Play Dough Sensory Bag for Babies

E has played with play dough a lot this summer. Seeing her made N want the play dough, too, but since he’s really into eating it, I had to keep him away from it.

Even though we use homemade play dough and I’m sure a little taste won’t hurt him, I was still weary of all the salt that’s in our recipe and just couldn’t watch him put it in his mouth. It made me try to think of a way to allow him to explore and play with play dough without ending up with an upset tummy.

I came up with a quick and simple solution: I made him a Play Dough Sensory Bag! While I was at it, I threw in a few other non-baby safe items for added texture and color, but it still only took a minute to put together and N really enjoyed it!

(N was 11 months old.)

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Materials for Play Dough Sensory Bag

• Ziploc bag.
• Play dough. {We used homemade, but store bought works fine, too.}
• Pompoms.
• Beads.
• Duct tape.

Sensory bags usually come together pretty quickly and this one was no exception.

I put in play dough, glitter pompoms, and heart shaped beads. I just put the items next to the play dough so they could work their way into the play dough as N played with the bag.

I flattened the play dough to fit the bag, but you could make a ball. That would probably be even more interesting and it would flatten out on its own over time.

N enjoyed squeezing the play dough in the bag as best he could.

Rubbing the bag back and forth over the step in front of our fireplace was another favorite 🙂

As usual, E didn’t want to miss out and spent some time with the bag, too.

Here are some other sensory bags we’ve played with:

Sensory Bag with Loom Bands, Glitter, and Sequins

Hearts Sensory Bag

“Flower Meadow” Sensory Bag

Learning and Exploring through Play has a whole Guide to Creating Sensory Bags!

For a lot more sensory activities, make sure to check out these posts:

Baby Play Activities

Sensory Activities for Kids

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