30+ Gifts That Inspire Sensory Play – The Tot Guide
Sensory play is any type of play that allows babies and children to see, touch, smell, taste and hear. In this article, we look at the numerous benefits of sensory play and share our top sensory toy picks!
One of the most important things you can do for your baby’s development is to facilitate sensory play.
Defined as any type of play that stimulates the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch), sensory play is what allows children to make crucial nerve connections between their body and brain, master balancing and gain spacial awareness.
Studies show that when children (or adults) participate in an activity that introduces them to a distinct smell, sound, taste or feeling, they are more likely to retain and recall the experience. This is particularly beneficial for expanding vocabulary, gaining coordination, forming opinions, encouraging creative thinking and developing social skills.
Scroll down to learn more about the benefits of sensory play, variations and our favorite sensory toys.
Benefits of sensory play
- Helps form nerve connections between the body and brain.
- Aids in honing hand-eye coordination and the development of fine and gross motor skills.
- Demonstrates opposites such as: wet and dry, smooth and rough, hot and cold.
- Helps kids develop a sense of self and build confidence.
- Encourages critical thinking and the development of problem-solving skills.
- Strengthens memory.
- Can be calming for anxious kids.
- Can help a fussy eater overcome food texture issues.
Variations of sensory play
Instrumental in both cognitive and physical development, sensory play comes in many different shapes and sizes:
- Tactile: This type of sensory play allows children to explore an object with their hands, which enables them to learn if something is smooth or rough, hot or cold, big or small and much more.
- Vestibular: A child’s sense of balance and coordination comes from their vestibular system, which is located in the inner ear. Sensory activities like swinging, jumping and hanging are a great way for children to work on their balancing abilities.
- Proprioception: When it comes to developing spacial awareness, nothing is better than providing kids with toys and activities that allow them to discover how their limbs relate to the rest of their body. For example a wagon they can pull, a ball they can throw or a walker they can push.
- Auditory: In order for babies and kids to strengthen their hearing, making music, which may sound more like noise, is key!
- Visual: When babies are born, they can usually only see in black and white and only eight to twelve inches in front of them. By using sensory illustrations, you’ll help your baby and child develop depth perception.
- Olfactory and Taste: This type of sensory play is going to allow children to discover how something smells and tastes.
When it comes to choosing toys and materials for sensory play, it can be as simple as a bucket, sponge and water or recipe for baking cookies. However, many early learning educators recommended using toys that are specially designed to trigger your tot’s senses.
Arts & crafts sensory play
One of the most popular sensory activities is play dough. Getting to squish, smooth, sculpt and smell dough can help strengthen fine motor skills and provide both a creative and calming experience. It also helps strengthen the tiny muscles and ligaments needed to hold a pencil, zip a zipper and button a sweater.
Dough Parlour takes the activity a step further by providing aromatic scents like vanilla, bubble gum, chocolate and lemon! All non-toxic and produced in hand-made batches, they’re a must-have for every home and classroom! We particularly love using it with the Dough Kit stamps and tools from Let Them Play.
Activity Idea
For a nature sensory experience: Have your tot gather a few large leaves from outside. Place them under a white sheet of paper and use crayons to imprint the veins and silhouette of the leaves onto the paper!
Let Them Play Dough Kit
$25.50
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Dough Parlour Collector Set
$80
Dough Parlour Parlour Set – 6 Pack
$40
Dough Parlour Personalized Name Mat – Rainbow
$40
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Dough Parlour Personalized Name Mat – Sail Boat
$40
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Dough Parlour Unicorn Set
$45
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Dough Parlour Americana Set
$25
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Just Rocks in a Box – 64 Crayons
$30
Small parts sensory play
When kids play with small balls, discs, rings and people, they’re able to hone fine motor skills in a highly effective way.
Toys like the Rainbow Disc Stack & Thread Kit from Let Them Play and Papoose Rainbow Ball Set are great for learning colors, pattern making, counting, classifying and feeling different textures.
Let Them Play Rainbow Disc Stack & Thread Kit
$25
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Let Them Play Tree People – Rainbow
$29.50
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Papoose Rainbow Ball Set
$160
Papoose Rainbow Gnomes
$52.50
Sensory blocks, stackers and shape sorters
Blocks like the water blocks, river stone blocks and sensory blocks from PlanToys and Guidecraft add an element of science and fun to the classic game of blocks. From learning color mixing to texture exploration to even sound, kids will love using these block sets to create visually exciting structures.
The Green Toys Stacker is great because it can be used in a number of ways. From water-play to sand play, its sturdy (and non-toxic) design will help kids hone their hand-eye coordination, learn shapes and colors and interact with the world around them.
Miniland Sensory Balls
$41.98
Grapat Bowls & Balls
$63
Guidecraft Wood Stackers River Stones
$39.95
Green Toys Shape Sorter
$19.99
Mushie Stacking Cups
$14.99
Outdoor sensory play
When it comes to sensory play, there’s so much to explore outside!
The Explore Nook Wooden Water & Sand Wheel is a fun way for kids to feel tiny granules of sand, make buckets of mud and explore the ever-changing physical properties of water and sand, while the Gardenuity My First Garden kit has everything your tot needs to plant a veggie patch.
Gardenuity – My First Garden
$98
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Explore Nook Wooden Water & Sand Wheel
$59
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Explore Nook Wooden Waterways
$149
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Gross motor sensory play
By climbing, hanging and swinging, kids are able to develop a sense of balance and gain spacial awareness.
We love toys like the Pikler Triangle from Wiwiurka, Wishbone’s 3-in-1 wagon that kids can ride, push and pull as well as the classic board swing from Babai!
Wiwiurka Foldable Climbing Triangle With Rock Climbing Board
Ranging from $545 – $570
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Available in more colors
Babai Swing
Ranging from $36.99 – $39.99
Available in more colors
Wishbone Wagon
$399.99
Sensory play & food
One of the easiest ways to encourage sensory play is to get your tot in the kitchen! One of the best ways to encourage fussy eaters to eat, is to let them smell, touch and feel all of the ingredients. This is also a fun way to demonstrate how some things can be sweet or sour, hot or cold, bland or spicy and so on!
Does your tot LOVE ice cream? You have got to try this one ingredient banana ice cream from Healthy Little Foodies!
We know it’s not always easy for kids to reach the counter, which is why we’re loving the Toddler Tower from HART + LAND.
EKOBO Bambino Ice Cream Cup + Spoon Set
$25
Franklin + Emily Learning Tower
$185
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HART + LAND Toddler Tower
$179
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Available in more colors
Musical sensory play
When it comes to helping your child develop rhythm and hand-eye coordination, there’s nothing quite like a musical toy!
BabyNoise is one of our favorite brands because their simple and sweet instruments are both non-toxic and ideal for little hands.
BabyNoise Rain Maker
$45
BabyNoise Double Maraca
$19
Available in more colors
BabyNoise Hand Held Drum
$32
Sensory necklaces, bracelets and teethers
Both January Moon and Loulou Lollipop have fabulous silicone teether options for both babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. Beneficial at every age, the necklaces and bracelets can sooth sore gum, offer something to touch and fidget with when nervous or simply add style to your tot’s fav look.
The HART + LAND Double Silicone Teether has been wildly popular and it’s no wonder why. The combination of silicone and wood is a wonderful juxtaposition for babies to explore with their hands and mouths.
January Moon Sensory Necklace
$34
Available in more colors
January Moon Sensory Bracelet
$25
Available in more colors
HART + LAND Double Silicone Teether
$25
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Available in more colors
The Tot play & learn sets
For newborns and babies, sensory play is important for strengthening eyesight and helping them reach important developmental milestones such as tracking an object, grasping an object, responding to a sound, turning their head towards a noise and babbling.
With nine sets available up to six years of age, the first three Play + Learn Sets (0 – 3 Months, 3 – 6 Months and 6 -12 Months) have been created by early learning educators to provide the optimal age-based sensory toys and activities for babies.
The Tot Play + Learn Set 0 – 3 Months
$120
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Developmental Milestone Activities + Educational Toys
The Tot Play + Learn Set 3 – 6 Months
$120
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Developmental Milestone Activities + Educational Toys
The Tot Play + Learn Set 6 – 12 Months
$120
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Developmental Milestone Activities + Educational Toys
Continue exploring
- What is Open-Ended Play? Check out The Tot Guide here.
- Trying to make home feel like school? Visit The Tot Homeschooling Essentials Shop.
