Homemade Sensory Toys and Activities
Erin Burt
Looking for sensory activities for your child but don’t have a ton of room or the budget for a bunch of stuff? Or maybe you’re just looking for fun, rainy day activities for your child that you can throw together quickly? Keep reading!
Why sensory activities? Because involving multiple senses heightens learning capabilities. And it’s fun!
Homemade water table: You don’t need a water table--just a large bowl, some water, and a few water-safe toys. Oh, and an easy-to clean area because fun is messy. Fill the large bowl about half-⅔ with water, add the toys (bath and beach toys are an easy option), and set your baby in front to enjoy. Sponges are another fun addition to water play.
Shaving cream table: Using old-school foaming shaving cream (the gel shave creams do not work as well), cover a table with the foam and let your kids go to town squishing and building to their heart’s content. You can add large kitchen spoons or beach toys as well if you like.
Moon Dough: combine flour and baby oil (specifically 1 cup of oil and 8 cups of flour) well to make your own moon or cloud dough. Put on a table or in a large shallow box, if you’re worried about mess containment, and let your minions loose.
Rice is also a fun ingredient for a sensory box. You can even color it if you want to add to the sensory experience. Scoops and spoons, or just hands, are a fun addition to this activity.
If mess makes you twitch, or you are looking for on-the-go options, you can try sensory bags, which contain all the goo in a large ziploc. Flour, water, and food coloring if you like are added to a zip top bag and voila! The fun is portable. You can put in any of the sensory items listed above as well instead.
A basic bin filled with any number of items becomes a fun and portable sensory bin as well. Legos, rocks, sea glass, or small toy animals or insects are fun and easy options for sensory fun.
Meaghan Howard is a mom to three rambunctious little boys who all enjoy sensory play above almost everything else. She and her family are currently living in Japan.
