Sensory boxes are a fun, contained way to meet toddlers' and preschoolers' need for sensory exploration in a themed way. One thing I love about sensory boxes is that they are easy to tailor to your child's interests, without spending much money. While you can certainly find many ready made sensory boxes on the market, if you are looking for some inspiration to make your own, this list is for you!
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START HERE: Pick your base/filling!
You can use a variety of fillings for sensory boxes. I recommend rotating through different fillings, or mixing them!. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Kinetic Sand
- Regular Sand
- Uncooked Rice
- Uncooked Grits or Polenta
- Uncooked Pasta
- Playdough (make sure to put play dough back into containers between play, though!)
- Oblek
- Sensory Snow (you'll want to store this in a separate container between uses)
- Pom Poms or Cotton Balls
- Confetti or Shredded Paper
- Shaving Cream (this filler is only good for one use, but is loads of fun!)
You'll want to add your filling to a plastic storage container, sand table box, or other plastic container.
Once you have your filling, simply add themed items! Here is a growing library of the sensory boxes we have made, plus some products that may be helpful in recreating the themes!
Ice Cream Shoppe
This has by far been one of my little one's favorite themes thus far. Scooping ice cream, creating sundaes, and serving up treats make for a great sensory and imaginary play activity!
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Ice Cream Truck
Using the ice cream shoppe sensory box (above) and our Fisher Price food truck, I created an ice cream truck for my child, and it was a hit!
You can find the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Servin Up Fun Food Truck HERE.
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Roadwork
Base/Filler: Kinetic Sand
Added: Soft world trees/bushes, workers from Melissa and Doug dump truck shape sorter, Kinetic Sand paving roller truck and other pieces.
Added: Soft world trees/bushes, workers from Melissa and Doug dump truck shape sorter, Kinetic Sand paving roller truck and other pieces.
Safari
Base/Filler: Uncooked rice
Added: Zoo animal counters, plastic egg "boulders" (also consider adding bushes, such as those seen in the roadwork themed box; I didn't add those until after this photo was taken.... my little one also decided to add some pumpkin erasers, since this was done in October, and a watering can, just because!)
Added: Zoo animal counters, plastic egg "boulders" (also consider adding bushes, such as those seen in the roadwork themed box; I didn't add those until after this photo was taken.... my little one also decided to add some pumpkin erasers, since this was done in October, and a watering can, just because!)
Dinosaur Desert
Base/Filler: Uncooked rice
Added: Melissa and Doug dinosaur figurines, plastic eggs for boulders (they doubled as scoops), and sticks.
Added: Melissa and Doug dinosaur figurines, plastic eggs for boulders (they doubled as scoops), and sticks.
Summer Themed Kinetic Sand and Water Bead "Beach"
View the entire post here!!
Base/Filler: Kinetic Sand & Water Beads
Even more sensory box ideas coming soon! This page is periodically updated with new options, as we try them, so there
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MORE GREAT KIDS' ACTIVITIES!
- Homemade shakers
- Block Stacking: How to make it an educational experience
- Salt dough
- Body Tracing Activity