Simple Fun for Kids

Fun printables and hands-on learning and play! Educational and enjoyable simple play ideas for babies, toddlers, preschool, kindergarten, and elementary. Includes seasonal fun for Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and more.

Tons of matching games for toddlers and preschoolers!
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Sensory Activities

Engage all your child’s senses with sensory activities! Whether it’s playing outside in the mud, mixing some quick cloud dough, or setting up elaborate sensory tubs or even sensory tables, there are so many ways for kids to play, explore and enjoy themselves with all their senses.

 

Create invitations to play with sensory activities for your children that engage all their senses: 110+ ideas for sensory activities from Simple Fun for Kids!

 

Click on the images to read about the sensory activities we’ve done, or read more general remarks below the fold. 

 

Learning Colors with Rainbow Bears in the Bathtub featured image
Featured image: Use bathtime for simple activities that teach colors, letters, or are just plain fun: 15 Fun Bathtub Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
My toddler loved this awesome sensory play with dinosaurs - and went a little wild with the activity ;)

Sensory Activities for Kids: This Cloud Dough Frog Pond takes minutes to set up and brings so much fun (and learning)!
24 Days of Christmas Printables: Make learning numbers more fun and add a sensory component when decorating these Christmas tree counting play dough mats! Perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners!
Simple and engaging portable sensory play: Car Tracks Sensory Busy Bag with toy cars and shower gel in a small bag. Fun for toddlers and preschoolers!

Super simple non-messy sensory literacy activity in the bathtub: Washing Away Foam Letters, perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.
Baking soda and vinegar fun with Fizzy Easter Eggs! A perfect, simple sensory and science idea for siblings, play dates, and kids of all ages.
Make bathtime more fun AND educational with this Super Simple Bathtub Art and Introduction to Letters activity, perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

Super fun for toddlers and preschoolers on Valentine's Day or any day: Simple Baking Soda, Vinegar, and Hearts Sensory Play in the water table (or a sensory bin), perfect for siblings or play dates.
We love simple low-mess sensory play for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners! My 2-year-old added his own personal spin on this Goopy Car Park Sensory Play activity and had an absolute blast! Goop only requires 3 simple ingredients that you probably have on hand right now.
Set up this super simple New Year's Sensory Bin for your toddler or preschooler! Simple materials you already have on hand and easy to clean up afterward.

Decorate a Christmas tree the sensory way with these cute printable Christmas Tree Play Dough Mats for toddlers, preschoolers, and older kids! (Day 19 of 24 Days of Christmas Printables for Toddlers.)
Want something simple and fun for baby to do? This Gelatin and Water Sensory Baby Play activity is totally taste-safe and a great chance to explore an unusual material.
Flash cards for learning sight words? How boring! Not if you stick them in a box and make a simple Sight Word Pumpkin Patch Sensory Bin with rice and beans! My preschooler had lots of fun with it!

Shaving cream activities are always so much fun! This Sensory Shaving Cream Fall Art activity was an invitation to play and create, and my kindergartener did it completely differently from how I imagined it - and I loved that :)
Read all about my toddler's first mark making in shaving cream experience! Simple, fun, very sensory, and great as a pre-writing activity!
Add a fun sensory element to learning to count with these printable Seasonal Fingerprint Counting Cards! Your toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners will love it!

Simple sibling play with water: I set up a super simple stirring, pouring, and color mixing station in the water table for my toddler, and both he and my kindergartener had great fun with it!
We made super simple sensory soup with shaving cream that was great fun for both my toddler and my kindergartener! It kept both siblings entertained for quite a long time, and the mess was very easy to clean up.
My toddler had awesome messy sensory fun with colored scented shaving cream in the water table! You won't believe how easy it was to clean it up afterward!

My toddler loved this awesome sensory play with dinosaurs - and went a little wild with the activity ;)
Simple nature exploration for toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary students perfect for summer: Try some sensory water play with this Summer Flower Sensory Soup!
My toddler loved this fun little sensory invitation to play with cups and flowers. I always enjoy the simplicity and how he adds his own ideas to the activity :)

Our little friend played with this simple set up for a long time practicing fine motor skills: Baby Play with Wooden Blocks in a Muffin Tin
Quick and simple, hands-on, and sensory introduction to letters for toddlers: Learn the letters in my name with rice and plastic Easter eggs!
Easy to make and great for little toddler hands or when traveling: Red, White, and Blue Mini Sensory Bag! Perfect for the 4th of July or for kids learning their colors.

Combining shaving cream and sand should have been a no brainer - they're our very favorite sensory materials, after all! It took a while for us to get around to it, but once we did, my preschooler and my toddler absolutely adored Sand Foam Sensory Play! It was so quick and simple to set up and entertained the siblings for a long time.
We love super simple water activities! This time, we used the water table to make sensory soup with fresh flowers - a huge hit with my toddler, and very simple to set up!
Goop is a super simple sensory material with interesting properties, and it was perfect for this Messy Toddler Fun with Goop and Grass activity that kept my son busy for a long time!

This is an awesome boredom buster for toddlers with super simple materials that you have on hand right now: Straws and Cotton Swabs Sensory Bin!
We had a ton of fun with this homemade paint recipe: Process Art with Fizzy Flour Paint is great for toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners - actually, for kids of all ages!
Sensory toddler fun and open-ended exploration with everyday items in a tissue paper and pine cones sensory bin!

Are you looking for a fun, hands-on way to practice counting? Try this soccer fingerprint counting printable! It includes numbers 1-20 for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners!
Check out these 25 Sensory Activities for Spring - fun for kids of all ages, from toddlers and preschoolers to kindergarteners and elementary students!
Practice counting up to 50 with this printable American Flag Fingerprint Counting activity! Fun and simple learning activity for preschoolers and kindergarteners.

Some boredom busters never fail: This toddler play with plastic Easter eggs, pom poms, and a muffin tin used the simplest of materials, took less than a minute to put together, and kept my toddler happy and entertained!
Simple Water Play for Kids: Try this super simple Easter Basket Sensory Soup with toddlers, preschoolers, and even older kids! Lots of fun with something that you can set up easily in a few minutes.
Simple sensory water play for kids of different ages: My preschooler and my toddler had great fun with this Sibling Play with Green Sensory Soup activity that was super quick and simple to set up!

Super simple art project with no paintbrushes: Easter Egg Process Art - perfect for kids of all ages, toddlers and preschoolers on up!
Simple indoor water play for kids of all ages: A hearts sensory sink takes minute to prepare and is great fun for toddlers, preschooler, kindergartners, and older kids!
We're on a roll with baking soda and vinegar activities again! Most recently, we had St. Patrick's Day fun with baking soda and vinegar.

Check out my post on Living Life and Learning about my toddler's Valentine's Treasure Dig! A super simple sensory activity with rice, tweezers, and a few Valentine's themed items. Great for fine motor skills, too!
Quick and simple activity to keep your toddler busy with minimal supplies: Toddler Boredom Buster with Cups and Cotton Balls
We're all about quick and simple sensory activities! My toddler had a lot of fun with this Sandy Hearts Sensory Play Activity that took two minutes to set up.

Sensory Activities for Toddlers: Does your toddler love discovering new materials? Try a simple transportation sensory bin that's quick and easy to set up and offers so much to explore!
Simple Toddler Play: My son had a blast with this water balloon sensory bin! (Don't tell anyone, but my older preschooler was intrigued, too ;) )
24 Days of Christmas Printables: Make learning numbers more fun and add a sensory component when decorating these Christmas tree counting play dough mats! Perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners!

This time, my toddler found a Christmas surprise in a muffin tin! The set up was quick and simple, but it allowed for lots of fun sensory play and learning!
Get your little one in the mood for Thanksgiving with this cute and simple Thanksgiving Sensory Bin! Perfect for toddlers, and my older preschooler still loved the feel of the bean, rice, and corn mixture in her hands!
This was AWESOME! We'd wanted to try painting on shaving cream on a window for years, and when we finally did it, it was super fun! Art and sensory all rolled into one, and really easy to clean up, too!

Simple Sensory Activities for Toddlers: Farm Animal Sensory Bin with Real Grass!
Quick and simple sensory play for toddlers with mini football helmets and cotton balls in a muffin tin!
Sensory Activities for Kids: Sibling Play with Dried Out Halloween Quick Sand

Simple messy sensory play with Halloween quick sand for toddlers!
Sensory Activities for Kids: Quick and simple toddler play with mini football helmets in a muffin tin!
Literacy Activities for Preschoolers: Spelling Halloween words with beads and play dough! (Free printable included.)

Sensory Activities for Kids: Wet and Dry Fall Sensory Table - fun with water and fall themed items!
Simple Sensory Activities: Toddler Play with Foamy Blocks - quick to set up and lots of fun!
Sensory Activities for Toddlers: Simple football sensory bin with beans!

Bookspiration Series: Invitation to Create Play Dough Pancakes with If You Give a Pig a Pancake!
Alphabet Sensory Activities Series: G is for Garden Sensory Bin - exploring natural items from our backyard!
Sensory Activities for Babies: Let your baby explore play dough safely with a Play Dough Sensory Bag!

Sensory Activities for Kids: Simple Beach Sensory Play with sand, water, and sea shells in the water table! Perfect for sibling play or play dates!
Sensory Art with Rainbow Shaving Cream Paint on the Mirror!
Sensory Activities for Babies: Exploring contact paper!

Fun for kids of all ages with a simple yellow sensory soup with rubber ducks - water play is always a hit around here!
Simple yellow sensory bin with items you have around the house as an introduction to colors for babies and toddlers!
Rainbow Shaving Cream on the Mirror - art, sensory play, and tons of fun!

Simple Baby Safe Sensory Activity with Non-Baby Safe Items: Sensory Bag with Loom Bands, Glitter, and Sequins!
Simple Sensory Activities: Baby Play with Gelatin
Sensory Activities for Kids: Nature Exploration on a Mirror - a new perspective on natural items!

Simple Sensory Activities for Kids: Sensory Soup with Cups and Lids - perfect for sibling play or play dates!
Sensory Pretend Play: Invitation to Create Play Dough Cupcakes
Water play for kids of all ages: Sensory soup with ice and pool noodles! Perfect simple summer fun!

Simple Sensory Play for Babies: Yogurt on the Mirror!
Simple Sensory Activities for Kids: Baby Play with Rice and Cookie Cutters
Science for Kids: A twist on baking soda and vinegar experiments with color surprise eruptions!

Simple Sensory Activities for Kids: Floating rainbow balls in the water table - colorful splashing fun for babies and toddlers!
Sensory Activities for Kids: Simple Red, White and Blue Water Sensory Bin for all ages, even babies!
Sensory Activities for Kids: This Cloud Dough Frog Pond takes minutes to set up and brings so much fun (and learning)!

Play Dough Activities: Just for fun, seasonal play dough ideas, learning activities and more!
Super simple sensory activities for babies: Baby play with cloud dough from two common ingredients!
Sensory Activities for Kids: Coral Reef Sensory Soup - simple water play, perfect for all ages and for play dates!

Baby Activities: Fun with a simple homemade pine cone drop activity!
Literacy Printables for Kids: Practice sounding out words in a hands-on way with -at family CVC words play dough mats!
Sensory Activities for Babies: Simple Water Sensory Bin!

Sensory hands-on math for kids: Addition with Play Dough Food!
Super simple sensory activities: Baby Play with Soap Foam
Super simple Squishy Sand Sensory Play!

Super simple sensory activities: Baby Play with Goop!
Simple Learning Activities for Kids: Play Dough Addition - math, sensory and fine motor all rolled into one!
Sensory Activities for Babies: First Baby Play with Water!

Sensory Activities for Kids: Fun with homemade fizzy shaving cream sand dough!
Science for Kids: Colorful Eruptions with Fizzy Easter Cookie Cutters!
Sensory Activities for Kids: Ice Cream Dough with Real Sprinkles!

Simple color mixing for babies in a squishy sensory bag!
Easter sensory bin for babies: Perfect for babies who can't sit up yet - and still fun when they're older!
Preparing for baby's first Easter: Quick and simple sensory play with Baby Play with Plastic Easter Eggs!

Sensory Activities for Kids: Ice cream dough sensory play with homemade no-cook play dough from two ingredients!
First sensory baby play with sand!
Art for Kids: Painting a puddle with powder tempera and glitter!

Simple rice-based Valentine's sensory bin with photos of loved ones for toddlers!
Sensory Baby Play with LEGO: LEGO is for babies, too!
Sensory Activities for Kids: Get inspired by 10 simple sensory bins with rice!

Baking Soda and Vinegar Process Art: Yet another way of having fizzy fun with science!
More sensory fun for babies: Simple Baby Play with a Water Bottle!
Super simple sensory baby play with paper!

Super simple sensory baby play with a tray full of rice!
Simple sensory play for kids with colored ice and water in the water table!
Sensory Activities for Kids: Have fun with Magic Foaming Dough from simple ingredients that you have in your kitchen!

Baby Play with Christmas Lights: Beautiful and safe sensory play for tummy time!
Winter Activities for Kids: Build a bottle cap snowman in play dough!
Sensory Activities and Science for Kids: The girls had a BLAST at our Fizzy Baking Soda Play Date!

This fall sensory bin had it all: Goop, shaving cream, colored rice, baking soda and vinegar, and more!
Pumpkin washing: A simple and useful sensory activity!
Lots of fun with a simple and pretty fall rice sensory bin!

Fun fall water table play with pine cones and acorns!
Powder Tempera Sensory Art: Very messy and very fun process art for preschoolers and older kids.
Combine basic math concepts with sensory play while exploring numbers with play dough.

Do your sand creations fall apart too quickly? Make some sticky sand - it's quick, only takes 3 ingredients, and can be used for lots of sensory fun!
Sensory activities for kids: How we made homemade sand slime with LOTS of sand and had lots of fun with it! Awesome for older toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners.
Baking soda and vinegar volcano from an old cloud dough sensory bin - lots of messy fun!

We made quick and simple eucalyptus bath paint that helped with my daughter's cold while she painted!
Low mess invitation to play with slime for older toddlers and up.
Instead of sweets, I made Halloween treat bags with homemade magic play dough for my daughter’s friends!

A whole box of Halloween cloud dough – awesome fun!
Recipe for fluffy, colorful, moldable, wonderful cloud dough!
Fun with E’s take on my invitation to play with the shaving cream tray!

Extending a craft E loves with free exploration of the materials.
Fun with an invitation to play with Halloween play dough.
It looked like plain baking soda but with the help of some vinegar, it turned into Halloween Surprise Eruptions!

I failed at making glitter slime but E turned it into a sensory win!
Simple fall tree craft with kid-made clay leaves.
A super simple and super fun sensory bin using our homemade colorful soap foam!

How to whip up some quick and simple colorful soap foam for lots of messy, open-ended sensory fun!
Using golf balls to paint – such a fun experience!
Make paint from bubble bath and paint the bathtub!

We made a puddle fizz - and we didn't bring any vinegar!
Sensory toddler fun with plastic insects stuck in jello!
Make a really BIG sensory bin and put your materials in the play pool!

Make imprints with plastic animals in play dough – a fun alternative to cookie cutters, especially for toddlers.
How I found out why my homemade play dough was too sticky, and what I did to fix it!
Make a bright and colorful egg shell collage on contact paper!

A really cool bubble wrap painting project for all ages that even a toddler can do completely on his own!
Painting with water beads and marbles - exploring the contrast between hard and soft while creating a lovely painting!
A sensory activity that doubles as writing/pre-writing practice!

Can you believe we had spiders hiding in our sensory tub??!!
Set up a quick and simple sensory tub to welcome spring and Easter!
Water Beads: An inexpensive, extremely fun sensory material that your child will LOVE!

Vibrant colorful bathtub - just add bubble bath and powdered food coloring!
I accidentally stumbled upon a simple and fun sensory material - my toddler loved it, you should try it, too!
Squishable, red and full of hearts, it's a no-mess sensory experience for your toddler and even your baby!

Drop some glow sticks in the bathtub and turn off the lights - it looks awesome and is great fun!
Blow soap bubbles on water - they'll stick around for a long time, look interesting, and be lots of fun to sit in and/or pop!
We had lots of fun and spent a lot of time exploring a simple Blue Rice Sensory Tub!

Art and sensory activity for kids: Messy painting with Shaving Cream Puffy Paint is so much fun! My toddler had a blast, but it would be great fun for preschoolers and kindergartners, too.
Salt tray sensory fun and an interesting pre-writing activity for toddlers.
We turned our sensory tub into a Flower Meadow Sensory Bag for no-mess sensory fun wherever we go!

Combine snow, glow sticks and a toddler, have a blast, and get awesome visuals!
Why not bring some snow inside and make a snow sensory tub for fun sensory play without having to wear warm clothes?
Bring a touch of spring into your house, even if it's the middle of winter: Create a Flower Meadow Sensory Tub!

 

 

Create invitations to play. Put out the materials separately or arranged to your heart’s content, provide some tools if you like, and let your children explore and play as they see fit. Depending on the scale, sensory activities can work well for several children of all ages to explore together.

Don’t try to guide them into a particular direction – although gentle encouragement and maybe some food for thought are okay if your child seems unsure of what to do next. Or jump right in and play with the materials alongside your child.

 

 

If you’d like to talk to your child about her experiences, try to give her some time to explore on her own first to make her more susceptible to listening.

 

 

Especially when you first put out a new type of sensory material, consider skipping tools and other additions to let your child figure out what to do with the material itself. You’ll likely have requests for specific tools (that you might never have thought of) soon enough. This doesn’t work with E, though, as she actually gets out her favorite tools right away when she sees me getting the sensory tub ready 😉

 

 

Remember that taste is one of the five senses as well! Many items used for sensory activities are non-edible, and indeed might be harmful if ingested. Try to avoid them if you’re not reasonably confident that your child won’t eat them. However, keep in mind that a lick of harmless non-edible materials like shaving cream or vinegar and baking soda won’t harm your child and will indeed convince most toddlers that they shouldn’t attempt any more culinary uses.

Until she was about 2.5, E would eat edible materials like colored rice, cloud dough, dry pasta, etc. I knew this and used food coloring and vinegar (rather than alcohol) to dye rice and pasta and didn’t color cloud dough at all (since food coloring doesn’t work very well for it). I also made sure to use vegetable oil for cloud dough instead of baby oil. I avoided adding scent to sensory materials for the longest time in order to not make them even more enticing to eat.

Having made those materials she would eat fully edible, I mostly let her go ahead with it {she never tried to eat non-edible items}. That was a decision I made in order not to have to avoid sensory activities altogether. Towards the end of this phase, I had some success reminding E that we use uncolored rice/pasta for eating and colored rice for playing. In the end, this issue resolved itself with the passage of time.

 





It’s up to you to decide how to handle issues like this with your child. Don’t let it become a struggle with you telling them to stop eating the materials over and over – it’s bound to make it more interesting for them and cancel some of the benefits of sensory activities.

If you can’t stand back and let it happen, or if your child attempts to eat harmful substances, I’d suggest just putting the sensory activity away for a later time and trying something else. Or adjust the activity to use real food, like pudding, yogurt, un-dyed rice, whipped cream, etc.

 

 

 

 

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Hi and welcome to Simple Fun for Kids! I'm Tina, mom of a kindergartener and a toddler, wife, German in Texas, blogger at all hours of the night. Click here to find out more about me...

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