Scrunchy stocking
Providing baby with sensory activities involving interesting sounds and textures encourages them to explore further. Repetition of their actions supports their learning of cause and effect.
Why do it?
- Baby will be interested in the sounds and the different sensations when they touch the scrunchy stocking.
- When it makes an interesting sound, they’ll be encouraged to repeat the action.
- Baby is learning that they can make something (a noise) happen, and when they repeat the action, they get a similar result (cause-and-effect learning).
How to do it
You need:
- a leg section of pantyhose
- 3 or 4 items that make noise and/or have different textures, to stuff into the piece of pantyhose. For example:
- a noisy/crunchy biscuit wrapper
- a ball of wool
- some milk bottle lids
- cotton reels.
Steps
- Push one item into the toe, knot the pantyhose, add another item, knot the pantyhose, and so on. Continue until you run out of pantyhose.
- Place the scrunchy toy where baby can reach it when they are on their tummy on the floor.
- Give baby the words that go with the sounds they make — ‘noisy’ ‘scrunch’ ‘crackle’, ‘quiet’, ‘rattle’, and so on.
Using more reo Māori
| Te reo Māori | English |
|---|---|
| He aha tēnei? | What is this? |
| Titiro mai ki te taputapu nei | Look at this toy here |
| He aha tō pirangi? | What do you want? |
| He aha ngā mea pai ki a koe? | What things do you like? |
| Rawe | Excellent |
| Ka mau te wehi! | Awesome! |
| Aro | Notice, pay attention to |
| Anō | Do it again |
| Takoto | Lie down |
| Tāpapa | Lie down (face down) |
| Puku | Belly |
| Tatangi | To rattle |
| Pā | Fort |
| Pana | Push |
| Romi | Squeeze |
| Kopenu | Crush/crumple |
| Turituri | Noisy |
| Hoihoi | Be noisy |
| Pakepakē | Crunching sound |
