while this is a highly-requested blogpost from y’all, this blogpost will also serve as a reference for me. for when I need ideas for KK, and for if we need ideas for future siblings.
sensory play is something that interests me incredibly. but I don’t feel called to teach it - there are so many accounts out there that teach the benefits of sensory play and they do it better than I ever could. I’m just here to share some of our sensory play favorites.
and, let me say this. when we lost that pregnancy this summer, a big part of my healing journey came from researching sensory play and implementing it into our home. and, naturally, a lot of my shopping during that time (that brett affectionately dubbed my “grief purchases”) were supplies for said activities. so, that being said, know that we only have a relatively stocked set of supplies. and while it’s lovely that we have these things, know that we only really have them because of extenuating circumstances. <3
our tables
we have two Ikea Flisat tables and they’re both painted white.
one my sister bought from Amazon for KK as a first birthday present. the other one Brett bought directly from Ikea.com shortly after our pregnancy loss. consider it one of the previously mentioned grief purchases. although the circumstances under which we acquired a second table were not lovely, we’re so happy we have it.
whenever possible, I try to acquire KK’s things in colors that match our home. (or, at least corral KK’s things into baskets or on shelves that match our home.) especially when said pieces are hanging out in our main living space. so, like her toddler bookshelf, I painted her two sensory tables white. I just used white chalk paint - which is probably a no-no, but so far it’s held up great.
we also got the matching ikea stools to go with our tables and i can’t recommend enough. kk loves sitting on her stools while working at the table.
it’s definitely not required AT ALL to have tables for sensory play - there are lots of options out there! - I just personally thought these tables would work best for us, our needs, and the layout of our home. i love them.
our favorite ways to use the tables
we love to create sensory play invitations with our tables, obviously. (more on this in a second!) but also? we love putting some of KK’s favorite activities and toys in the bins - the bins keep it all contained to create the loveliest, most engaging play invitation.
but a biggggg reason I love these tables is the covers that come with them. I love the option of keeping the tables covered so 1) I can “put away” any sensory bin activity and 2) so we can use the actual tabletop for an activity. like, HI THANK YOU SO MUCH.
so right now, at the time of publication, I have one table uncovered, and one table covered. the two uncovered bins have a play invitation. the covered bins are full of a sensory activity, but on top of the covers I have a few of her favorite art supplies, and later we might use the tabletop for her beloved play dough caddy.
want to know more about her favorite toys and activities we love to use? see this post for a round-up of our favorites by age!
our storage for sensory play supplies
our year-round basic sensory play supplies we store in a box under the bed. we currently have it under our bed so that if I want to set something up, I can do so during nap time or after she goes to bed - I used to keep the supplies in KK’s room and quickly figured out I couldn’t access them while she slept.
our seasonal sensory play supplies we keep in our seasonal boxes.
our playdough supplies and our most-used sensory play tools we keep in our beloved ikea hack double desk. because I wanted it somewhere nearby, but I wanted it somewhere that only I could access. this post shows a peek at our tools, how we organize them, and how we “built” the double desk.
and here’s our favorite play dough things and our beloved play dough caddy.
our intro to sensory play
we acquired both our tables around the time kk was twelve months old. this is how we introduced her to the tables and to sensory play
when we first got the tables, she was interested in playing with whatever was in them - but mainly she loved pulling up on the tables, and standing against them. so for the first few months, what held her attention the longest was just putting a few favorite toys - or a favorite activity - in the table. while the activity/toys weren’t necessarily meant for the table (like, a few balls), placing them in the table added a level of novelty for her. they became much more interesting to her than if they were, say, on the floor. she loved practicing standing and playing.
she liked when the table was also turned into a place to explore textures and sounds of household items. a big treasure basket, if you will. i’d dump a few items in there and she’d go to town.
she also really liked when a basket of some sort was placed at the foot of the table. and she’d practice transferring whatever what was in the table (say, a few balls) into the basket on the floor. the standing, the squatting, the transferring - kk was a fan.
and when she was 15 months old, we started taste-safe fillers to our table. stuff that if KK put in her mouth - or even swallowed - it wouldn’t be an issue. (also! you know your baby/taby/toddler better than anyone. i only did what I felt comfortable doing with KK, and she was supervised at all times.)
we followed Busy Toddler’s Introducing Toddlers to Sensory Bins tutorial religiously.
but in short, for months we worked on this: we kept the sensory bin covered when it wasn’t in use, kk was only allowed to play with it when one of us was sitting right next to her, and we practiced the expectation of “everything stays in the bin.”
my favorite resources
Busy Toddler’s Introducing Toddlers to Sensory Bins tutorial
Busy Toddler’s book - one of my favorite books of all time - she has a whole chapter on the magic of sensory bins and how they’re invaluable at teaching kids to play within boundaries (amongst many, many other lessons)
sensory play + toddler instagram accounts for ideas
our thoughts on the mess
yes, sensory play can get messy. and - even as an incredibly tidy person - I’m okay with that. or, to be more specific, I’m okay with natural/accidental messes - the water dripping on the tile floor because KK is so engaged, for example, is fine by me. but KK purposely dumping cups of water on the floor? not okay. (the article I linked in the previous section reallyyyyy helped us “train” KK on how to be a sensory bin pro.)
all that to say, cleaning up some stray grains of rice, or wiping up some puddled water, is totally worth it for me for kk to be so captivated. kk helps me clean up - and yeah, it takes longer - but it’s a built-in activity and a built-in lesson that we take care of our home, IMO. we have a big pile of towels in a nearby closet, we have a whole slew of rags in our kitchen, and we have kk-size brushes/brooms, so we’re ready for the messy.
(we also have tile in the main area of our home, and that helps.)
just figure out what you’re comfortable with, and go from there. like, I’m not comfortable with any sort of paint, oobleck, colored water, foam, or jello (at least for now!), so we don’t attempt that. and that’s okay! i 1000% enjoy activities like taste-safe play dough with play dough stamps or seasonally-colored rice with a bunch of scooping and pouring opportunities, so we stay in that zip code.
our favorite sensory bin supplies
consider this my toolkit. with these, I can throw together a pretty basic - yet wildly entertaining - sensory bin for KK. especially since the girl is absolutely entranced by scooping and pouring.
know that kk’s favorite will always be rice + things to scoop and pour the rice with. we also like:
lentils, black beans, rice, oats, chickpeas, corn, etc
pom poms in various colors
tiny metal cups like this and this
things made with metal and wood might be her favorite things, as she loves the sounds they make when, say, black beans are poured into them.
kk’s own set of measuring cups + measuring spoons
slotted spoons + various other spoons
plastic jars like this
various bowls, scoops, spoons, and tongs
linked some favorites on my “sensory play” amazon board
various trays (in seasonal shapes) + ten frames
I love Etsy and Target Dollar Spot for these!
ice trays + empty egg cartons
a way to turn the table into a light table
there are lots of DIY tutorials out there, but we have this
various ikea flisat table inserts
search “ikea flisat insert” on Etsy - there are so many amazing ones!
this shop is our favorite - most of our inserts are from here.
these were pricey, but we love them so, so much. I especially love them for our sensory play, and I love that I can, say, only set out our red and green loose parts in a bin of rice and - ta da! - it’s automatically a Christmas sensory bin.
so far we have the Nins Carla, the Lola Stack and Sort, the Mates, and the Nesting Bowls. we’ll add more with upcoming holidays.
at the time of publication, KK has currently been playing with her orange and yellow Nesting Bowls in her autumn sensory bin all morning. pouring, scooping, stirring in the bowl, and nesting the bowls.
seasonal items (listed below!)
our favorite themed sensory play
seasons, holidays, and our monthly bookshelf inspires what we’re doing for sensory play.
see our full list of monthly themes (and favorite seasonal sensory bins!) here.
but first! our rice bin
a reminder that we have a separate, simple rice bin - like this Busy Toddler post! - that KK LOVES. if i feel up to it, I may use bowls/scoops/tools that match this month’s colors and/or small parts that coordinate with this month’s theme. or I just keep it as-is and it’s still a GEM.
our thoughts on seasonal sensory play
let me pause and do a quick disclaimer.
i truly believe for holidays, we should pinpoint our favorite things - the things that bring us joy - and forget the rest. so in this current season of mine, I really don’t enjoy seasonal decor. so I don’t do it. i invest in year-round decor I love, and instead focus on what makes my heart so happy: seasonal recipes in my menu plan, seasonal hair clips and pajamas for KK, seasonal books for KK, seasonal traditions as a family, and seasonal sensory play.
so that being said, since sensory play is something I love, we invest our money and energy here instead of on, say, seasonal decor. if sensory play isn’t something that brings you joy, that’s okay! don’t do it! it just makes me so happy, so we have quite the seasonally-themed inventory.
here’s my list of seasonal favorites, broken up by months!
our favorite play dough stuff
because we can’t talk about sensory play without mentioning play dough.
this post talks about our play dough favorites, our play dough rules, our play dough tools, and how we store it all in a caddy.
but this post has our monthly play themes - each month in the post has our seasonally themed play dough activities (and tools!) we loved that month. aka tons of easy, engaging ideas!
our favorite outdoor sensory play
i have separate sensory tables that live outside. one table for water, one table for sand, and one table for soil. they’re magical. read more about our outdoor play tables here.
our other favorite things
a peek into our daily life since I benefit from daily structure just as much as KK does. how sensory play and independent play fit into our days. and, you know, when I cook and do household routines and rest and all that jazz.
allllll our favorite things, from birth until now
want to know more about her favorite toys and activities we love to use? see this post for a round-up of our favorites by age! (don’t worry, it’s not overwhelming. there are links that separate it all by age, so you can just view, say, our favorites for 12-18 months!)
a tour of the play spaces in our home + our favorite bigger toys
our monthly favorite toys, books, and activities
Come say hi on Instagram! I’m always showing peeks into our daily life - like peeks of our sensory play!
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