Sensory Play for Kids

Here is our collection of our sensory play activities here at Learning and Exploring Through Play. If you are looking for sensory play under a particular category - select an option below. If not continue scrolling down to view all of the fun in one place...

Sensory Categories 

Playdough            Water Play            Sensory Bags            Tuff Trays            Sensory Soups

Shaving Foam       Ice                        Shaving Foam           Bubbles                Exploring Texture

Painting                 Light Table           Edible Play               Nature                    

Shaving Foam Painting & Mark Making


A delightful, messy sensory experience and a fun painting technique perfect for focusing on the process....

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Cornflour Sensory Play

Add an interesting spin to cornflour sensory play by adding a fun element of experimenting and creating......

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27 Innovative and Fun Ideas for Water Play 


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Frozen Rainbow

We love water beads for sensory play!  They are tiny little balls that expand when hydrated in water. It takes around.......

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Ice Painting

If you are looking for great fun activities for kids this is towards the top of our list!
It gives children the opportunity to explore colour mixing, patterns and feel the texture of the slippery, cold, wet paint. You can also talk about the science behind ice - discuss.....

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Glow in the Dark Activities for Kids

Guest Post from Today's Play.
We recently created a black light room because, let’s be honest, who isn’t fascinated by objects glowing under black light?!  We had a space under our loft that was fairly dark so we hung a black light tube fixture and then I........

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Spring Sensory Box

Sensory Boxes are great for Sensory stimulation providing hands on learning. They give an opportunity for imaginative play and exploring a......

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Sensory Tuff Trays

Guest Post - The Ark
A wonderful collection of hands on learning through sensory play using Tuff Trays.

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Cardboard Castle Fort 

Children just love playing with cardboard boxes don't they? The most simplest of things please them the most!
Here we share a cardboard castle fort we created filled with lots of sensory items to explore....

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Playdough Sensory Bag

We used some black homemade playdough for this activity and added some neon straws. We placed  a....

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Painting Snow

We had a snowy down pour last night while Little N was in bed (typical as she would have loved it), so I was really happy to have woken this morning to a beautiful snow covered garden! Glad it didn't turn to rain and melt. We had enough to collect some up in a tray and.....

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Frozen Inspired Sensory Bag

We have been exploring different sensory bags lately and I decided to put together a Frozen themed/inspired sensory bag for Little N.
I used blue hair gel to fill the bag. Hair gel is my....

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Snowflake Textured Playdough

Using our simple homemade playdough recipe we created sky blue dough. I put out a range of tools and decorations to get creative.

The invitation for play looked....

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The Adventures of a Sensory Tuff Tray

Guest Post from The Ark
A very impressive collection of sensory Tuff Trays. Very easy to put together and great fun for hands on learning.


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Seed Planting

We had several packets of seeds that needed to be started now so we snapped up the opportunity on a cool but sunny day to get out in the garden and get........

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Exploring Weather Through Sensory Play

Guest Post -  Play and Leisure Opportunity Library in Swansea

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Custard Sensory Box

Sensory Play is so valuable for young children and we try to do as much of it as we can, this week we explored a custard filled sensory box that was great for stimulating all 5 senses.....

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Winter Nature Ice

You may have seen a post from us recently where we went on a lovely Woodland Winter Walk. Little N took her wicker basket and had collected lots of Nature which we brought home to take a closer look at. We used some of it to make..........

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Textured Heart Playdough

Little N was in her element today with this playdough activity. She loves anything pretty and sparkly so she was spoilt for choice in this set up! She spent such a long time selecting her decorations and adding them to her......

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Night Sky Sensory Bag

The water was a great filler for the sensory bag. Little N placed her hands onto the bag and put pressure on one side which pushed the water under......

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Spring Themed Sensory Bag

We had great fun with the water bead sensory bag and explored it in a range of different places which altered the experience each time....

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Heart Soup

Here was an invitation to create, explore and imagine.
An invitation to stimulate 4 of the 5 senses.....
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Valentines Sensory Box

Pour the rice into a container and begin to add the colouring. Using a metal spoon, work the colour through the rice. Stir thoroughly to....

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Heart Themed Sensory Bag

I used pink shampoo to fill this heart themed sensory bag. Shampoo that is almost transparent is a really good sensory bag filler as it is very....

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Snowflake Soup

Snowflake Soup was such a fun water play activity. Little N is a big fan of the Disney Film Frozen. It links in well not only with Little N's current interests but also the time of year - Winter. 

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New Year Sensory Box

Guest Post - Building Blocks & Acorns
A fun rummage tub perfect for new year sensory play....

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Winter Soup


We had been on such a lovely family walk in the Wyre Forest, on a very Frosty morning today. Whilst we were out walking Little N was also very busy collecting items in he wicker basket.......

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Gelibaff Goo


Guest Post - Alcester Nursery
Such a great activity from start to finish with so many opportunities for learning. 

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Open Ended Play with Small Loose Parts

Guest Post - Gingerbread Lane
An extremely inspiring post, showing open ended play with small loose parts at its finest!

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Open Ended Play with Small Loose Parts