What is Sensory Play and Why is it so Important?
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Sensory/Messy play occurs when your child is interacting with tactile items that stimulate any of their five senses ( hearing, touch, smell, taste, sight). Sensory play engages your child’s senses which helps them explore and learn about the world. Sensory play builds nerve connections in your child’s neural pathways which develops their cognitive thinking skills. Sensory play allows your child to use their imagination and develop their own creativity as well as self expression. Below you will find some sensory activities as well as recipes. Adult supervision is always required for any activity. The sensory items below are suitable for children ages 2 and up. However, mamas always know best!
What can you use for sensory play?
Water
jello
pudding cornmeal
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shredded paper
uncooked noodles
couscous
cooked noodles
sand
rice
blocks
beans ​
Shaving cream
plain yogurt
oobleck
homemade paint
coffee beans
baby cereal
whipped cream fingerpaint
cotton balls
flour mixed with water
Fake Snow
play dough
Giant water beads ( tiny water beads can be a choking hazard)
Dyed Pasta Recipe
This recipe will work to dye any kind of pasta and rice!!
Ingredients
1 box spaghetti
Cooking oil
Food coloring
Directions
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Cook Spaghetti as normal.
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Drain spaghetti with cold water.
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Add a tablespoon or 2 or oil.
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Add food coloring and let dry on parchment paper. Allow to dry for at least an hour or more. Drying time depends on how much food coloring is added. Always wash your hands before and after handling sensory materials. I normally let my children play with the spaghetti for 2 or 3 days and toss. Adult supervision is always required when children play with sensory materials.
Squishy Sensory Bags
Ingredients
1 Cup Flour
6 tablespoons water
Food coloring
Zip lock bags
Duct tape (to secure bags)
Instructions
Mix until all blended
Put in ziploc and remove air bubbles by flattening bag
Sensory Bottles
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Sensory bottles have a calming effect on kids and us, adults too!.
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Great emotional management tool for a child who is mad, anxious, or otherwise upset. Simply shake the bottle and focus on its contents. Glitter is an excellent calming agent.
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Can be used during quiet time
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Development language and communication skills by being a conversation starter.
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How to Make a Sensory Bottle
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Empty plastic water bottle with the label removed
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Superglue (or a hot glue gun)
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Warm water (seems to work better than cold water)
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Glitter
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Food coloring
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A funnel
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Corn syrup/ oil/ hair gel/dish soap/shampoo
Make a Sensory Oil bottle?
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Fill an empty bottle halfway with water.
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Fill the other half with oil.
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Add drops of food coloring.
*Another great alternative are Sensory Bags.
Make a Sensory Wave bottle
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Fill an empty bottle ¾ water.
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Add 2 TBS of cooking oil.
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Add drops of food coloring.
Make a Slow- Moving Sensory bottle
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Fill an empty bottle ¾ way with water
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Add heavy liquid such as shampoo, corn syrup or hair gel.
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Add food coloring of choice for color.
Totally BORAX FREE Slime without glue or Boric Acid
Typical slime recipes call for borax or some other boric acid component. This recipe is completely BORAX FREE! This is why I love this recipe. Plus I have everything in my pantry:
Ingredients
1 tbsp Metamucil
3/4 cup water
Food coloring (if not using Metamucil- see note below)
Please note: If you use Metamucil your slime will turn orange. Substitute 1 tbsp Psyllium Husk to make the slime a different color. (you can find psyllium husk in the fiber supplement section at your grocery store or on Amazon)
Directions
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Add ingredients to a microwave safe bowl and mix well.
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Microwave for 4-5 minutes. Watch carefully so the contents do not boil over.
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Remove from the microwave carefully and mix. Mix for several minutes so the slime can thicken. Once it's stirred thoroughly, it will thicken to become a slime consistency.
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Allow the slime to cool for 10-20 minutes and enjoy.
Please note: Some fiber may have a smell while its heating but it will not last. The smell will go away after the slime is cooled off.
Stove Method
Directions:
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Pour flour and water into a pot.
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Stir the ingredients over medium heat until it becomes a smooth, thick paste. Don't worry if the mixture is lumpy it will not stay that way.
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Add a pinch of salt. This helps keep the paint from spoiling if you don’t use it right away.
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To reach the desired consistency, slowly add cold water to the mixture. I added about 1/4 cup water to our paint.
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Divide the paint into bowls or plastic ziptop baggies.
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Squeeze food coloring or liquid watercolors into the flour mixture until you reach the desired color.
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Store in a covered container in the fridge in an airtight container .
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Non Cook Method
Directions:
1. Heat water to very hot on a stove or in a microwave. Do not reach boiling point. Do not use cold water. I learned the hard way that cold water makes it difficult to stir and gets very lumpy.
2. While water is heating, place desired amount of flour into a bowl.
3. Add a pinch of salt.
4. Add water to the bowl of flour and salt. Mix in the coloring. If you have small helpers you can pour the flour and water mixture to a ziptop baggie. I like using a ziptop baggie if my children help with the recipe as its easier to distribute the color.
5.Squeeze food coloring or liquid watercolors into the flour mixture until you reach the desired color.
6.Store in a covered container in the fridge in an airtight container .
Easy Finger Paint Recipe: 2 Ways to Make
I absolutely love this finger paint since it's easy and quick to make. Plus, it only requires a few ingredients. The simple ratio for this recipe is 1 part flour to 2 parts water. This makes it easy to either make a small batch (like I do) or a large batch. You can either cook this on the stove for a longer lasting finger paint or just mix. I will provide both ways to make.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup flour
food coloring or liquid water colors
1 cup water
pinch of salt (optional: used a preservative)
extra water ( may need additional water depending on consistency)
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Oobleck Recipe
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There are tons of oobleck recipes out there. This one is simple and smells so good. The magic ingredient is Jello. If you don’t have Jello you can use Koolaid. I even used drink enhancer powder! I utilize all resources. Plus trial and error is so much fun.
What is Oobleck?
We’ve already talked about it. But what is exactly is oobleck. Oobleck is from the Dr. Seuss book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck and refers to the substance that falls from the sky in the book.
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The Science Behind the Recipe
Oobleck is a non-Newtonian substance so it feels kind of like a solid and kind of like a liquid, and acts a little like both. The oobleck acts as a liquid until pressure is applied.
You’re never too old to learn something new. Let’s go on to the recipe.
Ingredients:
1 package Jello (I found that orange color is less staining than blue or red) 3 drops of food coloring can be used instead
1 cup water
2 cups cornstarch
Directions:
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Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
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Pour the water slowly into the bowl.
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Mix the mixture to combine. (You may not use the entire cup of water)
Frozen Inspired Shaving Cream Paint
Ingredients
Chilled shaving cream
Blue food coloring
Blue glitter
Spoon
Directions
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Put the shaving cream in the fridge. You can chill it overnight or as little as one hour.
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Let the shaving cream sit out for about 10-15 minutes.
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Add shaving cream to a container. Add blue food coloring and glitter.
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Enjoy!
2 Ingredient Condensed Milk Paint Recipe
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Looking for a easy and fast recipe that's taste safe? Try this recipe. You will love it! Its so simple to make that your preschooler can do it. Plus you probably already have the ingredients in the pantry. Click here for the blog post.
Cool Whip Painting
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This is a great sensory activity that appeals to the palette as well as the eyes. What is even better is that you can do this activity with under $3!
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Divide the cool whip into a muffin tin. Add food coloring. Use a spoon to mix the color. You're done!
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I used this activity on our windows but you can use fingerpaint paper, tin foil, on a high chair tray or even in the bathtub (before the bath of course!)
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DIY Painting Tools
Typically we think of paintbrushes to use for painting. Using non traditional painting tools can make painting more interesting. It also provides a unique sensory experience for your kiddo by creating different textures into the paint. DIY painting tools also provides these other benefits:
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Fine motor skills- Children develop fine motor skills through grasping, squeezing, and stirring the clothespins.
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Creativity- Children are able to create their own art and use art as a form of self expression.
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Problem solving- Children will also experiment with their designs to determine what textures their paintbrush will make by looking at the physical properties.