(1) Sorting Objects
"Sorting" is a great activity for building all kinds of tactile, decision making and mathematic skills. Give your kids a bin full of small erasers, figurines, 3D shapes, or any small object - and watch as they use their senses and preferences to put them into groups.
(2) Painting
Forget the smock, strip your kids down to their diaper/underwear and let painting become a sensory experience. Lay out a large piece of paper on the grass, use non-toxic paint and have a hose and towel ready for the aftermath.
(3) Play Doh
Make it yourself using this simple recipe . Go ahead and add essential oils, glitter, beads, popsicle sticks and googly eyes. Watch that small pieces don't end up in their mouths, noses, ears...
(4) Feely Boxes
These work really well for preschoolers, but who is to say your toddler won't get a kick out of a feely box too. Basically, cut a hand sized hole in a box and put a small, textured item in the box. The game is based around guessing what the item is, based on how it feels. Click here for an example.
(5) Olfactory Station
Set up some safe mystery smells and see how your toddler reacts. Will they screw up their face, or try to eat it? Smelling food can also demystify some tastes for fussy toddlers.
(6) Beans and Rice
Fill a bin with dry beans and rice, add a cup as a shovel. You have a new toy!
(7) Sand Play
At home, at the beach, at day care - wherever there is sand - play with it! Some children have a real aversion to the texture of sand, so play with it as much as possible.
(8) Water Play
We are experiencing a severe drought in California, so think of water play ideas that use less H20 but give maximum enjoyment.
(9) Cooking
Bake some cookies, whip up some muffins or find a no-bake recipe that your toddler can enjoy with you. Cooking with very young children is best kept simple, fast and 1:1.
(10) Tapioca Beads
Water beads are great fun to play with, but a hazard for little hands. Tapioca is almost identical, but edible! Check this out.
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