10 Sensory Play Ideas for Toddlers

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10 Sensory Play Ideas for Toddlers

10 Sensory Play Ideas for Toddlers

Toddlers and young children benefit from sensory play. Sensory play activities engage a child’s senses of touch, smell, sight, feel, and hearing. Early sensory experiences can help them develop important skills like problem-solving, fine motor skills, and creative thinking.

This article will explore how to facilitate creative play for toddlers. You’ll learn how to create fun sensory play for toddlers at home or in a classroom setting.

Reach out to the Little Sunshine Preschool team to learn about our incredible early learning programs. Contact us with questions or to schedule a tour of our learning center. We look forward to meeting you and your family soon!

10 Fun Sensory Play Ideas

Little learners love making big messes! Engage your child’s senses with these fun, messy sensory activities for toddlers.

Shaving cream

Playing with shaving cream is a fun, messy way to provide your child with some serious sensory experiences. Put a little on the table in front of your child and let them explore.

Shaving cream has a soft texture that sticks to hands–and everything else it touches! It also has a strong scent that will engage little noses. Add a few drops of food coloring to boost this exciting sensory activity.

Play dough

Store-bought or homemade playdough is a great sensory activity. Give your child cookie cutters, small rolling pins, forks, and other simple kitchen tools. Let them “bake,” sculpt, smash, and create however they want.

Adding a few drops of vanilla, almond, mint, or other extracts to the dough can enhance the fun.

Water play

Kids love playing in water. This fantastic, simple sensory experience can be a lot of fun outdoors on a warm day or indoors in the tub.

Give your child small containers to fill and empty. Let them explore water beads, sponges, and squirt toys.

Fill a sensory table with water and let the children play “sink or float” with toys and other items from the classroom. Or, simply let them paint the sidewalk with water. The possibilities are endless!

Slime

Whip up a simple batch of slime and let your child explore the ooey, gooey textures. Listen to the sounds the slime makes when you press it, make bubbles, or hide “treasures” inside for your child to find.

Finger painting

Finger painting is a fun, classic preschool activity for a reason. When children paint with their fingers and hands, it becomes a new sensory activity. They smell the paint, feel the paint, and see the paint. They may even hear the paint when it squishes onto the paper or canvas.

If you prefer a non-messy version of this activity, try sensory bag painting instead. Put a few drops of paint on a piece of paper and carefully insert it into a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Seal up the bag and let your child “paint” without making a mess.

Sand play

Sand play is a great sensory activity. Children love seeing, feeling, and smelling sand as they play in different ways. They can explore the differences in texture between wet and dry sand. They can fill up and empty containers or build something unique.

If you don’t have access to sand, you can make a batch of rainbow rice and let the children play.

Mud kitchen

Create a space in your yard or garden for your children to have a mud kitchen. A mud kitchen can be simple–just a few play dishes, pots, spoons, and other basic kitchen items. Let your children play in the mud to experience a range of smells, sights, and sensations.

Oobleck

Oobleck is a mixture of cornstarch and water. This unique goo acts like a liquid when kids scoop or pour it but looks like a solid when they apply pressure. This engaging sensory experience is fun for kids of all ages–and their grown-ups!

Cutting up fruit

Give your child soft fruits and a plastic knife. Let them cut up bananas, ripe strawberries, peeled oranges, and more. They’ll love the smell, feel, and taste of the fruits and have fun doing a “grown-up job.” Children can also develop better hand-eye coordination by practicing this fine motor skill.

Mixing up potions

Young children love to mix and make messes. Give them a fun sensory experience by letting them mix, stir, and shake up some “potions.”

Provide containers of different-colored water, glitter, and foam shapes. Let them create colorful mixtures in the containers. You can also make a sensory bottle by having your child pour and mix their ingredients inside a sealable plastic bottle.

There are so many engaging ways to integrate sensory play into your daily routine. These and other creative sensory play activities can keep your child busy and learning while having a lot of fun.

Find an Early Learning Program

At Little Sunshine Preschool, we provide fun, engaging sensory activities every day. Learn more about the importance of sensory play for toddlers or explore our early learning programs. Contact us with questions or to schedule a tour of our incredible learning center.

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