Springtime Sensory Play Ideas

Children use their senses to gather information about their world, and to figure out answers to questions. Because children learn through hands-on experiences, a sensory table is an ideal way to help them celebrate and understand the arrival of spring and all it entails.

Setting up your springtime sensory play area can be done indoors or outdoors, either in a dedicated sensory table with small built-in bins, or any small tubs and bins you have at home. Sensory play may get messy, so ensure that you account for spills or splashes when setting up your child’s play area. As always, make sure that all sensory bin items do not pose a choking hazard.

Fill your sensory table or bins with materials to scoop, pour, and mix, and mediums to form the basis of the sensory play. Here are four springtime sensory play ideas for your toddler or preschooler.

Sensory spring garden

Using soil as the medium, add toy garden tools such as spades, rakes, and buckets. Include colorful flowers, and an assortment of toy vegetables. Your child can rake and scoop the soil, plant the flowers, and dig up the vegetables. Together, you can discuss how plants grow each spring.

Sensory spring creatures bin

Spring means the return of birds and the emergence of familiar creatures such as insects, worms, and frogs. To help your child get to know the creatures of spring, create a sensory bin with toy versions of frogs, worms, insects, and birds. Your medium could be sand, soil, or beads. Your child can bury the insects and worms and dig them up, use a magnifying glass to examine the creatures, scoop and pour them into small containers, count them, or play make-believe with them.

Sensory spring water table

Spring means rain, and using water as a medium is an ideal way to help your child experience this key feature of the season. Children love playing in puddles, so create a bin-sized puddle full of leaves, flowers, beads, plastic frogs and fish, and other materials. They can splash around and explore the different textures of the materials, and learn about how some float and others sink. To further emulate spring rain, you can poke holes in the bottoms of plastic cups, or give your child sponges to squeeze “rain” out of.

Easter sensory table

Easter is a colorful hallmark of the season, and an ideal opportunity to create a bright and fun sensory table for your young child. Fill your bin with Easter basket grass, cotton balls, plastic or wooden Easter eggs, toy chicks or rabbits, and cut-up egg cartons. With a multitude of textures, shapes, sizes, and weights, this Easter sensory bin will give your child ample opportunity to learn even more about Easter.

Sensory tables are an ideal way to help your child develop fine motor skills, build cognitive skills, socialize with others, and encourage their creativity. These four sensory play ideas will help your child learn more about spring while building important skills.