Baby Sensory Play Ideas To Boost Your Child's Development

We all learn best when we involve our senses – babies included. Which is just one reason why sensory play should become a regular fixture in your little one’s routine.

It’s not only fun for her, but it will help her develop a whole range of skills and ultimately boost her all-round development.

“When we talk about sensory play we are talking about any kind of play that stimulates, supports and encourages the development of all of your child’s senses,” says leading parenting expert Fi Star-Stone.

And it’s also good for building on your tot’s cognitive and fine motor skills, as sensory play encourages language development, too.

“By playing with different textures, sounds, smells and sights, you are encouraging your little one to talk through their experiences,” says Fi. “Sensory play involving tastes can even build the foundations for your child’s language base.”

You don’t even need to spend lots on tech-savvy sensory toys. Have a good raid of your cupboards and you’ll probably discover that you’ve got everything you need to create dozens of sensory activities from the comfort of your own home.

Whoever said development-boosting games had to be costly?

Sensory Play Ideas To Try At Home

1. Dyed Oats
Use food colouring to dye some porridge oats lots of different shades and, once dried, pour them into the washing up bowl for your little one to have fun with. You can also do this with rice, chickpeas and pasta.

2. Sensory Play Box
Grab a cardboard box and attach pieces of coloured ribbon to it for your baby to crawl through. Or make some holes and poke through pipe cleaners and strips of fabric for your baby to tug.

3. Bottle Shakers
Fun noisemakers are a great way to entice your tot’s sense of sound. Fill an empty plastic bottle with buttons or rice for your child to shake to his heart’s content.

4. Bubble Wrap
Simple as it sounds, bubble wrap is a great fabric for your baby to play with. She’ll love feeling the bumps and popping the bubbles – and you can paint it together to make it more colourful.

5. Muddy Puddles
Sensory play doesn’t have to stay indoors; take the fun outside on a rainy day and splash around in muddy puddles.

6. Sand Play
Chances are, the gritty texture of sand is completely different to anything else your tot will have come across – and getting up close and personal with it doesn’t have to be reserved for beach outings. If you don’t have a sand pit in your garden or at your local park, buy a bag of it from a hardware store and pour it in a bucket for your child to have fun with.

7. Spaghetti
Squidgy and slightly sticky, cooked spaghetti is fun for babies to play with – and edible! Make things more colourful by putting a handful into a couple of different sandwich bags, and add in a good few drops of food dye in each.

8. Bath Bubbles
Bath time is a great point to have some sensory play. Babies love the look and feel of bath bubbles and you can even add in a drop of essential oils to tantalise his sense of smell, too.

9. Shaving Foam
The bouncy feel and fresh scent of shaving foam is a great product for your baby to play with. Just make sure doesn’t put any of it in her mouth – it won’t do her tum any good.

10. Paint-Filled Zip Bags
This is genius. There’s zero mess involved and a whole lot of sensory fun!

11. Straw-Filled Sensory Tub
Fill a box with different coloured drinking straws. So much fun to be had. Alternatively, throw in pieces of ribbons, buttons and pieces of tissue paper.

12.  Sludge
Make a mega batch of corn flour paste and together with some coloured paint and water, put it in a bucket or tray for

your tot to get his hands into. Slush heaven.

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