Swimming Letters with Dory Sensory Bag

Kids excited about Disney’s newest movie?  Channel this excitement by creating a Swimming Letters with Dory Sensory Bag.

Learning Objective.  Recognizing capital letter names and sounds.

Learning the letter names and sounds are part of the early childhood education curriculum.  A strong understanding of the sounds, phonics, can be helpful for children when learning to read.  This Swimming Letters with Dory Sensory Bag activity is great because children can self select the letters of the alphabet they want to work on.  Affiliate links to products

It is a hands-on, multi-sensory activity.

When an adult says the letter name, children HEAR it.

When they look at the letter, they SEE the shape.

When they move the fish along the letter they FEEL the shape.

Materials Needed for Swimming Letters with Dory Sensory Bag

• 1 Gallon plastic bag
• 16 oz. Clear styling gel (We got ours at the $1 store)
• Glitter glue (optional)
• Small blue plastic fish
• Tape
• Scissors
• 13 pieces of Blue construction paper

Directions to Make Swimming Letters with Dory Sensory Bag

1. Open the bag. Fill with clear styling gel and a little bit of glitter glue.

1. Add the plastic fish with the gel.
   

2. Close the bag. Tape shut.
3. Cut the construction paper in half.
4. Draw and cut out an uppercase letter on each of the half sheets of paper.
   

How to play Swimming Letters with Dory Sensory Bag

1. Select a letter. Put it UNDER the pre-made sensory bag.
2. Say the alphabet letter name and sound Ex. “This is a letter A. It makes the /a/ sound.”
3. Have your child repeat the letter name and sound.
4. Let your child push the fish though the letter. Just like you were writing, have them swim from left to right. (If you watched the movie Finding Dory, she swam through water pipes. My kids did this activity and said, “She’s swimming through the letter pipes.” )
5. Repeat for 3-5 letters.
6. When the 3-5 letters have been mastered, you can add more. As a parent, I want to make sure learning is fun, not overwhelming. Small amounts are much more manageable.

Variations to the Swimming Letters with Dory Sensory Bag

• Cut out a set of numbers 1-10. Call out and swim the number.
• Put two letters together under the bag to make a simple word: it, at, am. Sound out and swim those words.
• Find sight words with Dory.

Click for direction on how to make and play Finding Sight Words with Dory Sensory Bag

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