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    Home » Fine motor skills activities

    Published: Jul 2, 2019 · Modified: May 28, 2023 by Fynn · All activities should be supervised by an adult. This post may contain affiliate links.

    Pompom Ice Cream sensory bag - Absolutely fun 2 in 1 Learning Activity

    Inside: How to make this hair gel sensory bag with a cute ice cream twist! Use it to learn counting and color matching.

    Riley (4yo) is all quiet in our learning room. My heart skipped a beat and I peeped in quickly. 

    There she is, eyes on the pompoms, little fingers pushing them around the bag. 

    I have this hair gel sensory bag to thank for these priceless ten minutes of focus.

    It’s not hard to guess this is my children’s favorite activity from our ice cream theme shelf.

    Fun sensory bag for toddlers and preschoolers
    This is an amazing fine motor skill activity!

    Related: Another brilliant clothespin ice cream activity that kids will love!

    Jump to:
    • 2 in 1 counting and color matching hair gel sensory bag
    • Make this a travel activity
    • Materials
    • How to make this sensory bag with hair gel
    • Other sensory bag ideas that kids would love

    2 in 1 counting and color matching hair gel sensory bag

    Let me be up front about this: I do not love using plastic Ziploc bags. But if I am going to use one for a good activity, I better make sure it gets played as long as possible.

    That’s why I made this into a 2 in 1 activity. The same sensory bag becomes 2 different activities simply by switching out the activity cards. Refreshing the activity with this simple hack keeps children interested in this bag for a longer time.

    Color matching with Pom Pom ice cream sensory bag
    Activity 1: Matching colors of pompom ice cream scoops with the colors on the cones
    Counting with pompom ice cream sensory bag
    Activity 2: Counting pompoms ice cream scoops to match the number on the cones

    Make this a travel activity

    I attached the sensory bag onto a piece of cardboard to make it easy to carry around.

    On our recent road trip, we brought this along and it worked brilliantly to engage my children (or distract them from asking "are we there yet?" for the 14364th time).

    Moving the pompoms in the sensory bag

    Materials

    This list contains affiliate links. If you click through an affiliate link and make a purchase, I make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Affiliate programs help content creators like me provide free contents and printables. Please see our disclaimer for details.

    • 15 pompoms in 5 colors (I used blue, pink, yellow, orange and green.)
    • A bottle of hair gel (I got the cheapest bottle from The Dollar Store.)
    • A gallon Ziploc bag
    • A 12” by 12” square cardboard
    • Painter's tape
    • Ice Cream Cones Printable.

    This printable can be found on my subscriber-only Printable page. As a bonus for joining my mailing list, you get access to all my printables. Get them here>>

    Ice Cream Cones Printable
    Ice Cream Cones Printable is available on our Printable Page. Sign up here to access all our printables.

    How to make this sensory bag with hair gel

    Watch this video tutorial or follow the steps below.

    • Empty the bottle of hair gel into the Ziploc bag.
    • Put all the pompoms into the Ziploc bag.
    • Squeeze out air from the Ziploc bag.
    • Secure the hair gel sensory bag onto the square cardboard with tape, leaving the top edge open.
    • Print out 2 copies of Ice Cream Cones printable.
    • Prepare the activity sheets: 1) Color the circles according to the colors of the pompoms you used (I used dot stickers here) and 2) write numbers 1 to 5 in the circles.
    Fun sensory bag for children to learn color matching

    Get this Ice Cream Cones printable and access to my printable page as a bonus for joining my newsletter. Get it here >>

    • Slot in one of the activity sheet through the opening.
    • This cute pompom hair gel sensory bag is ready for learning and playing!

    Never forget this fun 2 in 1 learning activity. Pin it for later!

    2 in 1 counting and color matching hair gel sensory bag
    Pin this to your favorite children learning activities board!

    Other sensory bag ideas that kids would love

    We are loving these other fun sensory bag ideas!

    • Sun catcher sensory bag by Growing a Jeweled Rose
    • Ocean Life Sensory Bag by Natural Beach Living
    • Ten Frame Sensory Bag by Happy Toddler PlayTime
    • Snowman Sensory Bag by Fantastic Fun and Learning

    More Fine Motor Skills Activities

    • Easy activities for your child to develop pre-writing skills.
      Pre-Writing Skills and Activities to Get Your Children Ready to Write
    • Easter Egg Hunt - an easy cutting activity for toddlers.
      Easter Egg Hunt - An Easy Cutting Activity for Toddlers
    • Counting and Cutting printable activity for preschoolers
      Haircut Number Game - A fun counting and cutting activity for preschoolers
    • Raindrop Shapes - A fun cutting practice for preschoolers

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    About Fynn

    Fynn is a Math and Science teacher from Singapore, author of The Happy Learning Book for Siblings and founder of Happy Tot Shelf. She helps parents enjoy home learning with their children through her highly popular kids' activity membership, The Happy Learners' Club. Fynn has been featured in various newspapers, websites and on radio shows as an expert in early childhood learning and creative hands-on learning ideas.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. R says

      August 11, 2019 at 9:17 pm

      I feel like I would need to flip the bag so the opening was taped down. I know my toddler would open that thing up and be elbow deep in hair gel before I blinked an eye. 😂

      Reply
      • happytotshelf says

        August 14, 2019 at 2:31 pm

        Oh yes!! I realized that too! I'm going to edit the post to include this tip! Thanks!

        Reply
    2. findtubes says

      November 23, 2019 at 3:05 pm

      Your children will have so much fun exploring their ocean life sensory bag. They can press and squish around on the ocean animals and shells to explore what s inside the sensory bag.

      Reply
    3. Gen says

      May 30, 2020 at 3:29 am

      Can I use clear glue instead of hair gel?

      Reply
      • happytotshelf says

        June 06, 2020 at 10:01 am

        I haven't tried that before, I think glue will work too!

        Reply
    4. Doaa says

      July 14, 2020 at 5:09 pm

      Very nice and children will having so much fun.

      Reply

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    Hi there, I'm Fynn, an educator, author and mom of 3. I believe nurturing a love of learning begins at home. I'm here to help parents nurture a love of learning and build a strong bond with their children through fun learning together.

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