One afternoon I taught my 9-year-old daughter how to use the apple slicer. It’s not the easiest kitchen tool around, so we worked together to push the apple slicer through the shiny red apple she picked from the fruit bowl. We laughed when a few drops of juice spritzed us in the face, causing us both to take a step back. The…
Super Cool Sensory Stations You Can DIY
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Peek-a-Boo Sensory Board
This is an awesome way to reuse all those finished baby wipe containers. By turning them into a peek-a-boo sensory board, you can hide various fun and colorful textures behind each door!
Get the DIY tutorial at Motherhood and Other Adventures.
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Rainbow Silly Putty
Your kids will love this fun DIY project, and they'll have fun kneading it to alleviate hypersensitivity to textures while simultaneously getting rid of stress.
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Bubble Wrap Stomp Painting
Bubble wrap is great for sensory play -- no matter what -- but kids will have an especially fun time wrapping their little feet in this cushy, plastic material and then creating their own colorful, creative works of art.
Get the DIY tutorial at Mess for Less.
Photo: Mess for Less
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Water-Bead Sensory Bottles
Water beads and rainbow colors make a great sensory play activity for babies and toddlers. Have them simply explore the bottles at their leisure, or try having toddlers identify colors, or match the colors to other objects in the house.
Get the DIY tutorial at Living Montessori Now.
Photo: Living Montessori Now
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Sensory Boxes
Babies love to open and close boxes, and with this fun DIY your baby can explore different textures and colors, too.
Get the DIY tutorial at Teaching Mama.
Photo: Teaching Mama
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Edible Finger Paint
Edible finger paint is like a sensory explosion! It's great fun to make with the kids, and loaded with colors, textures, and flavors that won't harm your kiddo.
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Insect Sensory Bin
Bugs and beans and butterflies, oh my! Using tweezers to collect bugs is a great challenge for fine motor skills. Kids can make bug cupcakes and bury them in the beans -- the possibilities are endless.
Get the DIY tutorial at Cutting Tiny Bites.
Photo: Cutting Tiny Bites
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Edible Sensory Balls
Jello and ice ball moulds make this an incredibly easy DIY project that will stimulate the senses with its sweet smell, slippery texture, and unforgettable taste.
Get the DIY tutorial at The Mud Kitchen.
Photo: The Mud Kitchen
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Fake Snow
With a bit of hair conditioner and baking soda, you can create a cool-to-the-touch, soft, snowy wonderland in your home and make snowballs without even having to go outside.
Get the DIY tutorial at Momma's Fun World.
Photo: Momma's Fun World
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Crayon Floam Dough
Moldable, colorful, crumbly, and MESSY! A fun recipe mixing dough and styrofoam and crayon play dough that the kids will love.
Get the DIY tutorial at Sugar Aunts.
Photo: Sugar Aunts
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Foil Painting
Bright, shiny foil makes a great canvas for this fun and stimulating sensory art project. Use some sensory paints (made with pudding, flour, or sand) and let the kids get creative -- and messy.
Get the DIY tutorial at Frogs Snails and Puppy Dog Tails.
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Googly Eye Sensory Bag
This is a great squishy, eye-filled sensory bag for babies and toddlers -- and it's mess free, quick, and easy.
Get the DIY tutorial at Clare's Little Tots.
Photo: Clare's Little Tots
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Hot Chocolate Sensory Bin
With the addition of chocolate tea bags, your sensory bin gets the added dimension of scent in this super fun and imaginative game.
Get the DIY tutorial at Play & Learn Every Day.
Photo: Play and Learn Every Day
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Painting with Balloons
Kids will love the colors and creative freedom they get from painting with balloons, not to mention the sensory benefits of working the balloons in with the paint to produce specific patterns on paper.
Get the DIY tutorial at Learning 4 Kids.
Photo: Learning 4 Kids
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Balloon '5 Senses' Game
Using a funnel, you can fill different balloons with easy to difficult textures -- from beans, to sugar, to playdough -- and encourage kids to squeeze, shake, smell, and have fun deciphering what's inside.
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Exploring Circles
Sensory play doesn't have to be complex or labor intensive. A bag of different sized pompoms can be incredibly stimulating for toddlers as they explore the different textures, colors, and sizes.
Get the DIY tutorial from B-Inspired Mama.
Photo: B-Inspired Mama
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Butterfly Life Cycle Sensory Bin
Colorfully dyed pasta shapes become a fun and tactile science lesson, representing the life of the butterfly -- from chrysalis, to caterpillar, to butterfly.
Get the DIY tutorial at Pre-K Pages.
Photo: Pre-K Pages
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Kaleidoscope Rice
This colorful rainbow rice is visually stimulating, cheap to make, and good for endless amounts of entertainment with your toddler (from filling jars to gluing colorful pictures).
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Dyed Sand
With a bit of sand and some vegetable dye, kids will marvel as they swirl and mix and make patterns as the sand changes colors. Take the project further by glueing sand to paper after for beautiful works of art.
Get the DIY tutorial from Mummy Musings and Mayhem.
Photo: Mummy Musings and Mayhem
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AB Seed Sensory Bin
With this sensory bin, kids can learn the alphabet and have some fun sensory play in the process!
Get the DIY tutorial at Growing Book by Book.
Photo: Growing Book by Book
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Recycled Sensory Bottles
Look around the house and you're sure to find enough material to make and fill a sensory bottle that will dazzle the kids and keep their little eyes and hands occupied for a great quiet time activity.
Get the DIY tutorial at Little Bins for Little Hands.
Photo: Little Bins for Little Hands
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Kool-Aid or Shaving Cream Handwriting Practice
Using materials you've probably already got lying around, you can help your child improve their handwriting (aka fine motor skills) -- and have fun doing it!
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Fluffy, Squishy Slime
This fluffy, squishy, stretchy slime is great for some tactile sensory play -- and you'll never guess what the secret ingredient is.
Get the DIY tutorial at Sugar Spice and Glitter.
Photo: Sugar Spice and Glitter
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Ocean Wave Bottles
With a few household materials, kids will love making their own "wave" bottles and swishing them back and forth as they explore the contents, sights, and sounds their mini-oceans make.
Get the DIY tutorial at Hands On As We Grow.
Photo: Hands On As We Grow
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Wiggly Worms & Birds Bin
This sensory bin is full of fun wiggly textures, and kids will get loads of fine motor skill development by sorting colors, "feeding" baby birds, and crunching the nest between their fingers.
Get the DIY tutorial at Modern Preschool.
Photo: Modern Preschool
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Sensory Kit
On the go? Create a sensory kit (in a backpack, crate, or box) with items from Amazon, Target, and your local hardware store to help stimulate your child and calm him down in overstimulating situations.
Get the DIY tutorial at Lemon Lime Adventures.
Photo: Lemon Lime Adventures.
