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Before beginning our ocean-inspired artwork, we shared the beautiful wordless picture book Wave by Suzy Lee. Through stunning illustrations, the story captures a young child's playful interaction with the ocean and served as the perfect inspiration for extending our learning through art. Wordless books encourage children to become storytellers, strengthening comprehension, sequencing, vocabulary, and critical thinking as they use the illustrations to create their own narratives. Inspired by @teaching2and3yearolds and our continued exploration of all things ocean, we invited children to create shimmering mixed-media seascapes filled with color, texture, and creativity. To create our canvas, we connected two large poster boards and attached strips of construction paper to form 3-dimensional waves. Children then painted the waves using a mixture of glue and Colorations® Metallic, Fluorescent, and Tempera Paints in shades of blue and white, creating glossy ocean scenes full of movement and depth. To enhance the experience, we provided a Tinker Tray filled with sand, aluminum foil, shiny paper, tissue paper, and iridescent cellophane. Children selected materials to add texture and sparkle to their artwork, mimicking how sunlight reflects on the water and waves wash onto the shore. As children painted, layered, and designed, they explored color mixing, texture, composition, and creative expression. Working on a large-scale, mixed-media project strengthened fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, sensory exploration, problem-solving, and spatial awareness while encouraging children to bring their own ideas to life. The finished pieces beautifully captured the movement, texture, and wonder of the ocean, but the true magic was found in the creativity, exploration, and discovery that took place throughout the process.

There is something magical about seashells. Their unique shapes, intricate patterns, and connection to the ocean naturally spark curiosity and wonder in children. To continue our exploration of all things ocean, we invited children to transform real seashells into colorful works of art using Colorations® Fluorescent Paint and paintbrushes. As children painted, they explored the unique shapes, patterns, ridges, and textures found on each shell. The vibrant fluorescent colors brought the shells to life while encouraging creativity and self-expression. This simple invitation also provided opportunities to learn about ocean life, including how shells serve as homes and protection for creatures such as snails, clams, and hermit crabs. Children compared the sizes and shapes of the shells, discussed where they may have come from, and imagined the sea creatures that once lived inside them. Painting on the curved surfaces of the shells helped strengthen fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, concentration, and brush control. The experience also encouraged observation skills as children noticed details, experimented with color combinations, and created unique designs inspired by the ocean. Combining art, science, and sensory exploration, this ocean-inspired invitation encouraged creativity while fostering a deeper appreciation for the natural beauty of treasured seashells and the wonder of the sea. Sometimes the simplest materials from nature provide the richest opportunities for learning, discovery, and imaginative play.

We dove into an ocean of creativity with this magical potion-making invitation inspired by all things under the sea. Children are naturally drawn to mixing, pouring, and creating, and this hands-on sensory experience transforms those interests into an imaginative underwater adventure. Filled with shimmering colors, fascinating textures, and ocean treasures, these potion stations invite children to become scientists, storytellers, and explorers as they create their own sea-inspired concoctions. Using our Discount School Supply and Cosy Direct white + black tuff trays, we set up everything needed to create enchanting ocean potions. Water jugs were filled with Colorations® Metallic, Fluorescent, and Liquid Watercolors, providing a beautiful palette of vibrant ocean hues. Children had access to giant potion bottles and clear ones, along with sea creatures, water beads, and seashells galore to mix, pour, scoop, and create magical underwater brews. Beyond being incredibly fun, potion play offers rich learning opportunities. As children pour, transfer, measure, and combine materials, they strengthen fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and early math concepts such as volume, estimation, and cause-and-effect. The open-ended nature of the invitation encourages creativity, problem-solving, language development, and imaginative storytelling as children describe their creations and invent underwater adventures. The sensory-rich materials also support focus, concentration, and self-expression while fostering a sense of wonder and curiosity about the natural world. Whether creating a glowing mermaid potion, a magical jellyfish elixir, or a sparkling ocean treasure brew, children are free to explore, experiment, and let their imaginations flow as deeply as the sea itself.

Ahoy, mateys! What child can resist the excitement of searching for buried treasure? To continue our exploration of all things ocean, we transformed our sensory bin into a pirate treasure excavation site filled with opportunities for discovery, imaginative play, and hands-on learning. To create this invitation, we began with a treasure-filled base of acrylic gems, sparkling rocks, jewelry, gold coins, and other dazzling treasures. The hidden riches were then covered with layers of spectacular sensory sand, creating the perfect excavation challenge for little treasure hunters. We added coconut shells as scoopers, shovels, brushes, magnifying glasses, and other digging tools, along with treasure chests ready to be filled with newly discovered loot. Around the sensory bin, we included materials commonly found along the shoreline, such as seashells, seaweed, treasure boxes (wooden & plastic), and natural loose parts, helping to create an authentic coastal treasure-hunting experience. As children dug through the sand, they became pirates, archaeologists, and explorers all at once. The process of searching, uncovering, sorting, and collecting treasures encouraged concentration, patience, and problem-solving. Children carefully brushed away sand, excavated hidden gems, and proudly organized their discoveries into treasure boxes. This invitation also supported the development of fine motor skills as children scooped, poured, grasped, and manipulated the various tools and treasures. The sensory experience of the kinetic sand provided calming tactile input while encouraging exploration and creativity. As children compared their findings, sorted treasures by color, size, or type, and counted their coins and gems, they naturally practiced early math skills and classification. Most importantly, the treasure dig inspired imaginative storytelling and collaborative play. Children created pirate adventures, searched for lost riches, protected their treasure, and shared their discoveries with friends. Combining sensory play, STEM concepts, and dramatic play, this pirate-themed invitation transformed a simple sensory bin into an unforgettable treasure-hunting adventure.

There’s nothing like keeping the summer fun going with slime! This engaging sensory invitation combined the irresistible appeal of stretchy, squishy slime with the captivating glow of a light table, creating an experience filled with creativity, exploration, and open-ended play. To set up this invitation, we used the Sensory Mood Discovery Light Table from Discount School Supply and placed Excellerations® Clear Sorting Trays across the illuminated surface to create a workspaces for mixing, exploring, & creating. Children were provided with clear slime as their base, along with a collection of glitter and confetti-style flitters that allowed them to customize their slime with their own unique sparkling touch. We also added Open Play Toys cones, a kitchen storage rack, and scissors to enhance the sensory exploration and experimentation. As children stretched, squeezed, mixed, and transformed their slime, they explored color, light, texture, and transparency in a hands-on and engaging way. The illuminated surface highlighted every swirl of glitter and shimmer, making each creation look magical. Beyond the sensory fun, this invitation encouraged fine motor development as children pinched, pulled, rolled,cut, and manipulated the slime. It also supported creativity, decision-making, and self-expression as they selected materials and designed their own one-of-a-kind slime mixtures. Simple, inviting, and full of sparkle, slime on the light table is a wonderful way to extend summer play while encouraging sensory exploration, creativity, and hands-on discovery.

There's no sweeter way to welcome summer than with playful ice cream-themed invitations that inspire creativity, sensory exploration, and imaginative play. From colorful art experiences to hands-on sensory play, these activities will delight little learners while celebrating everyone's favorite frozen treat. 1. Popsicle Watercolor Painting: Invite children to create vibrant popsicle masterpieces. Cut popsicle shapes from poster board and glue Epsom salt onto the surface. Once dry, provide Colorations® Liquid Watercolors + droppers and let children paint as they watch the colors spread and blend across the textured salt, creating a magical watercolor effect. 2. Cloud Dough Ice Cream Shop: Create soft, scoopable "ice cream" by mixing 2 cups cornstarch with 1 cup hair conditioner. This silky cloud dough holds its shape beautifully and is perfect for scooping and filling ice cream cones and cups. Add colored rice, pipe cleaners, beads, pom-poms, or other loose parts to create realistic-looking frozen treats and encourage imaginative pretend play. 3. Shave Ice Station: Transform sensory play into a colorful shave ice stand using Steve Spangler Insta-Snow® as the "ice" & Colorations® Liquid Watercolors as the flavored syrups. Children will love scooping, pouring, mixing, & creating their own colorful frozen creations in bowls while exploring texture and color. Soft Serve Ice Cream Sensory Play: Whip up pretend soft serve by combining shaving cream with liquid watercolors and serving it in ice cream cones or cups. This simple invitation offers endless opportunities for sensory exploration, creativity, and dramatic play as children swirl, scoop, and serve their colorful ice cream creations. These ice cream-inspired invitations combine art, sensory play, literacy, and imaginative exploration while capturing all the fun of summer. Whether children are painting popsicles, scooping cloud dough, or creating colorful frozen treats, each activity offers playful opportunities to create, discover, and celebrate the season. Here are the books that inspired these invitations: Paletero Man Shave Ice Saffron Ice Cream Ice Cream Man Ten Scoops On Top Curious About Ice Cream Should I Share My Ice Cream Counting with Wayne Thiebaud Here are other Ice Cream Invitations from the past: Summer Kick Off Party Sweet Summer Treat Invitations Invitation to Create Saffron Ice Cream Sensory Play Invitation to Explore Wayne Thiebaud

Children love all things that go! Car play offers endless opportunities for creativity, problem-solving, imaginative play, & early STEM learning. Here are four simple invitations that kept little learners engaged & exploring. 1. Car Wash Two Ways: Create a miniature car wash on a Tuff Tray using storage organizers, mop heads, spray bottles, sponges, towels, dish soap, & toy cars. Then take a ride-on car using buckets and the same cleaning supplies. They loved scrubbing, spraying, & making their vehicles sparkle. 2. Paint a DIY Recycled Cardboard Car: Transform recycled cardboard boxes into a car ready for a new paint job. With Colorations® Tempera Paint, paint cups, & brushes, children customized their vehicles while expressing their creativity through art. 3. Auto-Body Shop Dramatic Play: Set up a child-sized car with toy tools & invite children to become mechanics. They loved inspecting, repairing, & maintaining their vehicle while engaging in imaginative role-play. 4. Ramp Races & Engineering Challenges: Using a race track & Excellerations® Engineering with Ramps, children experimented with different heights & angles to see how far & fast their cars could travel. These simple invitations support fine motor development, problem-solving, creativity, collaboration, & early engineering concepts. Most importantly, they encourage children to learn through hands-on play while exploring a topic they naturally love. Here are other ways to explore cars through play: Cardboard Roadway with Magic Drawing Cars 3 Ways to do Process Art with Transportation What Kind of Car Does a T. Rex Drive? Invitation to Color Cars Workin' at the Car Wash Whatsit DIY Roadmap Old MacDonald Had a Truck Diggersaurs Dig Pit

From bestselling author and illustrator Rachel Ignotofsky, Dinosaurs: Exploring Prehistoric Life and Geological Time is an incredible resource for young dinosaur lovers and curious learners alike. Beautifully illustrated and filled with fascinating facts, maps, infographics, and scientific discoveries, the book takes readers on a journey through more than 4.5 billion years of Earth’s history, from the earliest life forms to the age of dinosaurs and beyond. Through engaging visuals and accessible information, children are invited to wonder, question, and discover the incredible creatures and environments that once shaped our planet. To extend the learning and creativity even further, the book now has companions: Rachel Ignotofsky’s Dinosaurs Coloring Book and Dinosaurs Stickerology. The coloring book invites children to bring prehistoric life to life through detailed illustrations of dinosaurs, ancient creatures, and scenes from prehistoric Earth. The sticker book, filled with over 500 vibrant prehistoric stickers, encourages children to creatively explore the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras through hands-on play and storytelling. Since we love dinosaurs so much over here, these resources quickly became favorites and inspired us to extend the experience through open-ended dinosaur STEM play. After reading, coloring, and exploring the stickers, the children were invited to see if they could recognize different dinosaur species, recreate prehistoric environments, and reenact scenes inspired by the stories and illustrations. To set up our dinosaur STEM invitation, we used our Discount School Supply Tuff Tray, Explorer Tuff Tray Grass Playmat, Earth Natural Scene Set 20P, Tender Leaf® Dinosaur Blocks, TickiT® Jurassic Discovery Dividers, to create an immersive prehistoric world for building, storytelling, imaginative play, and exploration. Through this invitation, children were able to combine literacy, art, science, engineering, and imaginative play while deepening their curiosity and connection to the fascinating world of dinosaurs.

After learning about rivers, river habitats, and the animals that call them home, the children were invited to create their own flowing river world filled with opportunities for imaginative play, engineering, storytelling, and sensory exploration. Using the beautifully designed Explore Nook™ Water Way & Mill Kit and Plastic Water Channeling Guttering from Discount School Supply, children worked together to design winding waterways, build bridges and pathways, and experiment with how water moved through their habitat. The Explore Nook materials are thoughtfully designed to encourage hands-on STEM learning through concepts like gravity, water flow, motion, and cause-and-effect while supporting open-ended, collaborative play. To create this invitation, we combined the water systems with wooden blocks, sticks, leaves, rocks, flat marbles, river animal figurines, beverage jugs, and water tinted with Colorations liquid watercolors. The loose parts transformed the space into a rich sensory small world where children could construct habitats, direct water through different channels, and imagine rivers flowing through forests, mountains, and animal homes. As they poured, transferred, scooped, and redirected the water, they naturally explored early engineering concepts, problem-solving, spatial awareness, and scientific thinking through play. One of the most magical parts of this invitation was watching how differently each child approached the experience. Some carefully engineered long winding waterways and tested how changing the height of the channels affected the water's speed. Others focused on storytelling and imaginative play, creating homes for the river animals using sticks, stones, and leaves collected from nature. Some children became deeply engaged in sensory exploration, fascinated by the movement of the colored water as it traveled through the channels, spun the water wheel, and pooled into different areas. Open-ended invitations like this encourage children to think creatively, collaborate with peers, test ideas, problem-solve, and connect with the natural world in meaningful ways. By combining sensory play, loose parts, engineering, and imaginative storytelling, children explored the beauty and complexity of river habitats while engaging in rich hands-on learning experiences rooted in play.

After reading The Quiet Ocean written by Charlotte Offsay and illustrated by Abi Cushman, we were inspired to explore the beauty, wonder, and interconnectedness of life beneath the sea. This playful and beautifully illustrated story begins with one tiny “pop” from a curious pufferfish that sets off a humorous chain reaction throughout the ocean. As the sea creatures experience an increasingly noisy and chaotic day, the story gently introduces themes of cause and effect, community, and finding calm again through rhythmic repetition, humor, and vibrant underwater scenes. The Quiet Ocean is also a companion book to The Quiet Forest. In our tuff tray, we created an ocean-inspired small world invitation using water mixed with Colorations® Fluorescent BioColor Paint, aquarium seaweed and rocks, sea life figurines, seashells, mosaic tiles, and two cups filled with liquid watercolors and metallic paint paired with Learning Resources® Twisty Droppers to be the "Squid Ink." Children were invited to reenact scenes from the story through imaginative sensory play. As they mixed colors, explored the materials, and brought the ocean creatures to life, they deepened their connection to the story while exploring movement, sound, creativity, and the beauty of the underwater world. Bringing stories to life through hands-on play helps children form deeper and more meaningful connections to literacy. Interacting with characters, settings, and story elements through sensory-rich experiences strengthens comprehension, language development, creativity, and critical thinking skills. Small world play also encourages storytelling, problem-solving, collaboration, and open-ended exploration while giving children the opportunity to process stories in a way that feels engaging and developmentally appropriate. By combining literature with play, children build a lasting connection to stories through curiosity, imagination, and meaningful learning experiences.

Marie Curie is best known for her groundbreaking research on radioactivity and for discovering the elements polonium and radium. A trailblazer in science, she became the first person ever to win two Nobel Prizes, one in Physics and one in Chemistry. Her curiosity, perseverance, and passion for discovery changed the world of science forever and continue to inspire generations of young learners today. After reading a story about her life and achievements, the children were invited to step into the role of scientists and explore chemistry just like Marie Curie. To set up this invitation in our @discountschoolsupply Tuff Tray, we included the @learningresources Science Experimentation Lab Set, Splashology! Water Lab Science Activity Kit, Graduated Cylinders Set, Jumbo Plastic Droppers, and Twisty Droppers. In some containers, we mixed vinegar with @colorationsart metallic paint, while other containers held a combination of @armandhammer baking soda and @dawndishwash soap. Children were invited to experiment freely with the ingredients, observing the bubbling chemical reactions unfold right before their eyes. When vinegar (an acid) and baking soda (a base) combine, they create carbon dioxide gas. As the gas escapes, it forms the exciting fizzing and bubbling reaction the children observed during their investigations. Children are naturally curious and constantly seek to understand how the world around them works. Through open-ended science invitations like this, they ask questions, make predictions, test ideas, and observe outcomes in meaningful hands-on ways. Experiences such as these help build a strong foundation for future scientific thinking while nurturing creativity, confidence, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. By encouraging children to explore, experiment, and discover through play, we help foster a lifelong love of learning and support the development of future innovators, thinkers, and scientists.

Last week, I created a STEM invitation for my son’s school multicultural event. It became such a meaningful and engaging experience that we’ve continued exploring it at home. Watching children immerse themselves in the beauty, creativity, and architecture of Golestan Palace, while also sharing and celebrating a place special to our culture through hands-on play, made this invitation truly unforgettable. This STEM invitation invites children to design, build, and engineer their own version of Golestan Palace, one of Iran’s most breathtaking architectural treasures. Located in Tehran, Golestan Palace is known for its dazzling mirrored halls, intricate tile work, colorful details, elegant archways, and beautiful gardens that reflect centuries of Persian art, culture, and craftsmanship. Using loose parts, building materials, and reference images of the palace, children are encouraged to explore architecture through hands-on creativity and open-ended play. As they construct, problem-solve, and experiment with different designs, they begin to think like engineers, architects, artists, and storytellers all at once. This invitation goes far beyond building a structure. It encourages critical thinking, spatial awareness, collaboration, perseverance, and creative problem-solving. Children naturally explore important STEM concepts such as balance, stability, symmetry, design, measurement, and engineering while engaging in meaningful play. By introducing children to world architecture and cultural landmarks, invitations like this also foster cultural appreciation, curiosity, and global awareness. Exploring the beauty of Golestan Palace allows children to connect with history, art, and design in a tangible and inspiring way. Open-ended STEM invitations are especially powerful because there is no single “right” outcome. Each child brings their own ideas, interpretations, and creativity into the experience, strengthening confidence and independent thinking along the way. We love creating invitations that combine creativity, culture, architecture, and hands-on learning while allowing children to fully immerse themselves in the process of exploration and discovery. Discount School Supply Materials Used: Earth Natural Scene Set 20Pk Ice Natural Scene Set 20Pk Excellerations® Wooden Gem Blocks Excellerations® Giant Stacking Gems - Set of 20 Excellerations® Mini Stacking Gems - Set of 30 Mirror Blocks - 24 Piece Set Marvelous Metallics™ Silver Boulder Blocks - 12 Pack Excellerations® Window Blocks Excellerations® Acrylic Mirror Trays Excellerations®Translucent Rainbow Octagon Other Materials Used: open-play toy cones Rock Blocks Recycled CDs Amazon Materials Used: iridescent cups, Acrylic Display Risers Hexagonal shelves Grapat Loose Parts Mini Disco Balls Acrylic Gems Acrylic Blocks Acrylic Circles Acrylic Mirrors Mandala Style Sticker Tile