Sensory Play with Dinosaurs

We have a lot of toobs of plastic animals, and N likes them all, but he really loves his dinosaurs!

All of the toobs are great for sensory or imaginary play. If you don’t have them yet, get some! {But of course this activity works with any old dinosaurs 😉 }

This Sensory Play with Dinosaurs I set up for N recently had a lot of different textures going on – and he added even more to make the activity his own 🙂 As you can tell from the pinnable title image, things got a little wild 😉

My toddler loved this awesome sensory play with dinosaurs - and went a little wild with the activity ;)

(N was 2 years old.)

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

 

Materials for Sensory Play with Dinosaurs

  • Dinosaur toob {or other plastic dinosaurs}.
  • Muffin tin.
  • Different sensory materials. I used moist coffee grounds, corn kernels, and cotton balls.

I put each of the three different sensory materials in two of the cavities in the muffin tin and placed a dinosaur in each.

N started pulling out dinosaurs right away and focused on handling the materials first.

My toddler loved this awesome sensory play with dinosaurs - and went a little wild with the activity ;)

We’d used corn kernels and cotton balls before, but the coffee grounds were new.

My toddler loved this awesome sensory play with dinosaurs - and went a little wild with the activity ;)

After he’d explored the materials for a while, he spent some time switching the dinosaurs from one cavity to the other and back again.

My toddler loved this awesome sensory play with dinosaurs - and went a little wild with the activity ;)

At one point, he took the muffin tin off the tray, put it down, and took the tray over to our rainwater cistern. 

My toddler loved this awesome sensory play with dinosaurs - and went a little wild with the activity ;)

Once the area was wet, he decided to pick up the muffin tin again – and dump it out!

My toddler loved this awesome sensory play with dinosaurs - and went a little wild with the activity ;)

I watched in amusement as he started playing with the materials I’d so carefully placed in the muffin tin that were now in a jumble on the ground.

My toddler loved this awesome sensory play with dinosaurs - and went a little wild with the activity ;)

He literally explored with his hands and feet 🙂

My toddler loved this awesome sensory play with dinosaurs - and went a little wild with the activity ;)

Fun? Check! Lots of sensory exploration? Check! Mess made? Check! Sounds like a great activity to me 🙂

Despite the water and the coffee grounds, it really wasn’t hard to clean up, but I did have to throw the coffee grounds, corn kernels, and cotton balls away. It was totally worth it 🙂

 

Do you have toddlers who love matching? I have a book of matching games for them!

In my book Match This! Matching Games for Toddlers, I share 30 different matching games that are perfect for toddlers with a limited number of matches (you can mix and match different sets for a greater challenge) and large cards that are easy to pick up and hold. I’ve included instructions for playing memory and matching games at all skill levels and how to extend the activity with other learning objectives for older kids.

All of the matching games for toddlers you could ever want: matching numbers, words, shapes, colors with fun themes like firefighters, cowboys and cowgirls, construction vehicles, tools, ocean creatures, cars, bees, community helpers, and more! This Match This! Toddler Matching Games Ebook contains 30 different matching games that you can mix and match and extend at any time.

 

Looking for more fun, simple sensory activities? Check out these!

Sand Foam Sensory Play

Sibling Play with a Green Sensory Soup

Toddler Play with Foamy Blocks

Car Tracks Sensory Busy Bag

33 Ideas for Sensory Play with Farm Animals by Best Toys 4 Toddlers

Soapy Sensory Jars by Hands On As We Grow

3 Sensory Activities Toddlers Will Love by Teaching Mama

 

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