3 New Year’s Invitations to Play

We rang in the New Year with three exciting, hands-on invitations that encouraged creativity, exploration, and learning. Each setup invited children to engage their senses while building important developmental skills—all with a festive NYE twist!

1. STEM Disco Ball Building on the Mood Light Table- Children explored engineering and design as they built dazzling disco ball creations on our mood light table. Using iridescent linking discs, disco balls in a variety of sizes, iridescent circles, and the illuminated table, this invitation blended STEM, imagination, and light exploration. The glowing effects inspired creativity while supporting problem-solving and fine motor development—true STEM fun in action!

2. NYE Fine Motor Ball Drop: This fine motor invitation was set up in a sensory bin filled with plastic tubes, disco ball cups, carafes, handy scoopers, Colorations® pom-poms (glitter, rainbow) and disco balls. Children were invited to scoop, pick up, and transfer the pom-poms into containers of different sizes. This playful activity strengthened hand-eye coordination, grip strength, and concentration. 

3. NYE Bubbly Potions: Our tuff tray transformed into a potion-making station full of fizzing fun! We used TTS clear plastic potion bottles and clear plastic champagne glasses filled with a base of baking soda and dish soap. Graduated cylinders and beakers held vinegar mixed with Colorations Metallic paint, and children used twisty droppers and pipettes to create sparkly, bubbling reactions. This invitation sparked curiosity, encouraged experimentation, and introduced early science concepts in a magical, festive way.

These New Year’s invitations were the perfect way to combine celebration with meaningful play, creating memorable learning moments to start the year off right!