Sensory play is an excellent way to engage our children in using their senses to observe and engage the world around them. Enjoy playing with your child as you participate with them in these suggested activities:
Shaving Cream Fun!
Put shaving cream on a cookie sheet. Using cars, paint brushes, small toys, etc., to move items through the shaving cream on the cookie sheet. You can invite your child to write or draw in the shaving cream. Sensory Play Shaving Cream is for some other ideas for shaving cream.
Water Color!
Add watercolor paints to a spray bottle. Using the spray bottle, spray the “water color water” onto paper.
Clean Up Fun!
Using detergent in a sink, bucket/bin/large bowl, have your children wash their dolls or any other toys they would like cleaned up.
Sensory Bin!
Add rice, sand, or water to a large bowl or container. Your child can play with their toys in the rice, sand, or water. Have fun playing! Click here. Click here for more Sensory Bins ideas!
- Color, read a book, do puzzles, watch enrichment videos while prone (on the stomach).
- Include crawling on hands and knees into the educational activity.
- Color on paper taped to the wall while in high kneel.
- Play Simon Says for receptive language carryover (and static balance).
- While gathering the rocks, leaves, sticks, etc., place them all in a bucket and carry the “heavy load” into your home.
- During bubble play, have the child reach for the bubbles while standing in one place and/or run to pop the bubbles.
- Jumping games to learn direction: Jump forward, jump backwards, jump sideways, jump over, jump in place…. How far can you jump?
- Play 123 red light / green light.
- Outside, use squirt bottles on the pavement or foundation to make designs or draw pictures.
- When making music with pots and pans, have the child lift the pots and pans in and out of the cabinet.