As a parent, teacher, or caregiver, it can be hard to find activities for all of your little ones! Different ages are developing different skills and require different precautions, but there are TONS of recipes that kids of any age can benefit from together!

Whether you’re setting up arts and crafts or sensory bins, I recommend using play recipes, which are basically guides on how to set up a beneficial play experience. (You can find a ton on my blog and the Mothercould in Your Pocket resource.) Play recipes are super fun ways to create an interactive hands-on environment that ’ll keep your kids engaged and support their development.

Kids of all ages can benefit from organized sensory play! So, if you have children of multiple ages, it makes sense that you would want them all the experience the magic. However, creating different sensory bins for various age groups feels like a lot of work. That’s why today, I’m sharing my guide on how to properly set up a play recipe for kids of different age groups so they’re able to play together and learn together! 

How to Set Up a Play Recipe for Multiple Ages 

Step 1: Choose your play recipe or sensory kit. 

Before you do anything, you need to decide what activity you’re going to set up for your kids! Whether it’s a themed sensory kit, a craft, or another play recipe. You’ll need to get a general sense of the supplies you’ll need and the overall activity goal. 

Step 2: Find the right bases. 

Once you choose your theme, you need to pick your base! This is what will make up most of your activity. I recommend things like play dough, dyed salt, ice, slime all things that babies can put their hands on to develop fine motor skills while the big kids work on things like cognition, problem-solving, and creativity.  

Step 3: Choose taste safe alternatives. 

If you’re working with kids under the age of 3, you may want to go with taste-safe activities! Basically, you want anyone prone to putting things in their mouth to be able to safely engage with this activity. With taste-safe alternatives you don’t have to worry as much about harsh chemicals or additives.

You can find tons of taste-safe alternatives to your favorite play bases like taste-safe paint, slime, kinetic sand, chia seeds, slime, and play dough! (You could even try a food-based activity!) This will give you peace of mind that, young or old, all your kids can enjoy the sensory base safely.

Step 4: Make it colorful.

Color engages kids of all ages! Food coloring and natural dyes are fantastic tools to use when looking for ways to brighten up sensory play.

Adding color can create a much more enriching play experience for kids. It’s intriguing, it keeps them engaged, and of course they’ll be more likely to participate in something that looks colorful and messy!

This colorful rice letter find activity is a great example of this. I know I speak for many moms’ when I say that my kids wouldn’t have been nearly as interested in this activity if I just used plain, un-dyed rice. The color makes the activity!

For the younger ones, you can hide little toy animals or shapes for them to search for. For older 

Step 5: Ensure things are height friendly. 

Another way to make sure things are appropriate for all ages is to make sure the activity is at the appropriate height. That could mean a table that is at standing height for your younger kid and kneeling height for your older child.

Or, it could mean that you set up two different stations for each height. One station could be on the dining room table and one could go on the floor. This could be a good way to mature the activity for one kid while simplifying it for another!

Step 6: Create play boundaries. 

Creating play boundaries is a great way to set up themed activities while also encouraging easy clean up. The boundary could be the bin holding the activity, the table you’re working on, or a divided area of the room marked with painter’s tape. You could even use boundaries to separate age-appropriate activities.

Setting play boundaries can allow your little ones to explore their creativity with different activities, while also teaching them the importance of containing a mess and helping with clean-up time. 

It’s time to create play recipes that kids of all ages can enjoy!

Sensory play doesn’t have to stick to just one age group there are so many amazing versatile ways to create activities for the whole family!

Don’t think you have to plan different play sessions for each kid. Use these tips and your own creativity to set something up that’s engaging and safe for everyone!

For all kinds of different techniques, tips, and tricks on creating versatile sensory play activities, visit the Mothercould blog! If you want some more in-depth information, tutorials, recipes, and more, download Mothercould in your Pocket! Let’s make kiddos of all ages have fun together!