Tactile Feet

Hardware stores are one of our favorite places to go. It doesn't cost any money to ride around in the big fun carts and pretend to drive. Paint sample strips open up a whole world of opportunity. You can cruise the lighting aisle and gawk at sparkly things. We like to walk up and down the aisle and point out items of different colors, look for shapes, and listen to people saying "Thank you!" on the intercom. A new item we found last time, however, were samples. Any hardware store (Lowe's, Menards, Home Depot, etc) that sells flooring will have samples to give away. They don't have these out on display, though. You have to hunt around in the flooring section. We found ours  behind the large swatches hanging on display in the floor section.

We put them in a bucket in our living room, and take them out when we need a moment or two of quiet or exploration.  You can talk about thickness and thinness, hard and soft, smooth and bumpy. Walking on them is one of the best ways to explore tactile differences.