We love sensory play for its versatility, flexibility, and opportunity for creativity. There are no real hard and fast rules for what makes sensory play. Although so much can be shared it remains simple and easy at its core. You can keep sensory play simple, or make it more complex and messy depending on the time, ages of the participants, and the resources you have at hand. No matter what you choose, the best part about sensory play is that it keeps young children engaged and exploring for long periods of time, which is definitely a win! Simple sensory activities like cloud dough or kinetic sand are great! But what if you want to engage your child in a short time period?

Whether you want to try some messy sensory experiences or keep it minimal, you will love the ideas below. 

We fell in love with sensory play so much that we actually created an online resource for parents, teachers, and caregivers to access easily. Inside the Mothercould in Your Pocket resource, you can access professionally filmed tutorials with lively colors and angles, recipe printables, and many cleaning hacks and tips for sensory play. If you enjoy sensory play with your children or students, learn more about this resource here.

Now, let’s get back to basics.

In this blog post, I will share with you 10 sensory play ideas that can be set up in 10 minutes or less and remain simple. Little effort and a big reward! If you are trying sensory play for the first time, these sensory play ideas are a great way to get started as they are easy to both setup and clean up! 

10 SENSORY PLAY IDEAS SET UP IN 10 MINUTES OR LESS

Bath Sensory Play

The bathroom or bathtub is one of my favorite places to set up sensory play because it doesn’t have to interrupt your routine and it is guaranteed to be easy to clean up! 

1. HAVE A FOAM PARTY

Add 1 cup of water, 2-3 tbsp tear-free soap, and a couple of food coloring drops to a bin. Use a hand mixer to blend the solution and make play foam. Add it to the bathtub for a colorful, bubbly party! 

If you have older children who will not be putting foam on their eyes, you can try this foam muffins recipe, and also set it up inside the tub for fast clean up! 

2. PLAY WITH COLOR MIXING

Add water and a couple of drops of food coloring to a squeeze bottle. Repeat with other primary colors. Let kids experiment with mixing colors to create new ones. Watch it happen here.

A large bin on the shower floor works really well too, especially if you’re worried about them splashing the whole bathroom. Fill a bath about halfway with water, add a few drops of food coloring in a squirt bottle and that’s it. Repeat the process until the water is a dark brown color. Don’t worry, the water beads won’t stain the bath, the walls, or the kids.

3. ANIMAL RESCUE 

Play an animal rescue game with ice pods! In a muffin tin, add animal figurines, water, and a drop of food coloring to each cup. Freeze until solid. Drop them in the bath and watch the colors mix as little ones work to free the animals from the ice! 

4. SHAVING CREAM PAINT

This is probably my favorite sensory activity here. It is a little different than the foam party, as it feels more like paint(the consistency is a bit more sticky and thick). These paints take less than 5 minutes to make, and cleaning up is so easy! Combine shaving cream, shower gel (liquid soap) and a tiny bit of food coloring. For a taste-safe option, mix a tiny drop of food coloring with Cool Whip. It has a very similar consistency to shaving cream. It all washes off really easily. Use a shower/bath cleaner to remove any coloring from the grout. 

Water Sensory Play

When in doubt, simply add water! We love water sensory play as it engages quickly and often doesn’t even need another ingredients to make it fun.

5. QUICK & EASY GO-FISH 

This is a fun way to practice some fine motor skills with little ones who are either learning to use utensils or are close to mastering them. Just draw a fish bowl on a piece of paper and place a bowl of water on top. Add in little “fish” made from pipe cleaners and have your little one use a fishing tool (I used a fork). Just use what you have! Watch it in action here. 

During this activity you can practice counting and colors! 

6. 6 MONTH OLD WATER POND

It’s always the simple setups that entertain the longest. For this, simply use a small tray, fill half of it with water, and add some rubber ducks or other floating toys. Your pre-crawler will enjoy dipping their hands, feet and splashing in the water, observing the cause and effect of how the toys move with the water. See in action here.

NOTE: Remember that any sort of water play with kids should be kept under 2 inches of water 

for safety and be supervised at all times.

7. PICK THE BALLS OUT WITH YOUR FEET

If you have been waiting for an excuse to buy new Christmas ornaments, here is your sign! But really, you can use any balls or floating toys you have available for this simple sensory play idea. Just fill a bin or a bucket with water and add some plastic ornaments/balls in. Have your little ones pick them out using their feet. Do not forget the towel under the sensory bin! See it in action here.

Paint Sensory Play

A few ideas below for recipes that will be safer for little ones and easy clean up. 

8. BUBBLE WRAP PAINT

Don’t throw away your bubble wrap! Although most kids will love them to pop them, you can also use them to paint with your feet. All you need is bubble wrap, paper, and paint. Watch it in action here.

It is such a fun way to get our little ones moving. You can also set this up inside the shower or bath to make it extra easy to clean up. 

9. BABY’S FIRST PAINTING

Sometimes you just don't want to worry about the clean up or baby ingesting any paint! Try this quick and easy way to let baby and toddlers finger paint safely! Once you're done with the panting, rinse the bag, let it dry and save to use again and again

10. TASTE SAFE PAINT

This is a 2 minute taste safe paint! If your little one is still tasting everything and putting things into their mouth, this is a good option for them to explore painting. This recipe looks and feels just like paint without the worry of toxicity. 

To make it you will need: 

-1/2 cup flour

-1 tsp salt

-1 1/14 cup boiling water

-Food coloring

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine the flour and salt. Mix well

Add 1 cup of boiling water and mix. Add The rest of the 1/4 boiling water. Mix well. Add more boiling water if needed to be more runny.

Separate into smaller quantities and add food coloring to color the paint.

If you enjoyed learning about these hands-on fun and easy sensory play ideas that can be set up in 10 minutes or less be sure to check out the Mothercould In Your Pocket Resource for a full library of sensory play ideas, cleaning hacks, and other sensory activities that your children will enjoy, and follow us over on Instagram! 

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