Center's Family Day targets senses

It is no surprise to employees at the Sweetwater County Child Developmental Center that children learn through play.

This may be one of the reasons it has been hosting Family Fridays once a month at is facility. Last Friday, CDC students and their parents and siblings were invited to the center to participate in Sensory Day.

Participants made their way from activity to activity learning how to use a different sense. The first stop on the sensory journey was painting. Students were encouraged to paint by using different spices. The children quickly learned that different spices have unique smells and colors. Soon, they were busy creating masterpieces with spices.

After a quick visit with Sparky the Fire Safety Dog and Green River Fire Department firefighters, the kids made their way to probably one of their favorite events - the tasting room. In this room they listened to a book about taste.

The were told some things are sweet, sour, bitter and salty. They then visited the tasting table where they could choose from pretzels, jelly beans, marshmallows, crackers, and Sour Patch Kids. Some of the children had to spit out the Sour Patch candy because it was just too powerful a taste for them.

Others liked the candy so much they wanted more. The children were then allowed to pick which items they would like to make a snack bag for later.

Next, the children made their way downstairs to participate in some physical activities. They decorated scarves with stickers before using the scares to make figure eight patterns while dancing to music. Some danced for one song, others danced for two or three songs.

Once they were done dancing, they made their way to the ball pit, which was a hit. While in the ball pits, the children would swim around in the balls. Soon, this room was filled with laughter as the children climbed around in the ball pit and tried to see who could make it to the bottom of the pit.

After the kids were done playing in the ball pit, they moved on to a swinging station.

The children were asked to throw items into a basket while they were swinging back and forth. Some were successful in hitting the target and others were not, but they all seemed to have a good time.

The last and messiest activity was the shaving cream room. During this activity, CDC employees would squirt shaving cream on a table and the children were encouraged to play in it.They would make piles and ask for different colors of glitter or gel to put in it. Some children started drawing pictures in the shaving cream and making up stories about their pictures. 

With the last stop on the sensory maze complete, the kids headed to the snack table, where they received a bag of goodies.

Not only did the children receive a bag of goodies, but a big blue bag to keep all their projects in and parents received a sensory book, which included helpful tips on how to do sensory activities at home.

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Brooklyn Edelmayer is surprised at just how sour a sour patch candy tastes in her mouth.

Caden Knudsen was excited to find a toy buried underneath all of the balls

Jacob Allred and Wyatt Barnes play in the shaving cream. They were busy putting glitter on their piles.

Kristin Frink holds Ari Nichelson while they listen to a story about tasting.

Levi and Wyatt Barnes enjoy their time in the ball pit. Star photos by Stephanie Thompson