Sensory Learning Activity for Toddlers and Kids

I love a good rice sensory bin!

This day just so happened to be a bit cloudy for me. 

I remember looking in the pantry thinking to myself, what can I bring out that will be fun and sensorial for my child today. 

“Should I use food coloring?”, I would ask myself. “No, it’s too late right now, it would take a bit to dry”, I would say to myself. 

“Oh, a good sensory table filled with plain uncooked white rice + brown rice, will do” I thought. 

And boy, was I right!

I added what I had into our sensory table and voila, we are all set for play!

But I thought it needed a bit more color, so I added in these foam shapes that are colorful into the white rice to bring the white some stand out bright colors!

Then, I added in some small containers, a measuring cup and it went uphill from there!

My youngest played with this for hours. 

When my oldest got back from school, she also played with it for hours with my youngest.

What could this be? Some magical solution? 

Indeed it could be. Sensory play stimulated the senses and allows you’re child to explore and use their imagination.

When you use your imagination, you’re creativeness sores through the roof. 

And when you are creative due to sensory play, it is because, sensory play builds nerve connections within the neural pathways of the brain, triggering a child’s inclination to compete more compounded and profound learning tasks. 

So, let’s let get into the items I used to put this together to create this epic sensory playground experience…

Note: To learn more about the benefits of sensory play and over 100 sensory play ideas, check out this post right here!

Supplies:

This post contains affiliate links. 

• Sensory Table Setup I use (sensory bin and sensory stand) 

• Brown Rice

• White Rice

• Colorful Foam Shapes

• Measuring Cups

• Small Containers

Preschool tables for Sensory Play 

I receive a lot of questions about our sensory table setup. 

I love it. It is a great, sturdy and I use it all of the time. 

The height of it is perfect for both my girls. 

We have used water in it, rice, water beads..

We’ve also used it for small world play, loose parts play, pretend play, sensory play. 

And, I love it.

The bin can be replaced and when you are ready for cleanup, it’s so easy to remove and cleanup. It’s cleaned up in less than 5 minutes. 

If you are looking for an awesome sensory table setup, this is the one!

Creative Activities for Preschoolers 

So, let’s talk about how you can go about using rice and these colorful foam shapes for play.

In all honesty, you do not need the colorful foam shapes. 

You can just use the rice as is and your child can scoop and pour.

There are so many benefits your child will still be receiving by just scooping and pouring. 

If you want to get fancy with it, you can always dye your rice with food coloring. 

I have a tutorial on how we use food coloring to dye our rice and you can most definitely check that out here. 

It is easy as pie to dye rice for sensory play.

Some options for adding to your rice are your child’s squishy toys, or any toys he or she is currently playing with. 

Some toy ideas can be construction car toys, fairy toy figures, or Mickey and Minnie toy figures. 

Whatever your child is playing with at the point in time that can easily fit into your bin that you are okay with adding in, add them in. 

This is where small world play and pretend play comes along. 

If you add in construction site toy trucks, the rice can act as pretend dirt and your childs imagination will play a role in thinking it is a fun construction site!

Isn’t that neat? Im smiling writing this because sensory play is just so epic!

Sensory Experience in a nutshell 

So, I hope you try sensory play and the sensory experience out and if you have tried it already, go you mama!

You are all amazing! 

If you are looking for the benefits of sensory play and over 100 sensory play ideas, don’t forget to check this post out! 

Enjoy!

Will you give these Sensory Learning Activity for Toddlers and Kids a try?

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