When you think of the word ‘play’, the five senses might not be the first thing that comes to mind. You might picture the toys you played with as a child, or the games that you played outside with the neighborhood kids. But did you know that there is an easy way to incorporate play that supports brain development? It’s called sensory play! What is sensory play, you ask? Well, it’s a fun and easy way to promote healthy brain development, motor skills, and creativity! Read on to learn more about sensory play and why it’s so important for your child’s development.
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Working sensory activity into your child’s routine not only promotes healthy growth, but it’s fun and easy to implement, too!
If you are looking to gain a better understanding of sensory play, then you have come to the right place.
Here is an overview of what the article will cover:
- What is Sensory Play?
- What is Sensory Play for Babies?
- Why is Sensory Play for Babies Important?
- What is Sensory Play for Toddlers?
- Sensory Play Examples
- Why is Sensory Play Important?
- What Are the Benefits of Sensory Play?
- When to Start Sensory Play?
What is Sensory Play?
In simple terms, sensory play is any form of play that stimulates the senses. It doesn’t have to incorporate all five senses at once, but the more senses engaged at the same time, the better. Play experiences that help your child learn about the world around them lie at the heart of sensory play.
Sensory Play and the Five+ Senses
Sensory play stimulates the five senses of touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing. Additionally, it can involve balance and movement, too. Here are some ways to think about how each of the senses gets activated through play:
- 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
Sensory activity grants babies and toddlers an amazing opportunity to interact with their world and to learn through fun. This form of play can be achieved through a seemingly endless number of activities – engagement with sensory toys, arts and crafts activities, playing outside, DIY sensory bins, and more. Babies and toddlers do so much growing and sensory play supports the heck out of that growth.
What is Sensory Play for Babies?
When it comes to sensory play for babies, the world is their playground. Everything around them offers an opportunity to experience something new. Because baby brains are developing at such a rapid rate, they are hard-wired to observe their surroundings. Choosing activities that engage multiple senses will help make the most of this rapid growth. With regard to sensory play for babies, all of the senses play a role. But in my experience, touch, taste, and sight are major players at this age.
Sensory Play for Babies Through Touch
Babies get a lot of sensory data through touch. They use their hands, mouth, and skin to explore objects and surfaces. Soft rattles, teething toys, and textured books all activate the sense of touch.
When our daughter was a baby, one of her favorite toys was this squishy turtle lovingly referred to in our family as Ted the Turtle. In real life, Ted is called Topsy Turtle Mirror Pal, and she’s a great sensory toy for babies. Topsy Turtle is easy to squeeze and she has varied textures that babies love. Plus, Topsy Turtle has a baby safe mirror on her belly and a rattle inside each foot. When you squeeze one of her feet, it makes a crunchy, crinkly sound. Seriously, our daughter loves this turtle. 🙂 You can get your own Topsy Turtle here on Amazon.
Sensory Play for Babies Through Taste
Babies love to taste everything! If they can grab it, it’s going right into their mouth. When solid foods are introduced, babies get to experience a whole range of flavors. This stage is one of the few chances kids get to play with their food. Things like homemade edible playdough, eco-dough, sensory bins made with Cheerios, and fruit puree finger paints make awesome sensory activities for babies. NOTE: I am not advocating the consumption of play dough or eco dough here. Just highlighting that it will VERY likely go in your toddler’s mouth, so might as well get the good stuff, lol!
Sensory Play for Babies Through Sight
Babies enjoy graphic visuals, soothing lights, and contrasting colors. As our daughter’s eyesight developed, we put these awesome high contrast art cards for babies in her bassinet. She would stare at them for what seemed like hours. As she got older, she also liked to put the art cards in her mouth. 🙂
Why is Sensory Play for Babies Important?
Sensory play for babies is important because they are building their brains at such a rapid rate, any opportunity to encourage neural connections that will support future development are worth taking advantage of. The earlier you start, the better.
Sensory activity actually has an impact on the structure of the brain. The more your baby engages multiple senses while learning, the more the brain will grow connections that will serve them later in life.
Moreover, sensory experiences support language development. By providing your baby with diverse sensory experiences, you give them a chance to communicate and name those experiences. Their vocabulary will grow and so will their ability to communicate with others. This kind of learning and growth will continue into their toddler years.
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What is Sensory Play for Toddlers?
When it comes to toddlers, playtime kicks into high gear. Toddlers are working on their independence and so naturally, they adore activities that put them in the driver seat. Sensory activities offer them a chance to try new things and test out their newfound autonomy. Movement, balance, sight, sound, and touch move to the forefront in this stage.
One easy way to grant your toddler access to an amazing sensory experience is to get them outside. Let them roam free in a field, explore the woods, or examine the backyard. Outside time naturally engages the senses!
Sensory Play for Toddlers Through Movement & Balance
Our daughter was on the move from the day she was born. And that was never truer than during her toddler years. She would turn anything into a balance beam – curbs, stone walls, painted lines on the road – you name it, she wanted to walk on it. Using everyday objects as balance beams is a great way to help your child with their balance.
Other sensory activities related to movement and balance could include yoga (check out Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Toddlers and Preschoolers by certified yoga instructor Helen Garabedian), spinning games, kicking a ball around the yard, hopscotch, or climbing on a jungle gym.
Sensory Play for Toddlers Through Sight
Play for toddlers that targets their sense of sight is pretty easy to do. For starters, toddlers are fascinated by colors, shapes, and light. They are also into opposites (big/small, short/tall, high/low) so you can do visual activities that teach them more about opposites with regard to size or proportion.
Early on in the COVID pandemic, I was desperate to come up with creative activities we could do at home. Thanks to some Pinterest inspiration, I created a makeshift shape and color game. I used a cardboard box, tempera paint, and peel and stick Velcro to make the box below. It was a big hit because my toddler could not only practice color matching, but she could sort by shape, too.
Other visual activities for this stage could include shadow play, painting, playing with sensory jars, or using shape sorters. We love this Stack and Sort Board from Melissa and Doug.
And this awesome visual liquid motion bubbler sensory toy. We use it on the changing table to help the toddler calm down before bed.
Sensory Play for Toddlers Through Sound
Song and dance go hand in hand, and toddlers love to sing and dance. Singing songs with your toddler is one of the best ways to engage them in play related to sound. Sing some nursery rhymes together that engage your little one physically for extra bonus points. Try I’m a Little Teapot, London Bridges, Pat-a-Cake, or Ring Around the Rosie.
Other ways to engage your toddler through sound is to play games or sing songs that give them practice at modulating their voice. Sometimes we play a game called Asleep/Awake that came about one day while I was laying on the couch. Our daughter pretends I’m asleep and she will whisper things to me like “goodnight, mama” and “sleep to dream, mama” (which is her version of sweet dreams). Then, when she decides it’s time for me to wake up, she will yell “Cock-a-doodle-do!” at the top of her voice. I pop up, eyes wide in surprise, and she laughs her head off.
In terms of sensory toys related to sound, there are loads of noisy toys out there. But I can give you one solid recommendation that combines sight, sound, and touch. Our daughter obsesses over this Chomp and Count Dino from VTech. It sings, makes hungry sounds, and celebrates with fanfare when you feed it veggies and fruits. Plus, it teaches colors, numbers, and healthy eating habits, too! One of our toddler’s favorite sensory toys of all time!
Sensory Play for Toddlers Through Touch
As far as sensory play for toddlers through touch, the options are endless. Because they are wired to get sensory information through their hands and mouth, tactile play really gets their neurons firing. Sensory bins are awesome for targeting this type of play. Throw some old rice, cereal, or pasta in a bin with some toys and you’ve got a sensory experience that your child will love.
Toddlers love to explore with their hands and so any sensory experience that offers them the chance to feel, move, and manipulate objects is a win. Teach them how to roll and shape Play-Doh into snakes and balls and you’ve got a super simple art activity your toddler will adore.
We love this Play-Doh Starter Set because it has everything you need to get those little hands working on that dough! It’s a really easy way to promote fine motor skills and brain development.
Sensory Play Examples
You can turn virtually anything into a sensory activity. Pots and pans in the kitchen, a pile of leaves in the yard, toys in the bathtub, ingredients for cookie dough – if it activates the senses, it’s good for playtime. Here are some more examples:
Water Table Play
Our go-to activity in warmer weather is the water table. Touch, sight, sound, and even taste (:)) are all activated during water table play. Our toddler adores her water table and each year seems to engage with it differently. We got this water table from Little Tykes when she was 6 months old and we have got a LOT of use out of it. Highly recommend!
Little Tikes Frog Pond Water Table
Arts and Crafts
We do arts and crafts time with our toddler several times a week. Not only is it a great way to nourish her creativity, but it’s also a fun way to promote brain development. Art-making has so many other benefits, too.
According to Jean Van’t Hul, author of The Artful Parent and creator of the blog by the same name, art-making promote creativity, builds confidence, encourages neural connections, and sharpens your child’s ability to problem-solve. Plus, manipulating art supplies helps kids develop their fine motor skills.
In my training as an art therapist, I learned early on that children develop visual language first, and allowing them space to create gives them an opportunity to communicate and express themselves in ways that words do not. What’s more, regular self-expression through art fosters good mental health.
These Washable Tempera Paint Pens from MayMoi are one of our absolute favorite art supplies for arts and crafts time! 🎨 They are easy to store, easy to use, and virtually mess-free! Total mom win all around.
Learn more about the MayMoi Washable Tempera Paint Sticks here.
Busy Boards
Busy boards are a great way to target fine motor skills during tactile play. We got this affordable busy board on Amazon and our daughter loves working on the buckles, snaps, and ties. Because of the way this busy board is designed, it grows with her as she develops more skills. Get it here on Amazon.
More Sensory Activity Examples
Other examples include:
- Tray play with dried beans
- Pouring water activity with pitcher and cups
- Finger painting
- Sensory bin play
- Rolling and shaping with Play-Doh
- Tray play with water and sponge
- Stacking with Mega Blocks
- Painting and drawing at an easel
- Baking cookies
- Exploratory sand play via sand tray, kinetic sand, or sand table
- Painting with your feet
- Hide and seek in the backyard
- Hiking through the woods
- Sorting shapes and colors with Montessori-style wooden shape sorter
- Gluing with crafts supplies like pompoms, buttons, etc.
Why is Sensory Play Important?
As mentioned above, sensory play promotes brain development. It improves cognitive skills through exploration, observation, and the building of sensory memory. According to an article from the Michigan State University Extension (2016), “Once a child has these experiences, they are able to draw upon the body memory and cognitive memory of their experiences when faced with new situations.”
Brain Neuroplasticity
These early childhood experiences help kids build skills they will draw upon their entire lives. That’s because sensory play builds important neural pathways in the brain. The more they engage the sensory-related neural pathways, the more they will strengthen them. During brain development, less used pathways are pruned to make way for more preferred synaptic connections. This process of brain growth and change is called neuroplasticity and it’s a vital part of understanding the importance of sensory play.
According to a literature review published in the Journal of Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2009), “a wide range of sensory and motor experiences can produce long-lasting plastic changes in the brain…these early experiences have a powerful effect on brain organization both during development and in adulthood.”
Learning and Development
Sensory activities also promote STEAM learning (science, technology, engineering, art, math) and a better understanding of cause and effect. Additionally, therapeutically-designed sensory experiences support learning and development for kids with sensory issues, including children on the autism spectrum.
All in all, sensory play is an amazing learning tool for parents, teachers, and therapists. Sensory activities are affordable, accessible, easy to implement, and there are opportunities everywhere to engage your child in this simple form of play. When you take all of that into consideration, including the immense number of benefits to your child, it’s easy to see why sensory play is so important.
What Are the Benefits of Sensory Play?
In addition to what has already been discussed, there are several worthwhile benefits of sensory play. It promotes skill-building of all kinds, including the following:
- Cognitive Skills
- Observational Skills
- Problem-Solving Skills
- Communication Skills
- Social Skills
- Gross and Fine Motor Skills
Sensory Play Benefits
As you can probably tell from this comprehensive list of benefits, sensory play gives you a lot of bang for your buck. Because sensory activities target multiple senses, they engage different parts of the brain. Therefore, many aspects of brain and body development are affected. Additionally, things like peer relationships, self-esteem, and emotional intelligence get a boost as well.
Sensory play positively impacts your child in the following areas:
- Scientific Reasoning
- Mathematical Skills
- Creativity and Imagination
- Focus and Attention
- Memory and Cognition
- Language Development
- Spatial Awareness
- Social/Emotional Development
- Emotion Regulation and Grounding Skills
- Peer Interaction and Relationship Skills
- Mindfulness and Calm Centeredness
- Self-esteem and Self-efficacy
When to Start Sensory Play?
It is never too early to start sensory play! Infants in their bassinets, babies who can cruise and crawl, toddlers who can run and jump – they all benefit from sensory activities! What’s more, you’ve already introduced your child to sensory experiences, even if you weren’t trying to. But, if you would like to be more intentional about it, there is no better time than the present.
If you are just getting started, and you are looking for some straightforward ways to work more sensory activity into your child’s routine, the suggested ideas below offer an easy way to introduce it to your child.
How to Start Sensory Play with Babies
It’s super easy to start sensory play with your baby. Try any and all of the toys and activities below and you will be on your way!
Newborns 0-6 months
For infants who aren’t moving around much yet, try some of these sensory toys and activities (click on the purple links to see my top product picks):
- graphic art cards
- soothing sound machine
- reading books to baby
- sensory toys that play with light and sound
- noisy rattles
- singing and dancing (though babies often bounce to the beat, you can help baby dance as well)
- squishy toys with varied textures
- textured teethers
- soft toys that are fun to touch like this soft Baby Wrist Rattle Socks and Foot Finder Set
- baby massage (this handy guide shows you how)
- baby play gym
- tummy time
- soft interactive baby books
- more DIY sensory activity ideas
Baby Wrist Rattle Socks and Foot Finder Set
Infants 6-12 months
For older babies who are more mobile, I recommend any and all of these sensory toys and activities (click on the purple links to see my top product picks):
- soft interactive learning toys
- interactive activity cubes
- painting with hands and feet
- singing and dancing (check out Super Simple Songs on YouTube)
- homemade edible playdough
- interactive Poke-A-Dot books
- fidget cubes for babies
- baby touch and feel books (like the one in the video below)
Babies 12-18 months
For babies who aren’t quite toddlers but getting there, try some of these super simple activities (click on the purple links to see my top product picks):
- coloring with jumbo crayons
- tray play with water and sponge
- interactive musical toys (like the award-winning Think and Learn Rocktopus from Fisher Price)
- blowing bubbles
- visiting local museums
- introduce busy boards
- playing with stretchy sensory toys they can manipulate
BUNMO Stretchy Strings Sensory Toys for Toddlers 1-3
How to Start Sensory Play with Toddlers
Here are some simple ways to introduce your toddler to age-appropriate sensory activities (click on the purple links to see my top product picks):
- arts and crafts activities with glue
- painting
- using sidewalk chalk outside
- playing in a sprinkler
- age-based play kits
- push and play toys
- bathtub water play with interactive bath toys
- sandbox play
- sensory bin with cheerios (or rice) and dinosaurs or (farm animals)
- STEAM play kits
- sensory kits
- activity tables
- toddler busy boards
Thank you so much for reading all about sensory play! I hope you got some good ideas about how to use sensory play with your kids. Comment below with your favorite sensory activities!
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References
- Benefits of Sensory Play for Kids. (2021, February 08). Retrieved March 24, 2021, from https://www.oac.edu.au/news-views/sensory-play/
- Butcher, K. (2021, March 17). Cognitive development and sensory play. Retrieved March 24, 2021, from https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/cognitive_development_and_sensory_play
- Crider, C. (2020, October 06). Sensory Experiences for Kids: What They Are and Activities to Try. Retrieved March 24, 2021, from https://www.healthline.com/health/sensory-experiences
- Dickie, V. A., Baranek, G. T., Schultz, B., Watson, L. R., & Mccomish, C. S. (2009). Parent Reports of Sensory Experiences of Preschool Children With and Without Autism: A Qualitative Study. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63(2), 172-181. doi:10.5014/ajot.63.2.172
- Educational Playcare. (2016, October 20). Why Sensory Play is Important for Development. Retrieved March 25, 2021, from https://www.educationalplaycare.com/blog/sensory-play-important-development/
- Hul, V. J. (2019). The artful parent: Simple ways to fill your family’s life with art and creativity. Boulder: Roost Books.
- Kashin, D., Ed. D, RECE. (2019, April 18). Sensory Play Goes Beyond the Basics. Retrieved March 24, 2021, from https://tecribresearch.wordpress.com/2019/04/18/sensory-play-goes-beyond-the-basics/
- Kolb, B., PhD, & Gibb, R., PhD. (2011). Brain Plasticity and Behaviour in the Developing Brain. Journal of Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 20(4), 265-276. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
- Li, A. P. (2021, March 02). Benefits Of Sensory Play To Brain Development. Retrieved March 24, 2021, from https://www.parentingforbrain.com/sensory-activities-importance-sensory-play/
- Morin, A. (2020, October 26). How Does Sensory Play Help With a Child’s Development? Retrieved March 24, 2021, from https://www.verywellfamily.com/why-sensory-play-is-important-2086510
- Pace, A. (2019, August 26). This is why sensory play is so important – backed by research. Retrieved March 24, 2021, from https://parentingfromtheheartblog.com/sensory-play-ideas/
