Sensory play ideas

Sensory play is important for young children as it stimulates their senses- touch, smell, sight and body awareness, which build connections in the brain. Check out our low-cost sensory play ideas below. 

The benefits of sensory play

Sensory play is any activity that stimulates a child's senses. It supports early childhood development in the following ways:

• It build nerve connections in the brain. Every sensory experience encourages new growth
• It teaches cause and effect. For example, a child pouring water through a funnel will learn that the flow of water out is smaller than the flow of water going in
• It develops their fine motor skills. Different movements build dexterity and muscles in the hands
• It helps build their understanding of the world around them and learn new words.
• Sensory play can also be very calming and helps with emotional regulation. 

Sensory play ideas:

The following ideas are either low-cost or free and can be done at home:

Water play

Children love using bottles, cups, sieves and jugs. Playing in the bath is a great way to do this, and bubbles will add different texture and options for play. 

Scooping and digging

Provide your child with a tray of pasta, soil, rice or lentils and let them use scoops, cups or toy diggers to play. 

Washing toys

A bowl of washing up water and a tea towel can provide lots of fun for small children as they wash their plastic animals or toy cars. 

Mud kitchen

Designate an area of your garden or a tray with soil in it for muddy play. Add some water and let your child's imagination get to work. Some ideas for mud play are pretending to cook the mud with toy pots and pans, burying plastic animals in it, or driving toy vehicles through it. 

Crafts

Your child can get busy with anything you have around the house- crayons, glue, dried pasta, paints, string, child scissors, empty plastic bottles or cardboard boxes all work great. 

Playdough

Dough provides lots of opportunities for tactile play and enjoying textures. Your child could try pressing different objects into the dough, using cookie cutters, or pretend to create food.

Making 'potions'

Take inspiration from George's Marvellous Medicine and give your child a container with some water in it. They can then add leaves, flowers, pebbles, items from the fridge or food colouring to it. Just make sure they don't drink it!

Sand pits

Sand pits provide lots of options for sensory play. If you don't have one then many local parks now offer large sand pits in their play areas. Children can bury their toys, pour and scoop the sand, or add a little water to create sand castles or use moulds. 

Soil trays

Put some soil in a tray and let your child make a 'garden' out of it by adding leaves, moss, flowers and some tin foil for a 'pond'. 

Painting stones

Paints are a great option for sensory play, whether they use their fingers, sponges or a brush! Stones and rocks make fun canvases for their imaginations.