{"id":1000006717,"date":"2025-08-04T04:13:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T04:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/?p=1000006717"},"modified":"2025-08-04T08:14:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T08:14:12","slug":"sensory-play-ideas-for-toddlers-or-preschoolers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/04\/sensory-play-ideas-for-toddlers-or-preschoolers\/","title":{"rendered":"Sensory Play Ideas for Toddlers or Preschoolers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For children, play is not just fun, it is an integral part of their development! As they begin to explore the world around them, play will be the foundation of many of the skills they need to grow throughout their childhood and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>Play is essential for developing skills such as problem-solving, collaboration, creativity, and executive functioning, and it&#8217;s how we learn, not the process of what we learn. Since children are naturally dependent on their senses, a specific type of play, called sensory play, can help them take in and learn from it.<\/p>\n<p>Here, we&#8217;ll cover what sensory play is, the different types of sensory play, and how to incorporate it into your child&#8217;s daily life.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"497\" height=\"359\" class=\"wp-image-1000006718 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Pasted-11.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Pasted-11.png 497w, https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Pasted-11-300x217.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 497px) 100vw, 497px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>What Is Sensory Play?<\/h3>\n<p>In a nutshell, sensory play refers to games or activities that stimulate a child&#8217;s senses: sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing. It also promotes a child&#8217;s sense of balance and body awareness.<\/p>\n<p>Play is the natural language in which children communicate and process their thoughts and emotions. Sensory play refers to any activity that combines the five senses, such as digging in sand, singing, listening to music, or playing with textured toys. The possibilities are endless and can be incorporated into your and your child&#8217;s daily routine, regardless of their age.<\/p>\n<h3>Types of Sensory Play<\/h3>\n<p>Although, in general, sensory games involve any type of activity, as long as one or more senses are involved, there are several types or categories of sensory games. These different types include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"\"><strong>Visual and sensory games:<\/strong> Improve children&#8217;s visual sense and visual processing skills through games such as hide-and-seek, shadow puppetry, and color mixing activities. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\"><strong>Auditory sensory play:<\/strong> Help children learn different sounds and improve their listening skills. Activities include listening to or playing music, reading books, and playing clapping games.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\"><strong>Tactile sensory play:<\/strong> stimulates the child&#8217;s sense of touch. This can include any activity that explores objects with your hands, such as playing with sand, plasticine, or slime.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\"><strong>Taste &amp; Smell Sensory Play:<\/strong> Explore your child&#8217;s sense of taste and smell through activities such as smelling flowers and tasting different foods, fruits and vegetables.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\"><strong>Vestibular sensory games:<\/strong> Our vestibular system is located in the inner ear and helps us interpret movements, such as moving or stationary, fast or slow, and the direction in which we are traveling. Activities include rolling, swinging, running, and jumping.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\"><strong>Prorioceptive sensory games:<\/strong> The proprioceptive system enables your body to sense its position in space and perform actions simultaneously without thinking (e.g., dribbling while running). Activities include pushing, pulling, climbing, chewing, and blowing bubbles.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Luckily, every type of sensory play can be integrated into your child&#8217;s daily routine!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1000006719  aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Pasted-12.png\" width=\"502\" height=\"335\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Pasted-12.png 529w, https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Pasted-12-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 502px) 100vw, 502px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Sensory Play Activity Ideas for Different Age Groups<\/h3>\n<p>Overall, there is no right or wrong way to play with the senses, as you and your child can be creative in ways that work for both of you, Davis explains.<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, here are some fun sensory play ideas for different age groups:<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"\">Sensory Play for Babies (0 to 12 months)<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>To stimulate your baby&#8217;s senses, here are some fun ideas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"\">Let your baby hold and shake the rattle<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Gently stroke and tickle your baby<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Play music or sing a song <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Play with a baby safety mirror <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Play with stacking rings <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Expose your baby to different fabrics and textures such as cotton, wool, velvet, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Play with blocks of different sizes<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">While reading a board book, ask your baby to help turn the pages while looking at the pictures<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Play peek-a-boo and clapping<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Bouncing, rolling, and throwing balls of various textures<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Crawl over or under safe objects around the house<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Fill toys and objects of different shapes, colors, and textures into bowls or buckets (make sure none of them are small enough to swallow!)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"503\" height=\"348\" class=\"wp-image-1000006720 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Pasted-13.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Pasted-13.png 503w, https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Pasted-13-300x208.png 300w, https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Pasted-13-218x150.png 218w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 503px) 100vw, 503px\" \/><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"\">Sensory play for toddlers (1 to 3 years old)<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Early childhood is the best time to use sensory play to explore! That is, you should always make sure that, depending on the activity, your child will be able to play with certain objects without having to put them in their ears or mouth. (You know your child best!)<\/p>\n<p>Here are some sensory play ideas for toddlers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"\">Use plasticine or kinetic sand for construction and carving<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Finger painting<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Play with a bowl of cooked and cooled spaghetti (so soft!)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Fill a portion of the water bottle with water and add glitter or food coloring (be sure to seal it with tape)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Playing in a ball pit (inflatable or plastic)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Create your own sand table: Load the sand into a container or baking tray and let your child explore the texture of the sand, bury toys, and draw shapes with their fingers<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Use pots, pots, and spoons to make your own instruments<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Go for a walk outdoors and point out different sounds, from birds and other animals to cars, lawn mowers, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Use a brush or have your child use their fingers to apply shaving cream to a table or other flat surface (paper is too thin)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Go on a scavenger hunt nearby, look for flowers (and smell them!), different textures (pine cones, grass, etc.), and so on<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><span style=\"\">Sensory play for older children (3 years and older)<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>As children grow, they gain more freedom when exploring their senses. Some sensory play ideas for preschoolers (and older kids) include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"\">Playing with food \u2013 really! Some studies have shown that preschoolers who engage in sensory play with real fruits and vegetables are more likely to try these foods, as well as other new foods.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Use dirt, sticks, grass, etc., to &#8220;cook&#8221; with nature to make simulated food. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Jump rope or trampoline<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Ask your child to help bake bread or cookies, especially pouring and mixing ingredients<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Playing with water droplets (safest for older toddlers and children)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Find toys or bricks of different sizes and have your child sort them from oldest to smallest<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Blindfold your child and let them guess different foods based on their tastes<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Play a game of hide and seek or &#8220;I watch&#8221;.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Play with sensory toys such as fidget spinners, pinballs, soft balls\/creatures, spinning tops, and magnets <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Engage in artistic activities, such as drawing with scent markers<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"\">Use tape from the floor, outdoor logs, or other safety surfaces as balance beams<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Create a sensory box: Use pasta, rice, or beans and add small toys of all shapes and sizes that kids can play with, cover, and bury with spoons and spoons<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For children, play is not just fun, it is an integral part of their development! As they begin to explore the world around them, play will be the foundation of many of the skills they need to grow throughout their childhood and beyond. Play is essential for developing skills such as problem-solving, collaboration, creativity, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1000006718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000006717"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1000006717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000006717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1000006721,"href":"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000006717\/revisions\/1000006721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1000006718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1000006717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1000006717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lovechildhood.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1000006717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}