10+ Super Easy Sensory Plays

All of the plays in this series are:

Appropriate for all ages
Use two or fewer ingredients
Use ingredients commonly found in a home

My hope with this series was to remind everyone that play doesn't have to be complicated to be fun!  And for those of you who are new to sensory play - I wanted to give you some nice and easy ideas for starting up.

To read more details about each, please click on the links.   They will lead you to the complete post.  :)
As I add more Super Easy Sensory Plays, I will add them to this post!

Cornstarch and Water

Dirt and Worms

Ice and Warm Water

Oatmeal Textures

Soap Foam

Wet Cotton Balls

Baby Safe Cloud Dough

Water Play

Birdseed

Rice Play

Dried Pasta

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.

Sensory Starter Kit for under $20 from the Dollar Tree

This is a post in our Play on a Budget series.  Other posts include:

Play on a Budget: Tips and Tricks

Our Favorite Free Sensory Materials

A Sensory Starter Kit for under $20 from Target

I thought I'd write a post on how to set up a starter kit of commonly used sensory/play materials for those of you who are just getting started.  Every person has their own preferences, of course, but here's a list of what I'd buy (and why!) if I had a budget of $20 and could only shop at one store - the Dollar Tree.  I picked the Dollar Tree because it seems to be everywhere in the US, and ought to be pretty easily accessible for most of you.  If you don't have one near you, but do have a Target - I've put together a Target sensory kit here.

I was able to come in under budget again because a few of the things on my list were actually less than a dollar (baking soda and salt!).  I have noticed a lot of variation in what is available at each Dollar Tree, so this is based off of the selection at mine - you may have more or less available at yours (hopefully more!).

First off, I had to include baking soda and vinegar because we SO love them.  Just plain baking soda and vinegar is so much fun.  We've also used them to make Fizzing Gelatin and our Fizzing Hidden Ocean World, and in Encouraging Little Scientists, to name a few. 

Funnels, a big scooping spoon, and a set of measuring cups are things we use all the time for simple sensory play.  Because they have such a wide application, I knew I wanted them in my kit.

Next from the food section, I grabbed oats because they are such a fun material to play with.  You could set up our Oatmeal Textures Sensory Bin with these.  I chose salt because it's a great material for dumping and scooping.  We like to color ours, and you can see us playing with it in our Funnels and Tubes post.  I bought flax seed because it would be a great substitution for birdseed - it's still a seed and would behave similarly - so you could do something like our Birdseed Sensory Play with the flax seeds.  I bought cooking oil for use in making baby safe Cloud Dough.  

I added Penne pasta for art, making necklaces, or doing a Dry Pasta sensory play; I added Linguine for making our Dirt and Worms sensory bin, or our Rainbow Spaghetti.  I included beans because they are fun to plant and grow and can also be used as a fill material in small worlds or as a standalone sensory material.  And finally I included rice because we love to play with rice by itself, as we did in our Rice Play and we also love to color it and add it to small worlds/sensory bins.  You can read how we make rainbow rice in our How To Color Rice post.

I grabbed shaving cream, which we've used in a Shaving Cream Search and in our Dragon World small world.  I also grabbed four sponges for use in a Washing Station.  And I've included a bag of cotton balls for the Wet Cotton Ball sensory play and/or for making Baked Cotton Balls.

Our Dollar Tree didn't have a great selection of miniatures when I was there, but these guys were pretty cute, so I added them as "guys" for small world play.

Play foam is fun for Window Art (we also used it to make our Recycled Car City) and we use pom poms frequently (though I don't have any posts up currently involving them, so you'll just have to trust me on that).

Here is the complete sensory kit I would put together for someone starting out if I had just $20:

Now, there are a few other fantastic things that I'd like to point out at the Dollar Tree:

These are FABULOUS art/craft supplies.  All of the above items are frequently utilized in our Art Room, so I figured I would point those out, since at $1 a piece, they are a great deal.  I joke not, the Dollar Tree is the BEST place to buy googly eyes!  They have the assorted sizes and the huge eyes are hilarious.

Recognize these from my small worlds?  Love all three of these.  We have several packs of the mixed gems.

And check these out!  These are officially "sound tubes" but they'd work great for our Funnels and Tubes.  Basically all you'd need to complete the set-up we had in that post is some suction cups, since the Dollar Tree also carries funnels and salt!

Our Dollar Tree had a lot of what I wanted, but there were a few items that I would still want to add to a kit if there was room in the budget/they were available in the store.  I'd love to add flour to complete the recipe for Cloud Dough.  I was also SO saddened by the lack of cornstarch since it's my personal favorite (you can see how we've played with it with Cornstarch and Water, to make Chilly Ice Cream Goo, and in my Dinosaurs and Sticky Mud world).  Finally, I would want to add some sort of coloring - be it food coloring, or our favorite - liquid watercolors.  Liquid watercolors last longer, are more vibrant, come in a wider variety of colors, and are completely washable (at least in our experience).  We buy our liquid watercolors from Discount School Supply.

To make things as easy as possible, I've also typed up a free printable shopping list, which you can access here:  Printable Dollar Tree Shopping List.

For further reading in the vein of Play on a Budget, check out:

100 Things You can Purchase from the Dollar Tree and Use in Play by Growing a Jeweled Rose

Sensory Materials that Last by Train Up a Child

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.

Sensory Starter Kit for under $20 from Target

This is a post in our Play on a Budget series.  Other posts include:

Play on a Budget: Tips and Tricks
Our Favorite Free Sensory Materials

A Sensory Starter Kit for under $20 from The Dollar Tree

I thought I'd write a post on how to set up a starter kit of commonly used sensory/play materials for those of you who are just getting started.  Every person has their own preferences, of course, but here's a list of what I'd buy (and why!) if I had a budget of $20 and could only shop at one store - Target.  I picked Target because it seems to be everywhere in the US, and ought to be pretty easily accessible for most of you.  I'll be back in a few days with the Dollar Tree Sensory Starter Kit.

I was able to put together a pretty great kit and even came in under budget - $19.78!  :)

Now for the details - here's what I chose and why:

I found these two for one mesh sponges in the Dollar Section - since one of our favorite activities is setting up a Washing Station, I wanted to be sure to include these.  Next I grabbed shaving cream.  Shaving cream is such a fun sensory experience and we love it!  We've used it in a Shaving Cream Search and in our Dragon World small world.  We will be sharing even more ways that we use it as time goes on and I write up more of our activities.  It's a definite must-have.  Next I included salt.  Salt is so fun just by itself as a sensory item - you can draw in it, write in it, pour it, scoop it, etc.  We most notably use it with our Funnels and Tubes, but you will see more of it in future posts as well.  

Baking soda and vinegar are another favorite item around here.  Just by themselves they are loads of fun.  We've also used them to make Fizzing Gelatin and our Fizzing Hidden Ocean World, and in Encouraging Little Scientists, to name a few.  Cornstarch is my favorite sensory item, so I for sure had to include it!  You could use it plain, or add water for a super fun sensory exploration, or even make it into Chilly Ice Cream Goo.  It's also great in small world play, as in my Dinosaurs and Sticky Mud world.

Pasta and rice!  These are fun plain, or you can color them following either of the two methods I outline in this post on Coloring Rice (follow the same steps for pasta as you would rice).  You could use the fettuccine noodles to make my Dirt and Worms sensory bin, or you could use them to make Rainbow Spaghetti.  You could do a Dry Pasta sensory bin with the penne pasta, or you could string them and make a pasta necklace or bracelet.  You could use rice for Rice Play or for a Rainbow Rice Sensory Bin.

If you have a baby or toddler, you might want to substitute cooking oil for baby oil - because I'm including this with the flour to be able to make Cloud Dough.  And the gel colors were the only type of food coloring Target had - but they are included to be able to add color to your sensory bins (not necessary, of course, but for added fun).

With cotton balls, you could do the Wet Cotton Ball sensory play or you could make Baked Cotton Balls, either of which are so much fun.  And if you have some of the previously listed items, I included black beans and pinto beans (or dried oats - not pictured) as possible substitutions - they make a great sensory material as well as fill for small world play.

The whole kit together in all its glory:

Though I was able to find much of what I wanted to include, I was disappointed to find that there were no miniature plastic figurines, foam sheets, or glass decorative gems.  I use those three items all the time in our sensory and small world play and I would have liked to include them.  All three of those things can be purchased at Michaels or another craft store (or the Dollar Store) - if you're willing to make an extra stop.  

And lastly, if you have the budget and a child who is no longer tasting/putting things in their mouth - I would strongly recommend purchasing liquid watercolors over food coloring.  Liquid watercolors last longer, are more vibrant, come in a wider variety of colors, and are completely washable (at least in our experience).  We buy our liquid watercolors from Discount School Supply.

To make things as easy as possible, I've also typed up a free printable shopping list, which you can access here:  Printable Target Shopping List

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.

Super Easy Sensory Play: Wet Cotton Balls

This post is part of a series of posts entitled "Super Easy Sensory Play".  Activities included in the series all contain two or fewer ingredients and are items that are generally found in any house, so no need to run to the store for specialty items.  They are also appropriate for all ages.  I hope that you will give them all a try!  You can read the other posts in the series here:

Super Easy Sensory Play: Cornstarch and Water
Super Easy Sensory Play:  Soap Foam
Super Easy Sensory Play:  Ice and Warm Water

Super Easy Sensory Play:  Cloud Dough

Super Easy Sensory Play: Rice

Super Easy Sensory Play: Water

Super Easy Sensory Play: Dried Pasta

Super Easy Sensory Play: Dirt and Worms

I don't know how it came about that I started offering S cotton balls during water play when she was little, but nevertheless, it happened and they are a very common sight when S is playing with water.  They are just perfect little sponges (so much cheaper than actual sponges!), and they look like tiny snowballs, so what's not to love?

Always supervise your infant and stay within arms reach when they are playing with things not intended for eating.  If you would rather substitute sponges for cotton balls to eliminate the presence of a choking hazard, sponges will teach the same concept.

X is too young to notice, but S and I enjoy watching them "inflate" when we put them in the water.  They also hold color really well, so if you're feeling a more complicated set up, you could dye them with food coloring or liquid watercolors and make a rainbow of wet cotton balls!

For this set up, I just set out a few cotton balls and put them in a shallow tray with water.  X LOVES water play.  So much.  So I couldn't resist leaving some standing water for him to play in; however, if you'd like your baby to focus on the wet cotton balls themselves, it's probably best to do this play without the distraction of the standing water.  :)

X immediately noticed the floating cotton balls and dove for one.  Meanwhile, S was eagerly showing him how to squeeze the water out of them.

 Inspecting.  When he picked it up and held it, he managed to squeeze some water out, which got his attention.

Momentarily distracted by the WATER (!!!), and splashing sis in the process.

Back to inspecting and squeezing these weird things.

 Not sure what his obsession is with involving his stomach in sensory play (like he did in Exploring Sticky, hahaha), but he really needed to put his belly in the water.  

The stomach dip was apparently just the thing he was looking for because he was SO HAPPY afterwards.

Next he went diving for cotton balls.  One in each hand here.

More investigation!

Not to be outdone by her little brother, S asked if she, too, could dip her belly in the water.  Of course!

After squeezing and playing with the cotton balls and dipping her stomach, she decided the cotton balls were perfect for bathing some of her "guys".

After that, she decided to gather up all the remaining cotton balls and squeeze them onto X.  He loved it because it was more water (!) and she was giggling like crazy over being able to squeeze little droplets of water onto him.  

And at the very end?  Well, you know what they say - old habits die hard.  ;)

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.

Baked Cotton Balls and Cotton Ball Sensory

Young Toddler + 

and Infant +

A bag of cotton balls will cost you around a dollar.  Before we started our art project, we dumped the whole bag out on our floor and used them for free sensory play.  Cotton balls are great because they naturally discourage mouthing (because of their bizarre texture) and don't contain anything harmful (I'm sure they're still a choking hazard, so please always supervise infant play!).

They're a great size for practicing that pincher grasp and baby hand-eye coordination

They're also just so soft and fluffy!  So we decided (like the petals) it would be fun to have them "rain" down on X...and of course S took a turn, too.

S making it snow for her brother.

 I took a turn making him giggle as well.

S and I made an igloo for her dinos - the cling from the cotton balls helped it keep an igloo shape surprisingly well!

S having fun being crazy in a field of cotton balls.

The dinos.  They were a little cold in cotton ball land, I'm told.

After we were done playing with the plain cotton balls, it was time for our next project - baked cotton balls.  We used liquid watercolors instead of food coloring because they are ultimately cheaper (they last sooooo long!) and because I like the colors better.  We've had these 6 bottles of the tropical hues since X was born and they're still that full!  If you are doing this project with a young toddler who might be tempted to taste, I'd recommend using food coloring over liquid watercolors.

You'll need a mix that's equal parts flour and water.  For our project (one child) we used:

1 cup flour

1 cup water

My trusty sous chef doing some pouring. 

 Once you've whisked all the lumps out of the "batter", you can spoon it into whatever container you're using.  This is a muffin tin from the Dollar Store that we use for lots of our activities.  I had S count out five spoonfuls per muffin cup to practice counting.  

 S getting down to the business of dousing the cotton balls.  You can pour the mixture over the top, but the coolest results are when you completely coat the cotton balls in the mixture.  S first used her hands to do this, and then switched to using a spoon.

Partway through, S wanted to spoon some colors on her hand to see what they'd look like and to see what the mixture felt like (goopy and cold!).

Once you've completed covering your cotton balls with the "batter", then you place the cookie sheet in a 300 degree oven for at least an hour.  The longer it cooks, the harder the batter gets.  We did just an hour, so there were still some parts that were slightly goopy.  I think if we do it again, I'll try cooking for 75-90 minutes.

This is how it looked when it came out!  So cool looking, right?

 S used a kitchen mallet, her scissors, and her hands to break up the cotton ball masterpiece.  She let me join in at the end, and it really was a lot of fun.  It was pretty crazy to crack the shells and find pristine dry cotton fluff inside.  Also, sometimes it's just fun to break things apart.  S spent a long time exploring different tools and picking the whole thing apart.  She said she definitely wants to do this again soon!  If you have a young toddler, you might end up helping a bit more than I did, but the textures and colors would be very fun for them, I think, AND all the ingredients (if you use food coloring) are safe for consumption, so you won't have to worry if you have a child that likes to sneak tastes as they go.  

If you are looking for another cotton ball activity, check out our Wet Cotton Ball sensory play!

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Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.