Three "Cool" Winter Sensory Play Activities

Winter is a season full of sensory opportunities. Cold, wet snow, smooth ice, prickly pine needles and fragrant evergreens-- all the unique textures, scents and sensations of the season abound outdoors. And when it's too cold and snowy to get out, you can warm up inside with one of these three fun sensory play activities:

In this simple sensory table setup, cotton balls are "snow," and a couple of empty recycled plastic bottles have been turned into snowmen using permanent markers and a bit of yarn for a scarf. I tossed in some plastic snowflake decorations as well. With the addition of a couple of sets of large tweezers, some plastic shovels and cauldrons, the boys can practice scooping and transferring cotton snowballs into the larger pots or using their fingers and/or tweezers to pinch and poke them into the snowman bottles. The real fine motor challenge comes when trying to get all of those cotton balls back out of the bottle one by one! As simple as it is to set up, it's a winner of an activity and has kept both boys busy at play!

Here we are "leaving the house" and temporarily distracted by
a thoughtfully set up but simple and inexpensive sensory play opportunity!

 Small loose parts from our winter themed tinker tray and some snow white sparkly playdough were the main ingredients of this invitation to build a snowflake activity. I provided some snowflake shaped cookie cutters, rolling pins, plastic knives and also a collection of glass gems and mosaic tiles, winter themed paper straws (cut in half), Q-tips and metal hex nuts. I made our peppermint scented snow white playdough following my favorite stove-top playdough recipe but substituting in corn starch for flour. I also added in some peppermint extract and silver glitter after it was done cooking. To be totally honest, I was not a fan of the texture of this dough afterward. It is a bit harder/crumblier than the typical version of the recipe. It is, however, a vibrant white (which using flour will not yield) and allergy safe for those who are severely sensitive to gluten.

It can be stored in a ziplock or airtight container just as you would store regular homemade playdough. The boys are far less picky about playdough than I am, so they have returned to use it again and again as we keep it ready in our STEAM Cart playdough drawer.



 We also love incorporating sensory and small world play here. While many times our sensory table is used solely for scooping, transferring, pouring and exploring, sometimes the addition of some small world play objects and loose parts can introduce a beautiful element of storytelling and dramatic play to the scene. We used play sand and glitter for the "snow" base of this Arctic animal winter wonderland, complete with red sleds, snowmen and some tiny shovels. Finishing touches included some small trees, a "hibernation cave" made from a recycled container with a section cut out from one side and a collection of "ice" chunks (glass gems, stones and mosaic tiles).

Sensory play is such a great way to warm up this winter season! We'll be back with some toasty winter story stretchers and a great wintry process art experience in the days to follow. Until then...

Happy Playing!