We love sensory play. For an overview of why these type of activities are so beneficial for children of all ages you can find out more in my introduction to sensory play along with general ideas of materials that could be used.
Here are some of the sensory play activities we’ve shared here on In The Playroom, to explore texture, sound, scent and more. Check back to this post (or pin it for easy access!) as I’ll be adding lots more sensory activities here as we write them up.
Tactile sensory play bins
Links marked with a * are round ups which also include ideas from other bloggers.
- Sensory bin with Gellibaff and vehicles
- Sensory bin with rice, lentils and spices
- Sensory bin with a polar theme
- Fine motor Easter themed sensory bin
- Sensory bin with farm theme
- Mess-free tactile sensory play ideas*
- Summer sensory play bins*
- Dinosaurs and chocolate moon dough
- Dinosaurs and water beads
- Recipes for sensory play *
- Home made snow sensory bin filler
- 20 Ideas for sensory play
- Rainbow Tactile Sensory Bin
- X Marks the Spot : Sensory Word and Letter Treasure Hunt
- Winter sensory play
- Batman Rice Sensory Bin
- Sand Play
- Glowing Solar System
- Quick and Easy Dyed and Scented Rice for Sensory Play
- Celebrating Earth Day with Sensory Play
- Spring Sensory Bin
- Packing Peanuts Play
- Rainbow Sensory Plays*
- Dinosaur Fossil Excavation Activity
Sensory play with paint
- Shaving foam and paint
- Paint and mirrors
- Painting on stones
- Finger painting and coin printing
- Painting Sticks
- Mess free Paint Colour Mixing
- Paint Dates – Top tips for messy creative painting fun!
- Sandpaper Process Art
- Bubble Painting Process Art
- Bubble Wrap Print Painting
- Valentines Mirror Painting
Sensory play with doughs
- Playdough recipe and play ideas
- Colour matching with moon dough
- Exploring moondough
- 10 doughs for sensory play*
- Play with Roti dough
- Easy no cook playdough recipe with flour and baby oil
- Letter learning with Plasticine (Arabic or English)
- Dinosaur foot print fossils in Theraputty
- 20 Playdough and 10 cloud dough recipes for Autumn *
- Cinnamon and ginger cloud dough
- Playdough sensory bags
- Chocolate cloud dough
- Sparkly Gel Dough
- Winter and Festive Playdoughs and Cloud Doughs
- Playdough 10 ways
- 12 Months of Sensory Dough : Glittery Snow Dough
- No Cook Fruity scented dough
- Fizzy volcano playdough
- Microwave saltdough
- Plasticine Modelling
- Star Wars Moon Dough
- Fun Activities with Cra-Z Sand
- Squishy, Soapy, Clean Mud
- Electric Play Dough
- How to make Shimmer Playdough
- Baking Role Play with Playdough
- Dinosaur Playdough
- Kinetic Sand Race Track
- Easy 2 Ingredient Fruity Scented Playdough
Sensory bottles
- Glitter sensory bottle
- Musical shaker sensory bottle
- Water Beads Sensory Bottle
- DIY Sensory Tube
- DIY Sensory Snow Globe
- Loom Band Sensory Bottles
- Pot of Gold Rainbow Shaker for Sensory Play
Sensory Bags
- Writing Practice Sensory Bag
- Playdough Sensory Bags
- Squishy Sparkly Sensory Bags
- Squishy Ocean Sensory Bag
Water Play
- Crazy soap
- Blowing bubbles with washing up liquid
- Connecting with nature through water play
- Underwater glitter sand sensory tray
- Finding Nemo themed water play
- Bath time games
- Water play with water beads and fish
Sensory play areas
- Play fort with twinkling lights
- Balloons and ball pit
- Den / Fort Building in the wood
- DIY Sensory table Ikea hack
- Pods Play Sensory Play Environments
Light Table
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Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
Thank you so much for this great collection!! As the occupational therapist in our preschool, I’ve taken on the task of keeping all of the classroom sensory tables filled with new and exciting activities. This post will keep me going all year long! 🙂
We love sensory play so I’m sure I will be back for some more ideas! Thanks for linking up to #Playtime
Thanks for linking up to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party! Your post has been pinned to our Bloggers Brags Pinterest Board 🙂
What a great list! I am sharing this with my sister 🙂 Thank you
Glad I found you from the party, because I love your sensory stuff. You’ve got it nicely broken down to help with finding exactly what I need for my daughter and not just a mish mash.
Lots of great ideas here. I’ll be referring to these for planning for my placement!
Great compilation. Love doing sensory play with my LO. Thanks!
Wow! Love your list! Have to come back when I have more time to get a closer look and pick some for my toddler!
What do u guys think of blowing bubbles. We try this with our 9 month daughter and she tries to touch them. Also we giver her a balloon and also a long rocket balloon.