Engaging Sensory Activity Ideas By Age

Sensory activities have grown in popularity recently because of all their benefits to a child’s learning ability. Whether a child is six months old or six years old, everyone can benefit from sensory activities. If you have a daycare or childcare facility, these sensory activity ideas will help you keep your children engaged, learning, and having fun. So gather the right equipment and find the developmentally appropriate sensory play for your group’s age below, and your class will be on the way to a great time of play and learning!

Babies

For babies just learning to sit and hold their body up, sensory activities that can happen on the floor or sitting in a caregiver’s lap are ideal. These sensory games will still engage your class of infants.

Sensory Bottle

Fill a clear jug or bottle with shiny, colorful, or stimulating objects and secure the top firmly. The babies can shake, hold, and turn the bottle around to stimulate their senses. Some ideas for fillers could be glitter, marbles, beads, sequins, and feathers. A sensory bottle is an easy activity that is easy to sanitize between children and no mess to clean up.

Texture Board

Gather items with different textures and safely secure them to a board. The babies will fully engage their sense of touch with feeling different types of things. Get creative and include items like cotton balls, feathers, rocks, leaves, felt, string, and sponges. 

Toddlers 

Young toddlers just learning to walk and stand can begin their sensory play at a sensory table. Older toddlers and preschoolers also thrive with activities at their level at a sensory table. A sensory table is like a blank canvas that you can fill with many different activities that can work with your lesson plan or free playtime.

Seasonal Sensory Play

Use the season, upcoming holiday, or time of year to select items for your sensory table activities. For example, in the fall, use leaves, pinecones, and acorns. Around Valentine’s Day, you can find red and pink items. For summertime, maybe include water, beach balls, or sand. The options are endless! A seasonal sensory activity is an excellent opportunity to introduce colors, numbers, weather, holidays, etc.

Sensory Table Scooping & Pouring

Fill your sensory table bins with anything that’s scoopable and not a choking hazard for young toddlers. Children love to scoop and pour, plus it engages their minds and senses. Sand and water are often used in sensory tables, but think out of the box! Rice, small beans, and macaroni noodles are other unique ideas to fill your sensory table. To minimize spills and mess, use a sensory table with a deep bin.

Sensory Bags

Sensory bags are great activities for classrooms because they are versatile, mess-free, and individual for each child. Fill a zip-locked bag with paint and a small amount of oil, then secure it shut with painter’s tape. The oil allows the color to move around the bag freely as the toddlers press on it. You can also add small pieces of bubble wrap to really watch the paint move when the bubbles pop!

School-Aged Children 5 & Older

With kindergarteners and older children, there are still benefits to sensory play! Sensory play for big kids can still engage their minds and be a time for relaxing open-ended play. In addition, you can get more advanced with mixing items, incorporating measurements, cause-and-effect, math, and more.

Science Experiments 

Fill your sensory table with items like cups of vinegar, baking soda, shaving cream, and dish soap. Include droppers, squirt bottles, and measuring cups and spoons too. Then either as a group activity or individual play, experiment with how each substance reacts with the other. The kids will equally learn and be wowed at the results!

Kinetic Sand 

Kinetic sand is a fun substance that you can buy or make homemade. It’s less messy than traditional sand, but you still get the benefits of scooping and forming. Add in some toys, measuring items, and trucks to get the imagination going. Include different colors of the kinetic sand to make it extra fun. 

This list of sensory activity ideas is just the beginning of what you can do with any child. Sensory play doesn’t require a large budget or amount of supplies. A simple sensory table is a great foundation. Kindermark Kids offers sensory tables and play items in all sizes that you can include in your daycare, school, or childcare facility. Find all the developmentally-appropriate toys, furniture, and care items you need for your school, nursery, or daycare at Kindermark Kids. We are here to provide quality and durable products that will engage children for many years. So start building memories of play and learning today!

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