Sensory Play at Home
Curated Resources for Parents & Caregivers…
Children love to get messy, dig their hands in and explore everything they come across, for many, this is how they learn best! So we’ve pulled together a collection of our favorite classroom sensory play projects that are simple and translate easily to at home play. We’ve also thrown in a few that are specifically suited for home. Sensory play can be great for relieving stress and anxiety and for developing problem solving and physical skills, among other things. Have fun with these, you might just find yourself wanting to dig in too!
Dr. Seuss’s oobleck
This physics defying goop is guarunteed fun for hours. Back in Novermber 2019, we had weeks of daily oobleck fun, finding new colors to to add and mix, new critters and craft materials to add. Bits of cut up yarn, or “worms” was a particular favorite. This messy, strange, form-shifting substance is so simple to make. It’s literally just water and cornstarch. Here’s an instructable guide, just in case you want some direction, but you can also just toss it together adjusting the ratios as you go, which is a fun science experiment in and of itself! If you can, do this one outside for less mess to clean up and an extra sensory element.
create a Cairns sculpture
Beaches in Maine are the perfect place to get some distance, clear your mind, and soak in some Vitamin N(ature). Kids need a dose of fresh air even more than adults do, and just like us, they need to exercise and work their many muscle groups. Stacking rocks into creative and beautiful cairns sculpture offers children a productive way to exert themselves and build a diversity of physical skills.
Ice Cube Excavation
Fill up your ice cube trays with hidden treasures and keep the kiddos engaged as they build fine motor skills, problem-solving skills and focus as they work to uncover the goods. We’ve used flowers, marbles, mini animal figurines, small rocks & shells, food coloring or liquid water colors, and more. Put your ice cubes in a small tray, or plastic bin and let the fun begin! You can also add them to water for an additional sensory element. Combine them with various tools, such as a spoon, a blunted fork (like a toddler fork), a salt shaker, popsicle sticks, etc., and watch as your child explores new methods for excavation!
paint with nature
Sometimes painting with a paintbrush isn’t quite exciting enough to engage children who aren’t already art-lovers. Add in the addition of objects from nature to use instead and you’ll inspire a whole new kind of creativity, and attract all different kinds of kiddos. Flowers as stamps or brushes, pine cones as rollers, pine needles as rollers, and seashells as block printers are a few ideas to get you started. And you don’t need to just replace the paint brush either… use mud as paint! Or paint on your nature items with a paintbrush instead of on paper… The sky is the limit and that’s why this is the perfect at-home sensory project - you can repeat it infinitely and each experience is bound to be unique and exciting.
Plant some seeds
Children love to get their hands dirty, and the also love to help out the family doing real-world jobs. Planting some seeds, be it for a window sill garden of flowers, or prepping for the family’s summer vegetable garden, is the perfect job for small hands. Our young friends at school love to care for our plants, and whenever we start new seeds, nearly every one of the children drops by the planting table for a turn to help. Between the tools, the soil under the finger nails, the promise of a seedling sprouting out of the ground in a few days, gardening is quite exciting stuff for preschools (and for the grown-ups too)!
build a fire together
Nothing makes children rise to the occasion more than being given real responsibilities. Whether you have a fireplace or wood-stove in your home, or build a small backyard fire pit to gather around, the task of gathering kindling, stacking rocks in a ring, emptying the ash, and keeping a safe distance from the flames offer children the chance to practice (with your support) responsible risk taking and enjoyment of one of humanities earliest and greatest tools. Most of us are drawn like moths, to the flames and gathering round, watching the flames dance and twinkle offers a beautiful chance to connect, unwind, and build memories together. Sing songs, roast marshmallows, read/tell stories, or listen to some of your favorite songs, or just relax together and enjoy the moment.