Sensory Play: Learning Through the Five Senses

Activities that stimulate the five senses - touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing - enable your child to have fun while exploring 
and learning from the world around them. 


Sensory play can help your child: 

  • Relax when they're frustrated on anxious by moving their attention to a mindful activity.
  • Build important fine and gross motor skills. 
  • Develop communication, social, cognitive and problem-solving skills. 
  • Enhance memory function. 
  • Learn new concepts such as wet, dry, cold, hot, smooth and rough. 

Sensory Play Ideas 

These sensory play activities are simple to set up and plenty of fun: 

  • Mud, sludge, bubbles, slime, kinetic sand and Play-Doh. 
  • Sensory boxes/bins filled with different food or non-food related tactile objects. 
  • Homemade miniature muddy farms, beaches, parks or duckponds. 
  • Rainbow rice and pasta. 


Check out these wonderful sensory play ideas from our friends at Storypark. 


Play-Doh Recipe 

Play-Doh is an all-time favourite sensory play activity for little ones and something you can quickly whip up at home. 

What you need 

  • 1 cup of flour 
  • 1 cup of water 
  • ½ cup cooking salt 
  • 1 tbs of cooking oil 
  • 1 tbs of cream of tartar 
  • Food colouring 
What to do 
Mix the flour, water, food colouring, salt and cream of tartar in a saucepan over medium heat until thick. 
Allow the mixture to cool and then add the oil and knead well over a floured chopping board or similar. 
It’s that simple!