Creating a Sensory Box for Your Child

There are some kids who do their best learning through their sense of touch. You know the kind... The kid who adores playing in the sandbox, and gets covered head to toe with mud when he plays outside, the kid who touches everything she sees in the store and plays with her food more than she eats it. If you have a kid like this in your life, you probably go through a lot of playdough! But you don't have to stop at playdough. By creating a sensory box, you can allow your kid to get elbow deep in something new every day!

A sensory is just a box that you can put different materials into. Its similar to a sensory table, which you might have seen in your child's school or day care center. But while a sensory table is usually large and bulky, a sensory box can be any size. You might prefer a small one you can keep inside your house that will be very easy to clean, or a large, lidded one that you'll keep outside in the backyard. A plastic box is best. Plastic wading pools, baby tubs, or flat Rubbermaid storage boxes are some ideas for what you could use as a sensory box.

What can you put in the box? The ideas are endless!

Dry: Rice

Uncooked oatmeal

Flour

Brown sugar

White sugar

Salt

Corn meal

Corn starch

Uncooked noodles

Gravel

Dry beans

Popped popcorn

Unpopped popcorn

Packing peanuts

Aquarium rocks

Beads

Coffee grounds

Sea shells

Buttons

Bird seed

Saw dust

Confetti

Feathers

Marti gras beads

Marbles

Wet: Baby oil

Soapy water

Ice cubes

Snow

Slimy or mushy: Cold, cooked noodles

Water and cornstarch

Water and flour

Pumpkin guts

Whipped cream

Shaving cream

Pudding

Gelatin

Mashed potatoes

Flubber, Gak, Ooblek, etc

Mud

Clean Mud (shredded toilet paper mixed with water and Ivory soap flakes)

Bananas and mashers

Finger paint

Totally random: Water with live minnows!

Live worms in water or potting soil

A few final tips: Make sure you also add things for the child to play with in the material. For instance, large spoons, buckets, cups, toy people or animals, etc.

Consider the age and developmental stage of the child. Toddlers, and other kids who tend to put thins into their mouths, shouldn't play with things that are choking hazards, like marbles. Food items, like oats or pudding, are great for kids who put things into their mouths, because if they do end up tasting it, its totally safe.

Don't stress about cleaning up! Put your sensory box in an area that's easy to clean, like a kitchen with a tile floor. Keep a dust buster handy for sucking up dry messes. If your kids get too messy, you can always throw them right into the bathtub afterwards! Sensory experiences are most fun if everyone just enjoys it, even when it gets messy!