20+ Ideas for Frugal and FUN Sensory Activities
Sensory Activities with Natural Materials
{Guest Post} Welcome, Rebekah of the Golden Gleam!
The fantastic part about the following list (aside from how much fun your kids will have with these materials…) is that the items are all free or in some cases, create a product that your family will eat in the end! A lot of people have a problem with using food for sensory play. They think it is wasteful, and it doesn’t teach children to respect the food that should be nourishing our bodies rather than being thrown in the trash after play.
No Waste Sensory Materials
In Your Backyard
- mud
- sprinklers
- grass clippings
- cut flowers
- dried leaves
Weather
- rain
- snow
In Nature
- bodies of water
- sand
- rocks
- dirt
- puddles
At Home
- a bath
- vegetable peels
- kneading bread
- preparing foodused coffee grounds
- ice
At the Park
- mulch
- gravel
- pool
- fountains
But she had rich sensory experiences because nature’s classroom is abundant with material for her to dig her hands into and explore. If children spend a lot of time playing in an environment filled with natural materials, the need for food or synthetic material as sensory play material is not necessary.
Rebekah learned about sensory play by mothering her daughter who likes to touch everything. She writes about lighting up kids through art, play, learning, and a lot of love at The Golden Gleam.
64 Positive Things to Say to Kids
Subscribe to Download your FREE printable of 64 Positive Things to Say to Kids
Great activities!! Can u put me on your e-mail list??
Just wanted to say that with the help of this page I’ve definitely put my storage boxes to a bit better use with storing some of these natural play ideas for the kids! Thanks!
https://supercheapselfstorage.com.au/facilities/gold-coast/
Awesome ideas here! So since there are a lot of these natural and easy to find activities to do, does that mean that I don’t have to keep toys and the like in storage anymore? Haha!https://supercheapselfstorage.com.au/facilities/sydney/sydney-inner-west/
Is such way of sensory activities be usefull for children with defablindness also?
Children love to feel useful and helpful as well. Getting them to organise things into storage is heaps of fun. There are always storage bins around our house for them to separate things: dry vs wet garden or composting materials; dark or light coloured laundry, toys vs books and stationeries. In time they will learn to love being helpful and organised, plus in a way, that is play as well.
I would like to know of sensory activities for 7 to 9 year old little boys. I am a grandmother that does a lot with my 2 grandsons but it seems like most things are for toddlers. Where can I get ideas for that age group? I find things on Pinterest that I do with them but I’m not sure if they are considered to be sensory activities. If what I find doesn’t work so well, we try something else. I take a lot of notes on Pinterest! We made the objects with rice in a bottle. Too easy for the oldest and he got bored with it. We are going to try the glitter bottles.
A page called Family Days Tried and Tested on Facebook.. She has 6 children I think aged 1 – 16 of both sexes and does loads of outdoor activities. Some fun ideas that I’m sure older boys would enjoy x
I love doing sensory activities with food too but I usually wait until the child is 3 or 4 years old before we used food for sensory activities. Up to that age I was trying to teach them to keep their hands out of their plate and to eat with utensils so I didn’t want to confuse them by giving them food to play in. I love getting messy with the kids. It’s so much fun.