The biggest tip I can give if you want your kids to be into sensory play is to follow their interests. The best and longest sensory play set ups in our house are rooted in topics my son loves, which right now include sharks, construction, and arctic animals. Recently I decided to set up a small world sensory play table for him. I froze some pom poms into a bowl with water into a big ice block, and then included some salt and a squeeze bottle of hot water to melt the ice. I put the ice block into some water with blue food coloring and some little gems I found at the dollar store flower section.
I also made fake snow. I will post the recipe for it in a separate post!
We used the Safari Limited Arctic Animal Toob for the animals in this small arctic world. My son really enjoyed playing with this set up and I think it was great to incorporate a bunch of different textures and temperatures into one sensory activity.
The ice block was definitely the star of this bin. We do our sensory play in our little screened in porch, so it was cold and the ice lasted a few days, which was fun to go back to. My son loved using the squeeze bottle to try to melt the ice, and used a spoon to chip away at it as he covered the block in hot water. The animals also "enjoyed" climbing on the ice. Whenever we do a small world play, my sons imagination always comes alive. He is definitely a pretend play lover, and he spent tons of time moving the animals around the little world and having them talk to each other.
For sensory play, we often use our Ikea Filsat table, which I know is a favorite in many homes for kids. It is definitely the perfect size for these little set ups, but if you don't have one any big deep bin works just as well. I used a shallow glass bowl as a mold for the ice, but you can definitely get some cool shaped silicone molds at craft stores to make it even cooler.
Does your little one enjoy pretend play? What is their favorite "small world" to play in?
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