Sensory activities for toddlers are amazing for brain development. This round up of sensory activities includes my favorite toddler activities that are not only easy to do but also target developmental milestones.
*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, including links to Amazon, and as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I only recommend resources, products, and services that I adore and find to be useful. If you happen to make a purchase using one of my affiliate links, I will earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you. Read more about our policies here.
Sensory Activities Foster Development
Sensory play activities foster brain development, enhance learning skills, and target developmental milestones.
Toddlers are working on their independence and so naturally, they love activities that empower them to create, experiment, and interact with their world. Sensory activities offer them a chance to try new things and test out their newfound autonomy.
There are several worthwhile benefits of sensory activities. They promote skill-building of all kinds, including the following:
- Cognitive Skills
- Observational Skills
- Problem-Solving Skills
- Communication Skills
- Social Skills
- Gross and Fine Motor Skills
The Benefits of Sensory Play
Sensory activities target multiple senses and therefore engage different parts of the brain. So lots of important skill-building can happen across multiple strands of development through sensory play.
Sensory activities can positively impact your toddler in the following areas:
- Scientific Reasoning
- Mathematical Skills
- Creativity and Imagination
- Improved Social Skills and Peer Relationships
- Focus and Attention
- Memory and Cognition
- Language Development
- Spatial Awareness
- Social/Emotional Development
- Increased Emotional Intelligence
- Emotion Regulation and Grounding Skills
- Peer Interaction and Relationship Skills
- Mindfulness and Calm Centeredness
- Self-esteem and Self-efficacy
Sensory Activities and the Five Senses
Sensory activities involve the five senses of touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing. They also deal with balance and movement, too. Here are some ways the senses gets activated through sensory activities:
- Touch – texture, temperature, vibration, pressure, consistency
- Taste – sweet, salty, tart, sour, bitter, spicy, earthy
- Sight – light, movement, color, shape, size, proportion
- Smell – strong aromas, soothing smells, appetizing smells, natural scents, familiar smells, new smells, gross odors
- Hearing – pitch, tone, loudness, intonation, modulation, cadence, speech, song, noise
- Movement – running, playing sports, lifting, dancing, pushing, pulling
- Balance – running, jumping, swinging, climbing, posing, hanging, stretching
Easy Activities That Won’t Break the Bank
If your a toddler mom, then you know that keeping a toddler busy is WORK. Their attention spans are better than they used to be, but they are still pretty short. Planning activities that inspire creativity and capture their attention often requires effort, time, and money. But the cool thing about these sensory activities is that they require very little of each.
All of the sensory activities for toddlers on this list involve minimal supplies and minimal prep. Whether you’re a wealthy mama or living paycheck to paycheck, these sensory activities are totally doable.
The sensory activities on this list were hand-picked with the following criteria in mind:
- Ease of Setup
- Targets 2 or More Senses
- Affordability
- High Fun Factor
In This List of Sensory Activities for Toddlers
Here is a rundown of the sensory activities in this round-up:
- DIY Shape Sorter
- Water Table Play
- Rainbow Rice
- Mega Blok Volcanoes
- Pouring Station
- Kinetic Sand
- Outside Play
- Rock Painting
- Edible Rainbow Sand
- Lemon Sensory Bin
- Play-Doh!
11 Sensory Activities for Toddlers They Will Adore
This list includes some of my favorite sensory activities for toddlers, all toddler-tested and therapist-mom approved. 🙂
Now let’s get to the list!
- DIY Shape Sorter
This DIY Shape Sorter was inspired by Pinterest-surfing and pandemic lockdown boredom. Armed with only a few art supplies and a cardboard box, this DIY Shape Sorter from yours truly, can be yours.
Check out my shape sorter tutorial here and get your kid matching colors and sorting shapes in no time.
- Water Table Play
I love water table play. Super simple and a no brainer sensory activity that requires very little effort on mom’s part. We bought this water table when our daughter was a baby and we have gotten our money’s worth out of it for sure!
While I adore our water table and consider it worth the small investment, you don’t need anything fancy to get the benefits of water play. Grab a big plastic storage bin, fill it up with water and toys and you’re all set.
- Rainbow Rice
This easy Rainbow Rice tutorial from Discovering Mommyhood offers an excellent way to incorporate colorful tactile play into your daily toddler activities. Throw a few toys into a bin with this rice, and your toddler will have a blast. Plus, it helps with learning colors, too.
- Mega Blok Volcanoes
These inspired Mega Blok Volcanoes from Happily Ever Mom are fantasticly creative! Your toddler will obsess over experimenting again and again with this super fun sensory activity. Make a mad scientist out of your little one with some sensory STEAM play!
Our toddler has this pack of Mega Bloks and she adores them, especially when it’s volcano time!
- Pouring Station
I know engaging with a pouring station is good for development of things like fine motor skills, scientific reasoning, and spatial awareness, but beyond all that, toddlers just ADORE pouring stations. There is something about pouring water from one container into another that makes them so happy.
My favorite pouring station setup comes from our LOVEVERY toddler play kit. The beakers and tubes are super fun and they are labeled such that your child can begin learning about the concept of displacement.
- Kinetic Sand
I love kinetic sand. It’s an amazing substance that’s pretty low mess. Plus, it offers lots of versatile, exploratory play for kids. I use kinetic sand at home and in my work as an art therapist. This beachy kinetic sand kit is our daughter’s favorite. I like to throw in a few colorful pompoms for good measure, because according to my daughter, pompoms make everything more fun.
- Outside Play
While it may seem obvious, outside play is not always something we think about as an activity for our toddler. But outside play is free, accessible, and offers loads of opportunity for sensory play. Pair it with this amazing subscription box for kids from Think Outside, and you and your littles will be off on adventure in no time.
- Rock Painting
Rock painting is a great activity for toddlers not only for the visual expression aspect of painting, but also for the tactile play experience it affords. We love this rock painting kit for toddlers.
Such a great way to model skills, engage in parallel play, and enjoy some joint art-making with your toddler. 🙂
- Edible Rainbow Sand
This DIY Edible Rainbow Sand idea from Fun Sensory Play is an amazing way to fill a sensory bin! This easy to make edible sand helps teach your toddler their colors and offers a fun landscape for creative play.
- Lemon Sensory Bin
This fantastic Lemon Sensory Bin from Days with Grey is packed with sensory fun! An excellent sensory activity for your toddler, this Lemon Sensory bin targets touch, sight, taste, and smell! Seriously, it smells amazing!
Creative activities for kids, self-care tips for parents, family bonding ideas & more with the Centered Parenting Facebook Group. Join now!
- Play-Doh!
When it comes to sensory activities for toddlers, I can’t say enough about Play-Doh! This affordable material gives your kiddo a chance to create, squeeze, build, and squish. Add in some fun tools and utensils, and Play-Doh targets fine motor skills, mindfulness skills, and cognitive skills. Plus, with a rainbow of colors to choose from, Play-Doh is great for creative expression and visual art-making. This Play-Doh set is our favorite because it comes with assorted tubs of Play-Doh and a great selection of tools and utensils.
Thanks so much for reading! Hope you found some fun new sensory activities to do with your toddler! If you want more awesome stuff from The Centered Parent, join our mailing list below!
