idea

Fill balloons with lentils, rice, sand or quinoa, tie securely & draw faces with different emotions on the front. Bonus creativity points for hiding them around the room and letting your wee one spot them, making the objects instantly more exciting!

Over to you, wee one

Babies will enjoy squishing them, the bright colours and the contrast of the faces. Talk about the different faces with your wee one, naming the different emotions and asking lots of “I wonder” questions. Try copying the faces and see if your child does the same.

Cheeky bonuses

• Builds strength for fine motor skills
• Developing emotional literacy and empathy
• Great visual and tactile reference to use when children struggle to talk about their feelings

Variations

• Use the characters you make as hand puppets
• Set up a safe area outside and throw the balloons to release stress
• Play with the contents when they burst

And remember…

You don’t need to wait until your wee one is struggling with their emotions, play that involves chatting about different feelings is a safe, low stress way to help explore the idea.