Best Toys 4 Toddlers

SENSORY
PLAY
Basics for Parents
 T h i s B o o k C a n
How
Help You
of a re se ar ch ab ou t basic concepts and
This book is the result pa rents like me to get st
arted
m ys el f an d ot he r
setups to help
with sensory play.

Sample Activities
For each of the sensory play setups, we have included several sample
activities you can use as an inspration to create your own unique play ideas!

Explained basic concepts

It's often confusing when we hear certain concepts associated with sensory
play and we've done our best effort to explain them in easy to understand
language for parents.

How to guides
We'll help you get started with your first sensory bin, bag and bottle! For
each, we have included a list of fillers and samples to help you with your first
setup!
 t o G e t S t a r t e d
How
t h S e n s o r y P l a y
wi

On our blog, we have shared over last couple years over 60 sensory play
ideas! And yet, we never explained how to get started with sensory play or
why it's beneficial for kids, even those without sensory issues. We are going
to change this with this book about an importance of sensory play with kids!

Some of our best and most valuable memories come from experiences that
involve many of our senses.

Think about a walk in the woods on a cool day. Birds chirping in your ears,
breathing the fresh air scent, leaves crunching under your feet, stopping to
rest on a rock to enjoy a stream.

Experiences like that can help us see things clearly, teach us something new
about ourselves, the world around us or the people with us and are just
overall enjoyable.

It's the same thing for children and their development when they have the
opportunity to explore through play with several senses at a time.

Setting up and including sensory play does not have to be complicated or

expensive. In fact, most sensory play can be set up using materials you
already have at home.
There are just some basic things to keep in mind and materials to gather to
get you started.

Basics needed for sensory play:

A deep bin you can turn to a sensory bin

A tablecloth or waterproof mattress pad for play involving water
Cups of different sizes for scooping and pouring
Tongs or tweezers
Ziploc bags

Few everyday materials to get you started with sensory play:

Oats
Rice
Water
Shaving cream
Dry beans
Uncooked noodles

The possibilities are endless for what to include! Get creative!

There are also many ways to create variety with what gets added to the bin.

Small items you can use inside sensory bins:

Letters
Numbers
People or animal figures
Small vehicles
Buttons
Pom-poms
There are many developmental benefits with sensory play. These will be
explored in more detail in next few chapters.

But no matter how sensory play is set up, children gain an understanding of
how materials are used and how they work together. They gain
concentration, fine motor skills and have an incredible opportunity to use
their imagination.

Tips for beginners to sensory play:

Keep in mind a lot of sensory materials can pose a choking hazard. So it

should always be supervised.

Demonstrate how to use the materials when they're introduced.

Play alongside your child if they want but let them take the lead.

These simple materials will get you off to a great start including sensory
materials in your play time! I'm sure you'll be happy you did!
 t o P u t T o g e t h e r
How
Sensory Bags

Lot of times sensory and messy play go hand in hand. But not necessarily! So
if you have a day when you're short on clean up time or just want to try
something different for sensory play, sensory bags are the perfect solution!
In this chapter, we'll cover basics of how to put together your first sensory
bag!

In last chapter, we talked about how to put together your first sensory bin.
However, if you're afraid your child might swallow some of the small parts
inside sensory bins, you can start with sensory bags!

Bags are great for infants and younger toddlers who still tend to mouth
everything. Some children are especially sensitive to messy play and getting
messes on their hands. Bags are ideal for them too, giving them the sensory
experience they need without the discomfort. These bags are mess and
choking hazard free and only require a few supplies to get started.

There are SO MANY variations for sensory bags. But we've included a list of a
few supplies to get you started.

Basics you'll need to prepare sensory bags:

Ziploc bags
- gallon size work best.
Packing tape or duck tape
- seal those bags shut! You can also tape them to a table.
Sensory bag fillers:

Hair gel
Food coloring
Sand and water
Oil, food coloring and water
Shaving cream
Body wash
Aloe vera gel
Water beads
Finger paint

Add-ins for your sensory bag:

Mini erasers
Confetti
Beads
Letters and Numbers
Shapes

Get creative with what gets added in. There are so many possibilities!

What you decide to add determines the type of learning that will go along
with sensory bag play. They are naturally a jumping off point for science
concepts. Children will explore what materials mix together and which don't.
And the theme of the add-ins can lead to learning of environments, animals,
letter, shape and number recognition.

These bags are so easy to make! Just be sure the bag is sealed shut with tape.
And squish away!
For an end, here are 4 sensory bags you can make to help your baby or
toddler explore changing seasons:

winter sensory bag

spring sensory bag
summer sensory bag
fall sensory bag
 t o M a k e Y o u r
How
F ir s t S e n s o r y
Bottle?

Sensory bottles are a fun, mostly visual way to explore sensory play!
Wondering how to make your first sensory bottle? Here we are going to
explore what to use and how to fill them up! They are really simple to put
together and only require a few supplies.

Like sensory bags, sensory bottles are a great option for infants or toddlers
who tend to put objects in their mouths. They can watch and notice how
ingredients mix together without the mess. Older kids can be included to put
bottles together and explore in a more hands-on way the mixing of
ingredients.

Here is how to get started!

Basic supplies needed to create sensory bottles:

Clear bottles - Use any size that's easy to grasp

Glue - You'll definitely want to glue on the top!

Be creative when choosing the medium to fill your bottles. The ingredients
you use to fill will have different effects on how the other objects move
within the bottle!
Ideas for sensory bottle fillers:

Colored water
Water and oil
Dish, hand or bath soap

Additional items to add to sensory bottles:

Glitter
Confetti
Pom Poms
Beads
Water beads
Letters and Numbers
Animals
Drinking straws

With a little guidance, sensory bottles can lead to lots of ideas for learning
and play. Concepts like color, letter and number recognition can be taught by
identifying the objects. Talking about how things looks and the way objects
move around is great for language development.

Ideas for play with sensory bottles:

Sort and learn by color

Explore color mixing
Learn about a theme (nature, seasons, concepts)
Play I Spy

Have fun creating your sensory bottles! They are a beautiful and fun way to
explore lots of different types of learning. Be creative and shake it up!
 S e n s o r y P l a y
How
i t s L a n g u a g e
Benef
Developm ent

One of the best things about playing through sensory exploration is the
benefit to many different areas of development!

Using many senses at once allows children to develop language, cognitive,

motor, social and imaginative skills.

First, we're look into language skills and why sensory play has such an
impact on development.

Squishy, bumpy, smooth, sticky, gooey, cold. These are some fun descriptive
words! And they're only the beginning when it comes to developing
vocabulary through sensory play.

When children are engaged in any type of play talking about their
experiences will help develop language skills. If your child is already fairly
verbal it will be helpful to observe and listen to the language they use
naturally. You can then build off of what they are already saying to expand
their sentences and vocabulary.

By asking questions and having a conversation you can encourage describing

language.
Here are some ways you can talk about it.

"How does it feel?"

"This feels (slimy, smooth, cold, etc.) to me."
"Have you ever felt anything else like this? Does it remind you of
anything?"

You can also encourage the use of action words.

"Let's mix it!"

"You're pouring very carefully."
"Which spoon should we use to stir?"

These are just some ideas of how you can encourage language development
through sensory play. But even if you don't do any prompting on purpose the
play itself will promote growth.

Sensory play lends itself well to pretending which will also encourage
language. By adding characters and props to sensory bins, children have the
ability to practice conversation. And whether you use bins, bags or bottles
you can include letters which will help with letter recognition and objects for
naming while playing games like I Spy. Through sensory play when mixing,
scooping and pouring children will also be using their coordination and
perfecting grasping skills. These skills will assist with early writing as they
grow.

Remember of course, sensory play should be about the fun and the
experience. And all learning will follow and occur naturally!
 S e n s o r y P l a y
How
Be n e f i t s M o t o r
Developm ent

Running, jumping, skipping and climbing. Grasping, pulling, buttoning, tying.

It may not seem that these skills would be related to sensory play. But they
definitely are!

We all learn about our environments through exploring with our senses. We
take everything in as we see, hear, touch, smell and taste.

What are motor skills?

Motor skills are any that involve movements and the development of
muscles. They are divided into two categories, fine and gross. Gross motor
involves the larger muscles and movement of the entire body. Fine motor
includes smaller movement usually involving the hands and fingers. These
skills generally evolve together and require coordination of all muscle
groups.

How do motor skills develop?

Motor skills evolve from infancy through early childhood. They begin for
babies with hand-eye coordination and gaining control of their movements.
Toddlers begin to develop more skills as they learn to walk, run, jump, color
and stack. Preschoolers can master things like use of utensils and pulling
zippers and gain more of a sense of balance. By the time children are school
age they are able to draw, tie shoelaces, skip and play games involving more
coordination.

How does sensory play help?

Sensory play can involve the use of hands, feet and sometimes even the
mouth to explore materials. Exploring with the senses is taken in by the brain
to produce a response or movement. The brain will make different
connections as the body discovers something cold, squishy, wet or bumpy.
This is often referred to as sensorimotor skill.

By giving children material to explore with their eyes, ears, hands, noses and
mouths, their bodies learn how to respond.

Sensory bins, bottles and bags provide the chance to develop both fine and
gross motor skills. Children will be pushing objects around, picking them out
with a pincer grip, pouring and squishing.

Sensory play could even involve painting with feet or stepping through
materials which would definitely target some gross motor movement!
What items are needed?

By adding a few things to sensory play set up children will be encouraged to

develop motor skills.

tongs
Scoopers
Spoons
Tweezers
Rakes
Shovels
Muffin tins

Many activities can easily be turned into a sensory-rich experience! And

through this type of play motor skills will be developed for children of any
age. Go explore and have fun!
 S e n s o r y P l a y
How
i t s C o g n i t i v e
Benef
Developm ent

The scientific method generally consists of asking a question, developing a

hypothesis, conducting an experiment, analyzing results and making a
conclusion.

Maybe you're thinking, "What does that have to do with early childhood
sensory play?" Well, everything really!

The steps of the scientific method are the basic principles our brains use to
figure things out and learn something new.

In the early years children are constantly conducting experiments on the

world around them. These experiments form the basis for their cognitive
development. And an opportunity for this type of learning occurs naturally
through sensory play.
What is cognitive development?

Cognitive development begins even before birth and in the early childhood
years progresses rapidly. Many skills fall under the cognitive development
umbrella.

Numeracy
Scientific concepts
States of matter
Problem-solving
Classifying
Matching
Cause and effect

How sensory play builds cognition.

Whenever children are presented with new materials the scientific process
automatically begins in their brains.

What is this? What does it do? How does it move? How does it feel? And the
experiment begins!

Sensory play is the perfect opportunity for hands-on experimentation. As

they touch, hear, smell, see and sometimes taste children's minds are making
connections about the objects in the world around them and the way to
interact with them.

Encourage cognitive development through set up.

Place some objects in a water bin that sink and some that float.
Include objects of different weights.
Vary the size of objects.
Provide objects that stack and/or nest.
The best part about building cognitive skills through sensory play is it
requires little to no adult intervention. Of course you can talk while your
children play about how things look, feel and interact. But really the beauty
of learning in the early childhood stage is that every time children conduct
experiments with the material in front of them their brains are figuring it out.

Through squishing, pouring, digging and sifting children are well on their way
to establishing all the brain connections they need to be successful little
learners. And it's all cleverly disguised as fun and play!
 d u c t i o n t o t h e
In t r o
E ig h t S e n s e s

Yes! You read that title right. Eight senses . You're probably thinking, "Um, I'm
pretty sure I only know about five." I know that's what I was thinking when I
was introduced to the concept.

When I learned that the sensory system really consists of eight senses it
actually made perfect sense. Everyone has these eight senses but they are
most often referred to when discussing sensory processing disorder.

Most of us go about our daily lives without much awareness of how our
sensory systems are processing information. But someone with sensory
processing disorder experiences either low performance or over stimulation
from one or more of their senses.

We'll continue our exploration of how sensory play benefits development

introducing the eight senses.

Touch/Tactile
Visual/Sight
Taste/Oral
Smell/Olfactory
Hearing/Auditory
These first five are pretty self-explanatory. Many of us have learned about
them from an early age. Our brains draw conclusions about what things are
and how they work as we examine what we feel, see, taste, smell and hear.
The basic five senses are mostly explored through external stimuli. The
remaining three senses are more internal.

Proprioception- This sense involves the muscles, joints and gross motor
movement. It pertains to force of movement, body awareness and
stability.
Vestibular- This sense also pertains to movement and balance. It helps us
to know if we're upside down or right side up. This sense is stimulated by
swinging and spinning.
Interoception- As the "inter" prefix implies this sense involves our
internal perception of what is going on with our bodies. It helps us to
understand if we are hungry, full or have to use the bathroom.

All of our senses work very closely together, some more so than others of
course like taste and smell. With an understanding of the five senses and the
additional three it's easy to see how difficulty with one or more of them
would affect a person's entire body.

Sensory play can benefit children with typically developed senses and those
with processing disorders.

In next few chapters, we'll explore specific examples of play and how they
benefit each one of these senses.
 l P r o c e s s i n g
V is u a
r y P l a y I d e a s
Senso
f o r K id s

When you enter a dark room you're familiar with you can remember what
objects surround you. If you see only part of a familiar object you may be
able to still know what it is. You can thank your sense of sight for those skills.
Even being able to identify colors, shapes, letters and numbers all begins
with visual processing.

Our perceptions of the objects in the world around us largely depend on

our sense of sight.

Messages are sent to our brains and sensory systems through what we see
with our eyes. Our thoughts and psychological perceptions of our
surroundings taken in by our sight is known as visual perception.

Our visual system is complex and consists of many elements including but
not limited to memory, discrimination, spatial concepts and tracking.
Stimulation of our visual system contributes to early reading, writing and
math skills.

Complex as this system may be there are many simple ways a development
of our sense of sight can be included in sensory play.
Color Mixing Activities

Start with two primary colors and allow children to explore what happens
when the colors are mixed to create a new color.
This can be done with colored water, ice, milk, paints, or shaving cream.

Shadow Exploration

Make shadow puppets.

Hold up fingers to count in a shadow.
Find shadows outside on a sunny day, or play shadows game with your
child as you walk (let them run around you and trying to step on your
shadow!)

I Spy Activities

Can easily be done with sensory bags or bottles filled with different
objects.
Play outside, around the house or find objects in a book.

Scavenger Hunts and Hide and Seek

Place objects around te house or outside and go looking for them.

Light Table

Light table

activities allow for play with blocks

, pegs or shapes
.

While you play you can encourage association of visual skills with language
by describing objects, discussing relation to other objects and talking about
what you see.

Be creative and look around! You'll find lots of ways to explore with the
sense of sight!
 t o r y P r o c e s s i n g
Audi
Sensory Play
A c t iv it ie s

"Pick up your shoes and put them by the door." This seems like a pretty
straightforward direction. But for someone with an auditory processing
disorder following through with those tasks could present a problem. They
may have trouble remembering what was just said or might seem as if they
couldn't hear what was said at all.

Our auditory and listening skills are processed in our brains and begin with
our ability to hear. These skills can be broken down into awareness,
discrimination, identification and comprehension. Auditory processing
allows us to identify locations of sounds, discriminate between them, attach
meaning to speech, understand and follow through with verbal directions or
summarize something we've heard. When a child has difficulty with one or
more of these skills they may have trouble with speech, reading and writing.
They might also be hyper or hypo sensitive to certain sounds or noisy
environments.

There are many sensory play activities that can promote listening and early
literacy skills for any child including those with an auditory processing
disorder.
Listening Games

Use recorded sounds such as animal noises that are identified. These
sounds can be matched to a picture for a version of BINGO for older
children.
Children can close their eyes and listen to a sound made by an adult such
as tearing paper or bouncing a ball.
Repeat a clapping or stomping pattern.
Hide an object that makes sound and hunt for the object.

Music and Songs

Sing songs that require following directions such as Head, Shoulders,

Knees and Toes or action songs like Wheels on the Bus.
Make your own instruments like rain sticks and drums.
Allow for experimenting with playing instruments loudly, softly and with
varying patterns.
Sing songs that teach concepts and help with memorization such as the
ABC's or days of the week.

Letter Sounds and Speech

Use nursery rhymes or riddles to work on rhyming words.

Find pictures of words that use the same beginning sound.

Listening skills build a strong foundation for literacy and language learning,
social relationships and musical ability. And being able to appropriately
process what we hear in our world can easily be achieved through play!
T a s t e a n d S m e l l
Sensory Play
A c t iv it ie s

If you've ever had a stuffy nose and not been able to taste anything, you
understand how closely related taste and smell really are. One greatly
affects the other. And if you've had young children you also know how much
exploring happens with the mouth. How something feels in the mouth is one
of baby's first ways to explore the properties of an object. Sense of smell also
develops perceptions of surroundings and early preferences.

Because these two senses are closely related we've grouped them together
for suggestions of sensory play activities.

Sensory Activities to Explore Sense of Taste

Cooking

Work together to make a simple snack. (Tips to turn your kitchen to kid-
safe play area.)
Bake some cookies or muffins.
Make popcorn or popsicles.
Edible Sensory Materials

Cooked noodles
Flour
Dry cereal
Painting with yogurt or pudding
Cool Whip
Fresh fruit

Sensory Activities to Explore Sense o f Smell

Smelling Games

Set out bottles with different scents just to explore.

Place familiar foods in cups and identify by smell without looking.

Scented Sensory Materials

Add scent to playdough with essential oils.

Add cinnamon to yogurt painting.
Add vanilla or peppermint extract to a sensory bin.

There are many ways to play that combine both taste and smell because they
are so closely related. One of the best no prep ways to explore both senses is
getting outside. A trip to an apple orchard or a berry picking outing allow for
exploration of delightful tastes and scents.

Of course double check edible content, use safety precautions and avoid
choking hazards when providing anything edible for play for small children.
But then enjoy the learning that occurs naturally through some of our most
enjoyable senses!
Sensory Play
t i e s f o r S e n s e
A c t iv i
of Touch

Our skin is our body's largest organ. So it makes sense that much of what our
brains learn and perceive about our world is first communicated to us
through our skin.

Our sense of touch is so important, in fact, that it is the first to develop in the
womb and babies can die from lack of being touched.

Processing touch begins with nerve endings all over our bodies that send
signals to our brains. These nerve endings make us aware of contact, heat,
cold and pain. Some of the nerve endings like those on the tips of our fingers
are more sensitive than others. This helps our brains discriminate what
sensations need reaction.

Most of us are not aware moment by moment of the clothes we are wearing.
For some with sensory processing disorders, however, sensitivities are
heightened and a seam or a tag in a shirt might be unbearable.
When we think about sensory play I imagine most of us think first of
activities that involve the sense of touch.

There are so many great ideas for sense of touch activities. We've narrowed
them down to a few categories and basic materials to get you started.

Exploring Texture through Play:

Create a swatches board of rough, fluffy, smooth, bumpy, soft, etc.

materials, and play Touch and Match Game
Explore a sensory bin with dry materials:
Noodles
Beans
Sand
Cereal
Rice
Or wet materials:
Cornstarch goop
Shaving cream
Wet sand
Water
Finger paint

Learning about Temperature:

Ice cubes in a bin

Warm water in a bin
Mix room temperature and frozen water beads
Ziploc bags with warm and cold water to touch and squish
Games for Sense of Touch:

Place familiar items in a bag and identify by touch.

Touch familiar items and describe how they feel.
Go on a scavenger hunt inside or out to find materials of different
textures.

Whether it's deciding to put on a jacket outside or learning to stay away from
a hot stove our sense of touch teaches so much! Rough, smooth, scratchy,
silky...there is so much to explore in our homes and the world around us!
V e s t i b u l a r a n d
Pr o p r i o c e p t i v e
s o r y A c t i v i t i e s
Sen

I always get confused with terms vestibular and, especially proprioceptive.

This is the reason why I have set myself to learn exactly what these 2 terms
mean when it comes to sensory play.

The last five senses we've discussed are stimulated by external factors.
There are also lesser-known senses that relate to the body's internal muscles
and joints.

If you've had congestion or water in your inner ear and felt off balance
you've felt the effects of the vestibular system. This sense helps keep us
upright and know how quickly we are moving.

The proprioceptive sense also located in the inner ear helps with direction,
position and location of the body.

Children with sensory processing disorders related to the vestibular and

proprioceptive systems can be over or under stimulated in these areas.

They may crave movement more than typically developing children. They
may move too quickly or crash into things. They may also seem lethargic or
lack gross motor muscle control.
All children, whether typically developing or with sensory processing
disorders need a stimulation of the vestibular and proprioceptive systems as
much as they do stimulation of the external five senses.

Getting outside for gross motor activities is the best way to stimulate these
inner ear systems. We've listed some activities that stimulate the systems
specifically. Though we've separated them into vestibular and
proprioceptive there is some overlapping and both systems can be engaged
at the same time.

Gross Motor Activity for Vestibular System

Sliding
Swinging
Spinning
Jumping

Gross Motor Activity for Proprioceptive System

Weighted blankets
Climbing
Pushing
Pulling
Carrying heavy objects

Hopefully, you see this list of activities and realize that most can easily be
accomplished by visiting a local park! When children participate in
stimulating the vestibular and proprioceptive systems they'll also experience
gross motor development. So jump, swing, climb and get out and play!
 o c e p t i o n a n d a
In t e r
Se n s o r y F r i e n d l y
E n v ir o n m e n t

In the final chapter about the senses we're discussing possibly the least well
known but extremely important sense of interoception. All eight senses,
when working together and functioning properly, promote a sense of well-
being.

Interoception, especially, works closely with vestibular and proprioceptive

senses to maintain emotional balance, create a mind/body connection and
help a person process physical needs.

Interoceptive cues are the body's physical symptoms for making a

connection to the feeling of hunger, thirst, needing to use the bathroom and
even fear and anxiety.

Like any other sense interoception takes time to develop fully, children
progress with it at different rates and some have more difficulty with certain
cues than others.

Creating a sensory development-friendly environment will help develop

interoception along with the other seven senses.
Calm Down Corner

Everyone needs a chance to calm down when senses get overstimulated.

Including just a few things in a specific area of your home can help children
regulate senses and emotions.

Items to include:

Sensory bottles or bags

Light spinners
Heavy pillows
Stress balls
Headphones with soothing music
Beanbag chair
Box of objects with different textures and weights
Teething toys

Tips for Sensory Integration

Include some sensory play on a daily basis.

Have some of the items listed above easily accessible.
Label emotions and physical interoceptive cues. (Example: You seem
anxious. Your eyebrows are down and you are breathing faster.)
Take note of situations that seem overstimulating.

Development of all eight senses through play does not have to be

complicated, time-consuming or expensive. Many everyday indoor and
outdoor activities provide the sensory stimulation children need to
understand their bodies and their environments.
Children are natural scientists and explorers conducting experiments on
their surroundings to gain knowledge. With a little thoughtful preparation of
the environment they will see, hear, touch, taste, smell and sense everything
their bodies need to know to develop into well-rounded and intelligent
people.
R e s o u r c e s a n d
c o m m e n d a t i o n s
Re
article with additio nal informations.
Cl ick on a title to read an

SENSORY TOYS
Top 10 Sensory Toys for 1 Year Olds

Top 10 Sensory Toys for 2 Year Olds

Top 10 Sensory Toys for 3 Year Olds

Top 10 Sensory Toys for 4 Year Olds

SENSORY PLAY IDEAS

Sensory Play through the Alphabet (A-Z)

33 Amazing Water Beads Play Activities for Kids

33 Sensory Apple Activities for this Fall

33 Bird Sensory Play Ideas for Kids

21 Candy Corn Sensory Play Ideas for Kids

33 Amazing Sensory Play Ideas with Dinosaurs

33 Spooky Eyes Sensory Play Ideas for Kids

33 Ideas for Sensory Play with Farm Animals

33 Ideas to Explore Space Through Sensory Play

33 Jelly Sensory Play Ideas for KIds

Freezing & Fun Ice Sensory Play Ideas for Kids

33 Alphabet Sensory Play Ideas for Toddlers and Preschoolers

33 Kinetic Sand Play Ideas for Kids

33 Messy Sensory Play Ideas for Toddlers

33 Construction Sensory Play Ideas for Little Builders

Taste Safe Sensory Play Ideas for Babies, Toddlers and Older Kids

Shaving Foam Ideas for Kids to Play, Learn and Create

Transport Themed Sensory Play

33 Rainbow Sensory Play Ideas for Toddlers and Older Kids

33 Water Play Ideas for Toddlers

Looking for
in-dept
information?

SENSORY PROCESSING 101

The best resource for both parents

and educators when it comes to
sensory processing and sensory play!
190 pages packed with everything
you ever wanted to know about this
sensory processing!

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