Thursday, March 23, 2017

5 Sensory Toys To Make At Home




Sensory play is so much fun for little ones and beyond. Often, every day items can make the best toys of all. Sometimes, 'real' sensory toys can be pretty expensive, so making your own is not only the cheaper option, but totally bespoke too. You know how babies will play with something random like a door knob while their actual toys just sit there untouched? Well this is all about making use of items that babies will find fascinating without forking out for pre made toys that every kid will have.

Here are some ideas for less conventional items that would make fab toys for your little ones to experiment and learn with. Exploration is key, so thinking about different textures, materials and anything that appeals to those growing senses, whilst also being safe for supervised play.



Coloured Plastics


These discs from Simply Plastics are just brilliant. You can create a whole rainbow of these that would be perfect for all kinds of play, shining lights through, using on a light box, stacking, learning colours, rolling, spinning, the list is endless! Items like these cost just a matter of pence each and I can guarantee all little hands would have a whale of a time putting these to good use.




Plastic Lids


These were by far one of the most popular 'toys' for my two. We collected plastic bottle tops from drinks etc, gave them a good clean, created a giant 'money box' for the kids to slot them into and off they went. These were also used for stacking, colour sorting and counting and by drilling a little hole in the centre you can use them for threading or make a garden abacus for free! Get collecting.




Magnets



Magnets are so much fun to play with and you can pick up a giant magnet on Amazon for just a few pounds. Pair this with lots of magnetic and non magnetic items from around the house and let your kids experiment to see which ones work. This is a great activity, an easy to store, simple to set up game that all kids will love.




Bangle Towers



I shared this activity last year and even still, both kids will sit and play with this. If you missed it, you can read more by clicking here. This one is super simple though, just collect bangles and hoops of all different textures and sizes, pick up a pound shop kitchen roll holder and voila, a much loved toy.




Bottles


We've already put the lids to good use, but if you have a nice clear bottle, keep those lids to make some super special sensory bottles. You can fill bottles with all sorts to create different effects, make musical instruments, garden toys and best of all, fill them with oils and pretty things for the kids to watch and play with. Check out Pinterest for some amazing contents ideas.




So there we have it, 5 sensory play items you can recreate at home for very little or no cost. Asking friends and family to save items for you will really help and you can adapt all of these to make them age appropriate. Who said toys have to be expensive? If you try any of these, let me know or pin below!





*This is a collaborative post.