Children LOVE sensory play! Sensory play has a reputation for being messy, but the truth is, it doesn’t have to be. Today I am sharing some of our favorite sensory play activities. My kids love all of them. Some are messy, but most are not. They are great for rainy days or decompressing after a long day in school.
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Sensory Play Activities Kids Love – Something for Everyone
What You'll Find on This Page
We use sensory play a LOT in our house! Sensory play is one of my favorite ways to help my children calm down.
Messy Sensory Play Activities Kids Love
These sensory play activities make a mess, but clean up is a breeze.
Play with Play Dough
You can make your own using this play dough recipe. Host a play dough play date and your child will get all sorts of exciting new ideas of ways to play with play dough! Add glitter for an extra sensory element (without the usual mess of glitter anything).
Make Gak
Gak is always a hit with my kids! I recommend the gak recipe in this post, because it doesn’t require the use of borax. Thinking Putty is a commercial sensory toy that keeps my children at least as engaged as Gak.
Play with Sand
My children have spent hours playing with sand in our home! They even use our sand trays for spelling practice!
Don’t have a space set up for sand play? Try this DIY sandbox!
Corn Starch
Corn starch is one of my favorite sensory play materials! Mix it with water and you get oobleck – a fascinating sensory experience! We usually take this messy activity outside, but corn starch cleans up very well with plain water, so we have used it indoors as well.
Non-Messy Sensory Play Activities Kids Love
These sensory play activities make no mess at all!
Contact Paper
We use contact paper to make pretty sun catchers, and this activity is always a hit with my kids. Our all-time favorite, however, is this creative sensory wall mosaic art activity!
Make a Sensory Board
Cover a board with different textures for sensory exploration. This is particularly engaging for very young children, but my older kids think it is fun as well. Older children will enjoy making one of these for younger children! Themed boards are very fun – check out this Valentine themed sensory board!
Play with Spring Blossoms
You will have a bit of sweeping to do after this nature sensory activity if you do it indoors, but take it outside and there is no clean-up at all!
Light Table Play
Light tables are amazing sensory tools. Light table play is a quiet sensory activity that you can pair with all sorts of wonderful activities. These transparent Magna-Tiles are our favorite light table toy.
Do you have favorite sensory play activities kids love that we need to try?
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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
My kids loved homemade playdoh, especially when it was warm. It smells so much better than the purchased kind! Nice round up of ideas!
Sensory activities are such fun, even for older kids.