Sensory Play

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Sensory Play provides opportunities for children to use their senses when they take part in a variety of experiences. Encouraging children to explore, investigate and examine during sensory experiences helps them identify and associate textures with how they feel.

By participating in Sensory Play on a regular basis, a child may:

develop physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive skills
explore different textures and materials through their senses (e.g., touch, smell, sight, etc.)
develop skills in problem solving
become curios and develop a positive attitude to new experiences

Sensory Play allows children the option of not having to have a plan or focus on the outcome or creation.

Everyday Sensory Play examples include using playdough, sensory bag or box, water play, sand play, slime or goop, modelling clay, finger painting, sponge painting, salt painting, bubbles and moon sand. View a range of sensory play activities below:

Frozen Animals

Frozen Animals invites children to use their senses and explore the sensation of the ‘cold’ item while also offering the opportunity to explore how to remove the items from the ice.

Shaving Cream Play

Shaving cream is an amazing, messy, sensory experience that uses all five senses of touch, sight, smell, sound and even taste (though tasting is not encouraged!).

Messy Mud Play

Mud play provides an opportunity for children to connect with nature and their natural world through sensory and play-based learning. Children learn to problem solve, develop autonomy and manage risk.

Bugs In The Mud

Sensory activities are great for children of all ages! They allow children to learn and create in a safe, stimulating play environment. Children learn so much by playing with their surroundings.

Slime Time

This activity is simple, low cost, teaches mathematical and science concepts, like ratios and measurements, and is a messy play activity that is extremely popular.

Stress Ball

The idea of a stress ball is to encourage children to focus on something other than what is making them anxious.

Make A Rice Tray

This is a fun activity that explores and develops many skills including cognitive, speech and language, and fine and gross motor. It also teaches children maths and science skills.

Sensory Bag Play

This activity provides sensory and exploratory play to encourage problem solving through experimentation and enquiry. It also promotes a natural curiosity towards creative learning.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Collage

Creating a recycling collage is an activity that can be enjoyed by many, and it invites children to use their senses to explore the sensation of the different textures, shapes and colours.

Moon Sand

When children use moon sand they enhance their sensory skills, start to build on their language development, fine-tune their fine and gross motor skills, develop their imagination, and enjoy open-ended play.

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