Sensory play is one of the best ways your kiddos can spend their time! Lots of play types are beneficial for your child’s development, but sensory-based activities are particularly good for things like fine motor skills, cognitive health, and emotional/social development. Plus, sensory play is just fun! 

There are lots of places to find sensory play in the wild a big mud puddle or a plate full of spaghetti is great. However, these aren’t always practical (let’s not even talk about the laundry here), so it’s best to set-up sensory play activities where kids can easily identify play opportunities and you can control the mess.

You can do this by assembling sensory play kits! After a shopping trip and an afternoon of creative kit-making, you can have dozens of DIY sensory kits ready to go for your little one’s daily play time. This is why I created the Mothercould in Your Pocket resource! It has TONS of activities with full instructions to make stepping into beneficial sensory play super easy! 

With just one purchase, you get access to hundreds of sensory ideas! But, to help you understand how you should use things like DIY 3D letters and edible kinetic sand, I’m sharing step-by-step instructions to curate your own beneficial, engaging, and super fun sensory kits using the components from the resource! 

 How to Make Premade Home Kits for Sensory Play

Step One: Determine your themes.

The first step to making an interactive premade sensory kit is to determine your theme. You could base it around your child’s interests, the season, or something they’re learning! Here are some of my favorites:

• Jelly Sea Creature Rescue (blue jelly or slime, sea shells, ocean animal toys)

• Construction Zone (construction vehicles, rocks, play mud, jelly blocks)

• Garden Party (small flower toys, gardening tools, insects, fake dirt, colored pasta, dried beans)

• Dinosaur Excavation (dinosaur bone toys, kinetic sand, fizzy blocks)

• Outer Space Exploration (glow-in-the-dark stars, astronauts, planets, dried black beans or dyed rice)

• Farmyard Fun (toy farm animals, fences, green dyed rice or dried corn)

• Arctic Expedition (cotton balls, toy arctic animals, igloos, DIY snow, ice or clear jelly)

• Safari (safari animal toys, twigs, dyed rice or dyed beans)

• Circus (clown, acrobat, circus tent toys, kinetic sand)

• Sink or Float Water Play (water, assorted toys and nature items) 

• Ice Castle Rescue (dragons, knights, ice) 

• Duck Pond (blue foam, rubber ducks) 

• Car Wash (brown foam, cars, water)  

• Hair Salon (colored spaghetti, safe scissors) 

• Jewelry Making Station (dried pasta, pipe cleaners) 

Step Two: Ready enough stackable, clear, lidded containers for each theme.

It’s a good idea to have some stackable, clear, lidded containers ready for each theme. If they last, which they should, you can keep the sealed containers at the ready so they’re always on hand when your little one wants to play. You can find some storage and organization ideas here.  

And, if you’re unsure where to put them in your playroom or play area, watch this episode of The Messy Playroom Makeover! I’ll give you all the tips! 

Make your bases for the kits.

There are so many bases you can use when making premade sensory kits. In fact, you can find a simple base for pretty much any theme! Some you can even make out of things that are sitting in your cupboard mixed with a little food coloring there’s really no need to buy anything store-bought! Personally, my go-tos include:

• Colored Pasta

• Colored Rice

• Beans

• Foam

• Chia Seeds

• Fizzy Blocks 

• Fake Snow

• Jelly

• Edible Beach Sand

• Kinetic Sand

• Colored Salt

• Naturally Dyed Cloud Dough

• Taste Safe Blocks

• Colored Noodles

Find materials and use the right tools. 

When creating your premade sensory kits, it’s important to have the right tools! You can find a lot of these on my Amazon Shop! Think about creating a collection of tools including a rolling pin, shovels, tongs, droppers, molds, and more to make the digging, swishing, and fidgeting very engaging!

Fill each container.

Once you’ve gathered pretty much everything you will need, it’s time to fill your container. Be generous with your base, as it is what sets the foundation for a great sensory kit. Then add the toys and tools! Careful not to overdo it. You want plenty of space inside your container to play! 

Label each container by theme.

To make it easy for both you and your child when selecting a theme, make sure you label your containers. For example, if you’ve got a premade kit with a birthday theme (wouldn’t that be fun?!), label it “birthday party”. This will keep everything orderly and make it easier to find the kit you’re looking for.

Store on open shelving, but out of reach.

Once your kits are assembled and labeled, store them on open shelving, but make sure they’re out of reach. If your child is looking for a certain theme, they can ask you to get it, but this ensures they can’t just grab it and make a mess or get their hands on choking hazards without supervision. 

Place in a DIY sensory table when ready to use.

When it’s time to play,  put the kit’s container into a DIY sensory table. It helps keep everything contained and makes a fun area for them to explore and create. These tables help to fully immerse kids in the activity without huge messes afterwards. However, if you don’t have one around, your pre-made kit containers can be played with on the floor or dining room table!

Make sensory play a breeze, whenever it’s time to explore!

When you create premade sensory kits for your little ones, you can feel good about playtime.  These kits offer opportunities to grow your child intellectually, physically, emotionally, and socially in a fun and easy way. Better yet, you can make use of them again, and again, and again!

If you’re interested in making your life easier with premade kits for sensory play, check out the Mothercould In Your Pocket resource for endless sensory play opportunities. You will never have a bored kid!