Winter Theme: Sensory Play

Winter is a great season for sensory play! Whether you're exploring the wonderful world of snow outdoors or staying indoors and in search of some fun for all ages, there are a lot of great seasonally themed ways to incorporate sensory play into your repertoire. 

Here's a peek at some of our favorites:

Snow is a great sensory material in and of itself. Whether you head outside or bring it indoors, the temperature, textures and changes it goes through as it is manipulated provide a great sensory experience. Add shovels, plastic spoons, cups, and containers for digging and filling. Add some colored water and squeeze bottles or pipettes. Just don't forget to add mittens if your very little one is not a fan of the extreme cold yet!

ooops!

And still just as much fun one year later!

Speaking of very little ones--we did a lot of sensory play early on from the safety of a Bumbo seat right inside the sensory bin! Here's one filled with packing peanuts (which incidentally, this type is also taste safe and made from cornstarch--but they stick together when wet!). We also added in some winter themed toys to search for, play with and manipulate.

And for more infant-friendly sensory fun, we made this snow-in-a-sensory-bottle using "snow" from a little science kit my mother sent us. We still have it 2 years later and he still loves it!

Ice is a great addition to sensory play and small world scenes. I posted on this great winter-themed activity here.

 You can also get out that old set of watercolor paints and paint on ice! It's a great art and sensory activity to do in the winter and anytime year round.

If you're in the mood for some bubbly sensory fun, build (and explode!) your very own Fizzy the Snowman.

And for sensory fun you can revisit again and again, whip up your own recipe for snow dough with just 2 ingredients. This playdough recipe is all over Pinterest and actually feels cool to the touch when you're mixing it, which is half of the fun! Afterward, it can be sealed in a container or bag and stored for future play--though I would definitely toss it after a few hands on sessions. 

You Will Need:

1/2 cup conditioner (I use the cheapest possible white conditioner I can find)

3 cups baking soda

Combine and mix your ingredients. You can use a spoon, but I encourage you to get your hands (and your little ones' hands) right on in there. This snow dough actually feels cold! It will be crumbly but should be able to form and hold a shape. Next it's PLAY TIME! You do not have to add anything to have fun shaping and molding this snow dough but you can add it scoops/containers, small accessories to build your own snowman, or plastic toy animals as pictured here for your own Arctic Small World.

Happy and Hands-On Playing!