I live in New England and this is the second day that we have been snowed in. If you are like me, you have already done every activity you can think of, your kids are still complaining about boredom and you are looking at the clock wondering if it would be frowned upon to pour a glass of wine at 8:30 AM. Well, then you are in the right place. Here are our favorite sensory activities you can do at home with only a few ingredients that you probably have on hand.
My three year old is especially tactile. He always has to be touching something. It used to actually get on my nerves until I realized that it was just his way of learning about the world around him, so now I just prepare for it. I bought a plastic bin at target so they can dump all the ingredients in and it’s long enough for them each to have room. Since these bins come with a cover, you can even store for more play on another day.
A list of the best Sensory Activities
1. Cloud Dough
This is a really simple sensory activity that will keep kids engaged for a long time. It feels like flour but it is also moldable. Let the kids dump all of the ingredients in the bin and mush it around to mix. It resembles damp sand at the beach. I give them measuring cups, spoons and little prep bowls to play with.
Here is what you will need:
- 8 cups of flour
- 1 cup of baby oil
- Plastic bin
2. Oobleck
This goop can be fun and educational at the same time. It has the properties of a liquid and a solid so you can sneak in a little science lesson. It got it’s name from the children’s book Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss. You can either read them the story while they are playing with it or play it on YouTube.
Here is what you will need:
- 2 cups of cornstarch
- 1 cup of water
- Food coloring (optional)
Pour the water into a bowl. Add food coloring to the water if you choose. Slowly add the cornstarch until you reach the desired thickness.
Laughing Kids Learn has a fancy version of Oobleck called Glittery Goo. We tried this one as well. It was fun, but be sure you scrape it into the trash after your done. I tried rinsing the bin in my sink and it clogged our pipes so badly a plumber had to come and fix it!
Here is what you will need:
- 2 cups of cornstarch
- 1 cup of water
- 1 box of blue jello (for coloring)
- Glitter. Lots and lots of glitter.
Add the cornflour to a large bowl with the box of Jello. Slowly begin adding splashes of water and mix until you reach your desired consistency. Add in the glitter and you’re done!
3. Dinosaur Dough
My boys are going through a dino faze and they loved this activity. I bought this bin of toy dinosaurs because it came with some trees and rocks. Since we really like a theme, I played dinosaur noises in the background and we imagined what it must have been like to have T-rex’s roaming around in the woods. Just to make it more of a mess, after they made their dino dough, we went outside with a little bucket and they collected little pieces of bark, twigs and rocks to add to their set ups. They molded muddy swamps and volcanoes as their imaginations ran wild.
Here is what you will need:
- 1 cup of hair conditioner
- 5 cups of corn starch
- ~1 tsp Brown food coloring (or mix red, blue and yellow to make brown)
4. The Beach
This was really simple once I had the things I needed in place. I just dumped a few bags of cornmeal into the trusty plastic bin and buried shells we collected on the beach along with some sea animals. I love these Toob toys, because you can get find them for almost any theme and they are great for learning. We named each animal and talked about what they might eat. I love this splat mat by Sugarbooger and would recommend laying something down under the project. When you’re done, you can use the mat to pour it all back into the bin, cover and use it again on another day.
5. Rainbow Rice
This is as simple as it sounds. I ordered the Rainbow Rice off of Amazon along with these cool scoopers, dumped it in a bin and let them have at it. My daughter likes to fill mini muffin containers. I will say that the rice it pretty expensive for what it is and it will also end up all over your floor so have your broom handy.
6. Snowy Trains
This looked like such an amazing idea on Pinterest. When I did it with my boys, it ended up looking like some sort of creepy child porn scene. They made their train set up on a big piece of cardboard and I gave them each a can of shaving cream. They immediately stripped naked as they always do and had more fun rubbing shaving cream all over each other. You win some, you lose some I guess.
Sensory play includes any activity that stimulates your young child’s senses: touch, smell, taste, movement, balance, sight and hearing. Sensory activities facilitate exploration and naturally encourage children to use scientific processes while they play, create, investigate and explore
Most of these ideas came from Laughing Kids Learn. If you don’t follow Kate’s blog, definitely check it out. She has the best ideas to keep kids busy. What are your favorite sensory activities? We are always looking to for more ideas!
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. That means I may receive a small royalty if you make a purchase. All opinions are my own.
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