Babies and toddlers explore the world using their senses, and sensory play is a wonderful way to encourage this discovery and learning. You can introduce new textures, sounds, and smells to help them develop their skills and have fun playing.
Below are some play ideas for both babies and toddlers, a mix of messy and non messy fun!
Heart pat mat for babies and toddlers
You will need :
Medium sized zip loc bag
hair gel or hand soap ( red or pink)
glitter
heart sequins
heart or love themed beads
sellotape
Add all the ingredients to the zip loc bag and close the lid mix them around and secure the opening with sellotape or tape to the high chair/ floor or window.
Let you little one explore the textures, movement, smell and feel of this lovely sensory bag.
Brilliant for tummy time, sitting play, high chair fun and on the window to explore the light change for little ones who are standing.
Valentine's sensory bottle
You will need :
Plastic bottle with lid
superglue
sequins or glitter red food colouring
jug of water
drink shimmer
superglue
Heart Ice cube play, perfect for older babies and toddlers
What you'll need:
ice cube tray
water
hearts cut out of red card or tissue paper
1. cut out 16 hearts from red card . (however many ice cubes your tray holds)
The fastest way to do this is to take one sheet of red card and fold it in half and then in half again.
Keep folding until you get a square small enough to fit in an ice cube tray.
Then you can cut several hearts with one cut.
2 - Fill the ice cube tray with water and add a heart in each space.
3- Freeze over night
Let your little ones touch, play and explore the ice cubes. This is a wonderful exploratory sensory experience for our little ones.
Put them in a bowl of cold water, do they sink or float?
Add in some containers to pour, scoop and play with. Use some spoons or bowls with warmer water to try and melt the ice. Let little ones hold the ice cube in their hand . Talk about the cold sensation, how its turning to water because the heat of their hand is melting the ice. You could even add some salt for our older children. Watch what happens !
Lots of opportunities for language development, questioning and exploration.
Let me know if you try them!
Love
Elisa xxx