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Sensory play is play that focuses on our senses (touch, smell, taste, hear, see). Sensory play helps children develop their language and motor skills.

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This stage is part of Jean Piaget's theory of child development. Within this stage children use their senses to learn about their surroundings. This stage is connected to sensory play based on the fact that play is what can help parents bond with their children. Because children are using there senses within sensory play and the sensorimotor stage, both of these recourses help one another.

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Sensory Pay in the Early Years is Crucial because..

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Sensory Pay in the Early Years is Crucial because..

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* When children play they are learning new ways to communicate emotions, wants, needs, etc.
* This type of play can help with fine motor skills and gross motor skills by learning how to use their big and small muscle groups.
* Sensory play is a way children learn to problem solve. Children go through through their senses as their learning to play to figure which one is needed within that specific thing they're playing with. Sensory play helps with cognitive growth and problem solving.
* Sensory play has a calming effect and works on children who are sluggish and those who are hyperactive.
* Allowing social interaction whether it is with other children, or their siblings.

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Sensory Play - Resource for families and caregivers!

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Sensory Play - Resource for families and caregivers!

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This resource allows families and caregivers and little better look into sensory play with a video!

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Challenge All Your Child's Senses with Sensory Play
Children go through countless developmental milestones as they grow. These include development of all five senses - sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. Using play to explore these senses encourages your child to connect with them and helps them develop motor skills in creative ways.

Examples of materials from our Home Therapy Play and Tool Kits (or ordinary household items you can use): Play dough, finger paints, scented markers, essential oil rollers, lotion, ice, water, sand, dry beans, rice, soft dolls or stuffed animals, felt, toy musical instruments, etc.

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Challenge All Your Child's Senses with Sensory Play Children go through countless developmental milestones as they grow. These include development of all five senses - sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. Using play to explore these senses encourages your child...

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Sensory Bins- Resource for families and caregivers!

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Sensory Bins- Resource for families and caregivers!

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Sensory bins allow children to participate in sensory play and use multiple senses at once. This is a great resource for parents/guardians because it gives reason behind them and gives instructions on how to make them as well!

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Our A ll About Sensory Bins Guide below is your best resource for getting started with sensory bins. Whether you are making a sensory bin for your home or a classroom, there are a few things to know. Learn about the benefits of sensory bins, what you can use in a sensory bin, and how to make a great sensory bin for toddlers and preschoolers. Sensory bins or sensory boxes for kids are much easier to make than you think!

Easy Sensory Play for Kids

Over the past few years, we have learned a lot about sensory play and, specifically, sensory bins or sensory boxes. I am so excited to share our best sensory bin ideas with you below.

You will also want to check out our which includes more fun sensory play activities, including sensory bottles, sensory recipes, slime,

These ideas comes from what I have learned from making sensory bins over the last few years. We began using sensory bins long before I understood why my son enjoyed them so much!

Sensory bins can also be part of a discovery table setup. You can see one here with our dinosaur discovery table, fall leaves discovery table. farm theme sensory table, and

I am confident that once you know all about sensory bins, you will create a new sensory bin each week. Learning about sensory bins and making sensory bins will open up a whole new world of sensory play for you and your kids!

What is a Sensory Bin?

NOTE: We no longer support using Water Beads for sensory bin filler. They are unsafe and should not be used for play with small children.

To make your own sensory bin, you must know what one is! The simplest definition is that it is a hands-on tactile experience for kids in a contained area such as a storage container.

A sensory bin or sensory box is a simple container filled with a preferred filler in quantity. Our favorite fillers include craft sand, birdseed, colored rice, and water!

The container should be large enough to let your child explore without spilling the filler out. A sensory bin can be easily switched for a unique or novel experience whenever you want!

What Age Should You Start Sensory Bins?

The most common ages for sensory bins are older toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners. However, you must be very aware of the filler you choose and the habits of the kiddos you use it with. Heavy supervision is required for kiddos who may want to sample the filler (edible or non-edible).
Adult supervision is very important for safely using sensory bins with young kids!
However, this age group is also perfect for fully enjoying the tactile experience of scooping, pouring, sifting, dumping, and feeling! Note the benefits of using sensory bins below.

As kiddos get older, you can easily add a learning component to the sensory bin, such as our butterfly life cycle sensory bin below. Younger kiddos will enjoy exploring the materials.

Why Use Sensory Bins?

Are sensory bins worth it? Yes, they are worth it. The more basic you keep the sensory bin, the better off you are. Remember, you create a tactile experience for your kids, not a Pinterest image. While we have fantastic pictures of sensory bins, they only stay that way for a minute!

Sensory bins are awesome hands-on tools for children to learn about their world and senses! Sensory play may calm a child, focus a child, and engage a child. Read about the many benefits below.

Here's what children can learn from sensory bins:

~ Sensory bins let a child explore, discover and create play using practical life skills (dumping, filling, scooping) and learn valuable play skills.

Play Skills {emotional development} ~ For both social play and independent play, sensory bins allow children to play cooperatively or side by side. My son has had many positive experiences with other children over a bin of rice!

~ Sensory bins increase language development by experiencing all there is to see and do with their hands, which leads to great conversations and opportunities to model language.

Understanding 5 Senses ~ Many sensory play bins include a few senses! The five senses are touch, sight, sound, taste, and smell. Children can experience several at a time with a sensory bin. Imagine a bin of brightly colored rainbow rice: touch the loose grains against the skin, see the vivid colors as they mix together, and hear the sound of sprinkling over a plastic container or shaken in a plastic egg! Did you add a scent like vanilla or lavender? Please do not taste uncooked rice, but there are plenty of sensory play options that you use edible ingredients like our worms in magic mud!

What Should Be in a Sensory Bin?

It's as easy as 1-2-3-4! Start with a container of your choosing, and prepare to fill it! Additional items on hand include themed books, games, and puzzles.

1. Container

First, choose a large bin or box for your sensory tub. I like clear storage containers the best, preferably 25 QT size with measurements of 24″ long, 15″ wide, and 6″ deep. Use what you have if you don't have these exact measurements! We have used all sorts of sizes, but at least 3″ deep is preferable. See more tips on choosing a sensory bin below.

2. Filler

Then you want to choose a sensory bin filler. You will want to add a good amount of the filler as it will make up the bulk of the sensory bin.

Our favorite sensory bin fillers include:

3. Theme Items

Sensory bins are a great hands-on way to make early learning fun. Add letters for an alphabet sensory bin, pair it with a book for literacy, or change up the colors and accessories for seasonal and holiday sensory bins. We have tons of fun theme sensory bin ideas for you!

4. Play Accessories

Next, add a scoop or shovel and container. I save all sorts of things from the kitchen and collect fun containers from the dollar store! Funnels and kitchen tongs are great fun to add too. Often the kitchen drawers hold fun goodies to add.

How to Use a Sensory Bin

There is no wrong way to present a sensory bin! I usually put something together and leave it out for my son as an invitation to explore. Some kids may be especially curious and ready to explore, so stand back and enjoy watching! It's ok to join the fun but don't direct the play!

A sensory bin is also a great opportunity for independent play. Some kids may be reluctant to start or don't know how to start and need your help modeling play ideas. Dig in with them to show them how fun exploring can be. Scoop, dump, fill, and pour yourself!

Talk about what you are doing, seeing, and feeling. Ask them questions too! Play cooperatively or individually with your child. You know your child best!

TIP: It can be easy to feel like you should add more things to the sensory bin while your child is playing with it, but try to resist the urge! Too many items can be overwhelming, and you may end up disturbing your kiddo's play flow if you interrupt them. Sit back and enjoy your coffee and watch them play!

Sensory Bin Ideas That Are Easy To Make

Below you'll find ideas for various sensory bin themes for older toddlers, preschool, and kindergarten. You can easily switch out the filler with one that works better.

You will surely want to dig your hands into this fun apple theme sensory bin! Cloud dough is an awesome and simple sensory play recipe that is quick to whip up. Our apple pie scented cloud dough is also taste safe!

Here is an easy apple sensory bin idea you will want to set up this fall! Easy to make, and great for fine motor practice, counting, and more.

The dinosaur volcano sensory bin provides an opportunity for kids to learn about dinosaurs, volcanoes, and the natural world in a hands-on way. Not only can kids explore dinosaurs, but they can also dive into facts about volcanoes and observe a simple chemical reaction!

Create a dinosaur sensory bin with moldable sand and your favorite dinosaur toys. This sensory bin is a super fun theme for year-round play! Plus, check out the resources to help you assemble an entire dinosaur theme unit.

Various size pompoms, silicone baking cups, plastic ice cream scoops, and fun plastic ice cream cone dishes make for a delightful ice cream theme activity. Omit the beads if they are not practical for your age group!

Set up a butterfly sensory bin to learn about the life cycle of a butterfly for a fantastic way to combine hands-on learning and a tactile experience. Different types of dry pasta mimics some of the life stages of a butterfly!

What's more fun than colorful rainbow spaghetti for young kids to dig their hands into! Find out how to make rainbow spaghetti for sensory play that's taste-safe!

Lemon-scented rice is quick and easy to make and is perfect for Olfactory Sensory Processing Input!

Read more about this ocean sensory play idea and grab the free ocean animals coloring book!

Combine sensory play, books, a little math, and animal habitats all rolled into one for a fun activity for toddlers to preschoolers.

Grab a few simple supplies and turn a sensory bin into a pumpkin patch young kids will love exploring for fall.

Kids love to play with rice, and this colorful rainbow rice sensory bin is easy to put together yourself!

Moon sand is another favorite filler to play with and make! We could also call this space sand as we added a fun space theme to our play.

Here is another easy idea for space theme sensory play! This sensory bin uses black aquarium rocks as the filler.

Create a tropical summer sensory bin with play sand and summer theme play items.

Watermelon Rice Sensory Bin

Use our how to dye rice tutorial to make a batch of green and a double batch of red rice! Leave one batch of rice uncolored. Grab a packet of watermelon seeds and a small bowl! You can also add tongs and a small scoop. Super simple and fun. Enjoy a snack of watermelon too!

Farm Sensory Bin

Supplies Needed:

A great book! We chose My Little People Farm.

Sensory bin filler. We chose rice. See more non food filler ideas here.

Items that fit with the book. Such as paper or plastic farm animals for a farm book.

Add a bucket and scoop for simple sensory play.

Simple Sensory Bin Play Ideas

Sing a song such as Old MacDonald and use the props too!

Act out the story with the props.

Count! We counted the farm animals.

Sort the animals.

Play hide and seek with the animals.

Work on animal sounds.

Feed the animals.

Enjoy dumping and filling.

Water Sensory Bin Ideas

Sponges, colanders, strainers, food basters, and an aquarium net! All of these are fun items to add to a water sensory bin. Try some of these additions:

Add a few plastic animals to wash and soap bubbles!

Add plastic Easter eggs to a quick sensory bin.

Make a letter wash with dollar store letter and number styrofoam puzzles.

Add cotton balls to water and explore absorption!

How Do You Control the Mess?

Everyone asks about the mess! Toddlers especially can't resist dumping things. We have had sensory bins in our house for so long that the mess is minimal. The younger the child, the more challenging it will be to teach the proper use of the sensory bin. But with time, patience, and consistency, it will happen.

I treat sensory bins as any other toy in the house. We don't throw our toys; we respect them. We don't scatter them around the house just because we feel like it; we use them and put them away. Of course, there are accidents! We still have them, and it's OK!

We also have a small dustpan and broom handy, and it is great for fine motor work picking up loose beans or other fillers! If a child gets into the habit of throwing for fun, your sensory bin play will be less productive and more frustrating.

READ MORE: Easy Clean-Up Tips For Messy Play

More Sensory Bin Ideas

Ok, time to put together a sensory bin. Check out this list of sensory bin ideas. Click on the links to find out how to set up each one.

More Helpful Sensory Bin Resources

Click on the image below or on the link for more fun and easy sensory activities for kids!

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25 Awesome Sensory Bin Ideas - Little Bins for Little Hands

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Check out these fun sensory bin ideas to get you started. Sensory bins are easy to make and have many benefits for toddlers to preschoolers.

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https://health.clevelandclinic.org/benefits-of-sensory-play-ideas/

https://www.healthline.com/health/baby/sensorimotor-stage#activities

https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/all-about-sensory-bins-5-things-need-know/

https://www.centerforchildcounseling.org/resources/waystoplay/sensory-play

https://www.pentagonplay.co.uk/news-and-info/benefits-of-sensory-play-for-children-with-special-educational-needs#:~:text=A%20sensory%20space%20should%20be,raised%20and%20easily%20accessible%20Planter.

https://www.teachingexpertise.com/classroom-ideas/sensory-play-ideas/

https://www.childcareed.com/a/sensory-play-in-early-childhood-education.html

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Sensory Play in Early Childhood Education - post

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Sensory Play in Early Childhood Education - post

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Children with special needs using sensory play.

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Children with special needs using sensory play.

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This article is a great resources for families, caregivers, and even teachers. This articles explains the benefits that children with special needs can gain within this type of play.

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"Seeing", "hearing", "touch", "taste" and "smell". Just five little words used to describe our senses, but five little words with such huge importance. They sum up the key ways in which we, as human beings, learn throughout our lives, from the moment of birth, about the world around us and how we can survive in it, live in it and enjoy it.

As St. Thomas Aquinas said "The senses are a kind of reason. Taste, touch and smell, hearing and seeing, are not merely a means to sensation, enjoyable or otherwise, but they are also a means to knowledge - and are, indeed, your only actual means to knowledge."

It's little wonder then, that the concept of Sensory Play is now recognised as one of the most important methods of educating all children from a very early age, playing a crucial part in their development.

What is Sensory Play?

Sensory Play includes any activity that will stimulate any one or all of a child's five senses, so as to help them develop and refine the use of those senses.

Why is sensory play important?

All children need help learning how to use their senses. From birth, they explore the world via their senses, touching and grabbing at everything and putting pretty much anything in their mouths!

As they grow and move on to formal education, right through the stages from Early Years Foundation Stage, to Key Stage 1 and continuing on to Key Stage 2, Sensory Play forms an essential part of their learning.

Some children will experience greater and more specific difficulties in making sense of and organizing all the different sensations that they receive from their senses, and how to react to them.

A child with Special Educational Needs, whose ability to learn through their senses is affected, will need extra help to do this. That is why Sensory Play is so important for them.

Research has shown that Sensory Play has many benefits:

1. It helps to build nerve connections to the brain, improving cognitive growth and encouraging children to develop motor skills to carry out day to day tasks.

2. It will help to improve handwriting.

3. It can help to develop and enhance memory and improve a child's problem solving skills.

4. It helps children to develop their speech and language through engaging with their environment.

5. It can help with social interaction and aid children in engaging with their peers.

6. Children will learn sensory attributes and how to react to them, for example whether something is too hot or too cold.

7. It is a brilliant way of calming an anxious child.

So if a child with Special Educational Needs is open to tactile learning, then teaching them in an environment where they have plenty of opportunity for Sensory Play will encourage their individual development. An example of this is handwriting.

Making marks on a tray filled with sand, manipulating play dough to form shapes or transferring water and other materials between containers helps to develop fine motor skills so that the child can go on to grasp and control a pen against a piece of paper.

Playing alongside their peers in a natural environment allows social relationships to become more natural, as the children are engaged in activities at their own pace and in their own way without the pressure of a particular defined outcome.

Some children with Special Educational Needs will be less comfortable with tactile learning. If that is the case, there are plenty of other sensory stimulants, colours, sights, sounds and smells that they can experience.

As they become more comfortable with these and their surroundings, they may be encouraged to go on to try tactile learning too.

Creating a Sensory Play Area

It is important to recognise how an individual child's needs can best be met and what they best respond to, particularly for a child with Special Educational Needs.

Incorporating various forms of sensory play into a child's day every day, offering them opportunities to discover the world around them in interesting, stimulating and exciting ways, means that they will have some of the best learning experiences possible and a greater chance of success whatever their ability.

It is fair to say that almost all environments are "sensory" in one way or another. But there are some that are more "sensory" than others. In our view, the very best sensory environment is the great outdoors.

Nature.

As Richard Louv so rightly says " When you're sitting in front of a screen, you're not using all of your senses at the same time. Nowhere than in nature do kids use their senses in such a stimulated way."

Step outside and nature is all around us. There is so much for them to take in. If you don't have direct access to a natural sensory environment, or it just isn't practical to take your class out to such environments on a regular basis, it doesn't end there.

It's not hard to create your own outdoor sensory environment within your own grounds, even if you only have just a little bit of outdoor space.

In creating a sensory outdoor space for children with Special Educational Needs, you will need to consider the broad range of challenges experienced by them, and the options available to you in terms of space and resources.

Many of the issues faced by children with Special Educational Needs, can be accommodated if your outdoor space is designed to offer a range of sensory experiences in a thoughtful, creative, imaginative and inclusive way. It doesn't matter how big or how small your outdoor space is.

Whether you have a small courtyard or a giant field, you can transform it into a sensational sensory playground for your kids! Do your school grounds have an empty, long forgotten dingy corner that nobody uses? If you look, most places do. Why not turn it into a sensory garden and make the most of your outside space?

A Sensory Garden is defined by a concentration of different experiences. Some areas can be more relaxing, still and calming, whereas others can stimulate activity and can be used in conjunction with educational programmes. The sensory garden could be small and self-contained, or even form part of a larger outdoor sensory space.

If you are lucky enough to have a larger outdoor area at your disposal, you can create a Sensory Trail. This will provide a range of different experiences along its route, offering more opportunities for movement and orientation.

You can create themes to connect each experience, or each experience can be used to inspire interest in its own right.
MUST READ: The Importance of Heavy Work Activities for Children With Special Educational Needs
Sensory Play Equipment

Here are some considerations and ideas to help you plan out and create your own Sensational Playground:

Consider how the sensory space will be used

If it has an important social focus, to encourage social relationships, then include things that bring children together such as a digging or gardening area.

If there is a strong educational focus, you can include elements that link in with the school curriculum in a more informal way, to encourage for example counting, open discussion and use of language.

Consider access and orientation, and make accessibility part of the Sensory Experience

If children with different Special Educational Needs are to enjoy the garden, they will all need to be able to get to and around it.

Consider the surface, gradient and width of paths and whether they can be accessed by a wheelchair. Provide a clear edge along pathways so that visually-impaired children are aware of the edge of the path surface. Remember that paths in sensory spaces can do much more than just providing access.

Changes of direction and gradient, bridges and tunnels, colourful markings and the focus of an end destination all add to the sensory experience. Different surfaces and markings rather than a plain tarmac or grass surfaces can all make a big difference.

Why not lay a colourful, shapely Safeturf Hopscotch, or Caterpillar for children to travel between areas of the sensory space? You could lay Safeturf to protect children from falls or Playturf in areas that are prone to becoming muddy.

Orientation skills can be improved by providing things for children to stand on or climb up. and can all be incorporated into a Trim Trail which provides children with a variety of different physical challenges that test and develop balance, upper and lower body strength and gross motor skills as well as providing essential exercise.

They can act as great markers in the landscape and can offer a stimulating transition from one part of the sensory area to another.

They can be incorporated into more educational lesson plans including maths, literacy and science, and to introduce concepts such as up and down, high and low, over and under.

Always consider access in terms of a child's ability to reach out and touch specific features within the sensory space. Whether you are using plants, water, sculptures or activity stations, make sure they are placed at different levels both high and low so that they can be reached by all.

Good sensory design will ensure that different experiences are within reach for different children.

For example, some plants and trees may be planted deliberately close to a path rather than set back, and at lower and higher levels so that those in wheelchairs can also easily touch them and feel the different textures.

Some children with Special Educational Needs are uncomfortable with change and surprise can create anxiety.

By making sure that different activities or experiences within your sensory space are staggered, and even including some signage or an orientation map, can help them to anticipate the changes and feel more comfortable.

Visual aids and signage can also help them to communicate with others.

Is it a Comfortable Space?

Comfort is very important and can easily be overlooked. Outdoor Seating is an important feature of landscape design, making a sensory space more accessible to children who tire more easily, or who would like a chance to pause and become comfortable with their surroundings.

There are many different types of outdoor seats available depending on what purpose you are looking to achieve.

A is a lovely way to bring children together for a snack in the fresh air. A Picnic Bench with a Game Top adds a sense of fun and a different focal point to the sensory experience.

Or what about a Storytelling Circle that brings lessons and discussion/storytimes outside into the sensory space?

Shelter from the sun, wind or rain in your sensory playground is important. In the sunlight you can create a range of shade, from solid to dappled, so that children can choose what best suits them (this is easy if you have plenty of trees!).

and Timber Canopies provide solid shade and make for more flexible use whether as an outdoor classroom or as a quiet area to sit, relax and read, and to feel safe.

They can provide soothing areas where children can to escape to if they are feeling overwhelmed, or where they can watch activities from a distance until they feel comfortable enough to participate.

Well-placed trees, plants, hedges andTrellis Screens can help to break up larger spaces making them less intimidating and offering a huge range of different sensory experiences at the same time.

Offer Plenty of Different Sensory Experiences

An essential aspect of the design is thinking about what range of experiences will be available in your sensory area. We have already mentioned the use of pathways and access as part of the sensory experience but good design relies on imaginative use of materials and opportunities.

You can encourage natural experiences, for example, by installing a Wildlife Area, introducing nest boxes, a Bug Hotel, feeders, or nectar-rich plants to encourage birds, butterflies, mini beasts and creepy crawlies.

One of the most essential components of an outdoor sensory playground is the use of plants, and the idea of engaging children in gardening activities which can help to increase fine and gross motor skills, body awareness, and motion in addition to providing a calming connection to nature.

Gardening is a brilliant way to familiarise children with different textures, sights and scents of plants in a controlled manner, whilst keeping them engaged in their sensory space.

Strategically placed wooden Planters and Planter Benches can host a whole variety of different plants to captivate all of the children's senses in different ways:

Sight - through different colours and shapes, plants offer a complete spectrum of colour with the joy of changes throughout the different seasons.

Include flowers, leaves, bark, berries, and grasses in your plans to create interesting colour and shape effects throughout the year.

Smell - there are so many plants that have distinctive and interesting smells, you can't really go wrong!

Some, such as honeysuckle, fill the air with their scent as you walk past them. Others such as roses need to be investigated more closely, and some release scent when you crush them between your fingers (lavender for example).

A herb garden with varied herbs such as rosemary, thyme and peppermint offers a medley of scents and textures.

Touch - when children explore with their hands they get to appreciate the real nature of things. How soft the petals are, how smooth or squashy the fruit is, how dry the grass is and how rough the bark is.

For all sensory explorers the opportunity to touch as many of the sensory delights on offer as possible is important. Again, choose plants with interesting textures in their flowers and leaves, with berries, with seeds, and with different textured bark.

A sensory space should be full of different textures and children with visual impairments in particular may rely on these to interpret their environment.

Taste - engage the children in growing fruit and vegetables in a raised and easily accessible Planter.

Easy to grow fruits such as strawberries are so delicious and there's nothing as tasty as eating them outdoors! It will also help children understand the importance of healthy eating in a climate where child obesity is a current problem.

There's nothing better than picking and eating the scrumptious vegetables and fruit which you have proudly grown yourself.
Take a look at our Natural School Playground Equipment that includes Wildlife Areas, Planter Benches, Dig Pits and Big Hotels
Include Special Focus Features and Imagination Stations

To make your space extra sensational, you could include some special features or apparatus either as a focal point in the centre of the space, or set aside in a specific sensory activity area.

Even better, moving water which moves through a series of pools or funnels creates added visual and audible interest and options for water play. Have you ever noticed how things smell different when they are wet? Soak some grass and give it a try!

Children can pour the water from a water table into the top, then watch it pour out into the water channels and spin the water wheel, thanks to gravity, along whatever route your children have assembled.

This makes for a wonderful sensory experience with the therapeutic sounds of splashing and rushing of running water, which can be stimulating or calming depending on its pace.

Even better, it is a great fun aid to teaching science and the water cycle, source to mouth, cause and effect, water recycling, kinetic energy, flow and gravity, balance and equilibrium, mass and weight of materials (water and plastic), and more!

Include a sensory play tray in your sensory space such as a Sand Table, or a Mud Kitchen to engage numerous senses, and create an inviting, calming and tactile stimulus for children of all abilities.

Fill them with grass and leaves, sand, foam, toys, cooked spaghetti, anything with different textures and scents or that makes interesting sounds as it is manipulated, to create a platform for all learning abilities to enjoy open-ended sensory play.

Listening activities are a good way of calming children and helping them to tune in to their environment. They can be stimulating or relaxing depending on the source and the environment.

Children are often so busy with whatever it is that they are doing, that they need to be asked to pause and encouraged to listen to the sounds around them, especially more subtle ones (and especially their teacher's voice!).

In a well-designed sensory space there will be many different sounds that occur naturally. Leaves rustling on a breezy day, water pattering and splashing on different surfaces or rushing down a stream, birds singing, insects buzzing, the list goes on.

You can encourage children to tune in to what is going on around them by asking them to stop and listen, then describe what they can hear.

Musical play opens up even more options to experiment with sound and work on a child's ability to listen. Children with hearing difficulties may be able to sense vibrations and so should always be encouraged to participate too.

Install some Musical Play Equipment into your sensory space to enhance the sensory experience. look spectacular even in the smallest of sensory spaces and will entice children to gather around and make interesting and beautiful sounds.

Drum Seats, a or a Tuned Xylophone are fantastic outdoor instruments to create percussive sounds and vibrations for a multi-sensory experience.
Our Mud, Sand and Water Play range offers multiple sensory experiences
To create exciting, thoughtful, and engaging outdoor sensory playground spaces for all children and especially children with Special Educational Needs, gives them a wonderful opportunity to have fun whilst learning, away from the classroom but in a safe and engaging environment.

If you would like to explore our website, we have plenty of fantastic sensory outdoor equipment designed specifically for EYFS, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2 and Special Education Learners.

Feel free to view our work at Fox Wood and Green Lane Special Schools to see how we enhanced their playground areas or Contact Us to discuss potential ideas for your school playground.

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Sensory Play Ideas for Special Needs Children

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The many benefits sensory play brings to children with special educational needs and ways to transform your school playground into a sensational space!

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The zoo would be a great place for children to go to experience sensory play. The different smells of each animal, the way it feels for the animals to eat out of your hand, the physical features of each, each different sound the animals make, and many more different things.

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Sensory play can be used with pretty much anything! Putting together different baskets/bins of different items help students use all their different senses in play.

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We live in a digital world and everything for children and little ones is going digital. We need to take a step back and remember the days when toddlers would eat sand by accident, of course, and be mesmerized by water running or squishing mud between our fingers.

All of these low-cost activities are worth their weight in gold. Sensory play helps to connect the dots should we say. In addition to teaching children fine and gross motor skills, they can help with cognitive growth and learning.

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35 Sensory Play Ideas for Kids of All Ages - Teaching Expertise

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We live in a digital world and everything for children and little ones is going digital. We need to take a step back and remember the days when toddlers would

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Sensory Play in the Early Childhood Education Curriculum.

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Sensory Play in the Early Childhood Education Curriculum.

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This article talks about way that when children are using their hands in the classroom it allows their brains and minds to be more involved.

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Sensory Play in Early Childhood Education - post

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Sensory Play in Early Childhood Education - post