DIY SENSORY PLAY IDEAS (BY AGE GROUP)
In these self-isolation & social distancing days, we have been given the gift of being able to spend more time engaging and connecting with our children. But of course the flip side of this is finding enough things to do with them to keep them entertained!
I started this blog thinking about sensory toys we could make for our babies to play with, but I soon realised that there are all kinds of sensory play activities and toys we could make and do with older children too, so I’ve tried to group resources together by age group.
As ever, if you’ve any suggestions, please do add them in the comments.
Stay safe
Sara
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For Babies & Toddlers
Sensory Bags - use food bags filled with different sensory items to give babies new textures to play with. Tonnes of ideas and guidance on exactly how, on my baby and toddlers Pinterest board, here.
Sensory Boards and Blocks - stick different textured materials onto a box / toy cube for baby to discover new textures. Again lots of guidance and ideas on my Pinterest board, here.
Rescue foil for older babies and toddlers to crinkle and play with - a popular sensory play item at children’s centres and baby classes. Please note: never leave your child unsupervised with rescue foil or other similar products.
Sensory Bottles - fill bottles with different sized, shaped, weight items as shakers. Take it a step further - fill the bottles with liquids of different viscosities (you could use Pectin for example to thicken water. You can also find how to use other common household items like flour to thicken water here). Then put items in the bottles, seal tight and see how they move and mix. Loads of ideas on my Pinterest board here. Watch Sam at Baby Sensory show some more sensory bottle ideas here. Remember to seal bottles / tubs etc with superglue if you can, or strong tape so babies and toddlers can’t open them up!
Help them develop fine motor skills with a Pom Pom drop (click to see some working examples). Use finished loo rolls (assuming you have some toilet paper!!) and kitchen rolls. Stick them to the wall / door / window with masking tape to make different patterns and routes down. If your little one is not standing yet, start lower down the wall, with gentle horizontal slopes. Introduce colour matching games with multicoloured pom poms. My toilet rolls are just under 4cm in diameter, so these multicoloured pom poms should work well at just under 2cm.
Want to make your own rainbow for your window? Use some of your pom poms from the last project to make a sensory rainbow.
Shaving cream and bubble wrap sensory play with colours and textures.
Go on a “sound walk” or “scavenger hunt”. Make a checklist sheet with sounds you may hear / things you may see out and about (if you’re going out with the kids for a little fresh air just now). If you’re staying in doors, you can adapt it for sounds within the house. E.g. running water, frying, TV, alarm clocks, phone ring, door bell, typing, chopping, doors shutting, toilet flushing, music etc etc. There’s a free printable you can use, here.
For 4/5/6 ish year olds
Learn new hand shadows and make shadow puppets. Lots of ideas on my young children’s Pinterest Board here.
In it for the long run? Show your little ones how to grow seeds in a plastic bag. Great for teaching them how long it takes to grow our food! This variety pack of seeds may work for you.
Teach about solids melting to liquids and solidifying again with this molten crayon art project.
Some more sensory science - will it sink or float? Use common household items in the sink, bath or a bowl.
Learn about primary colours, and how colours combine with paint bags. Get Crayola’s primary colour washable paints here. (Please note that at the time of writing, washable paint is hard to find on Amazon).
Make crayon rubbings to explore different textures. See if they can guess the item afterwards, from the rubbing, for bonus points.
Guess the scent - just like perfume tester cards in the department store, but with the DIY version with every day herbs, flowers and other scents. See which they can guess. And if they are old enough, they can try to read out the scent name.
This one features in both lists as you can make it harder for older kids. Go on a “sound walk” or “scavenger hunt”. Make a checklist sheet with sounds you may hear / things you may see out and about or adapt it for indoors sounds within the house. See above for more details and the free printable.
For all the home-schooling parents, you may also like to read this blog by MumShape (the health app for mums) with homeschooling tips and resources.