If you have young children, you may have already seen their natural love for sensory play!
At your house, sensory play might look like:
- getting messy with food
- splashing water in the bathtub
- digging in the dirt outside
In this sensory play series, we cover:
the benefits of sensory play
must-have sensory bin accessories (you’re here!)
sensory bin storage
The good news for parents is this: sensory play doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive! In fact, you can set up a simple sensory experience in three easy steps.
- Get a large container, a small bin, a wading pool, or a water table. Decide if you want to play inside or outside. (If you’re inside, put down a large sheet first to make clean-up a breeze!)
- Choose a filler. We reuse our food materials for many years, but there are a lot of non-food options as well. You can see a list of our favorite fillers in this post.
- Add some accessories and let your children get to work!
We have slowly added to our sensory bin accessories over the years. Here are a ideas to get your wish list started!
(Reminder: Rolling Prairie Readers uses affiliate links at no additional cost to you. You can see our full disclosure policy here.
- IKEA has many wonderful materials: colorful bowls, metal cookware and utensils
- You can recycle many tools from your kitchen: empty jars, funnels, measuring cups, ice cube trays, creamers, muffin tins
- Dollar stores often have small containers with screw-top and flip-top lids
Want more sensory play ideas? Be sure to follow our Sensory Play board on Pinterest!