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Sensory

The Best Christmas Sensory Bags

The Best Christmas Sensory Bags #sensory #sensoryplay

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These Christmas sensory bags are wonderful not only for providing sensory input and encouraging exploration and discovery, but for keeping kids busy while you get things done. Around the holidays, the to-do list seems to be so much longer! Some of these sensory bags take only a minute or two to put together. Once they are made, your child can play with them while you bake or wrap gifts or get things tidied up. Of course, as with all sensory activities, adult supervision is required.

The Best Christmas Sensory Bags #sensory #sensoryplaySensory bags are a great way to encourage exploration and can even be used for learning. These festive sensory activities offer a variety of both purposes.

Christmas Sensory Bags:

This I-Spy Christmas Sensory Bag from here on The Chaos and The Clutter is meant to go with the I-Spy Christmas book.

It doesn’t get more simple to make than our Christmas Ornaments Sensory Bag.

Looking for something different? This giant Christmas tree sensory play concept from A Little Pinch of Perfect is a sensory bag on a larger scale.

Christmas Sensory Gel Bags from The Preschool Toolbox

Adorable Christmas Squishy Bags from Parenting Chaos

Toddler Christmas Tree Sensory Bag from My Bored Toddler

Christmas Tree Sensory Bag at Mom Inspired Life

Christmas Tree Sensory Bag from Gift of Curiosity

Starry Night Sensory Bag from Playground Park Bench

Gingerbread Man Sensory Bag from Gift of Curiosity

Winter Sensory Bags:

Arctic Sensory Bag from here on The Chaos and The Clutter

Snowflake Sensory Bag from B-Inspired Mama

Winter in a Bag from A Little Pinch of Perfect

Winter Sensory Bag from Teach Me Mommy

Mess-Free Sensory Snowflake Bag at Crafts on Sea

Jumbled Snowman on Playground Park Bench (this one looks so fun!)

You may also be interested in these other Christmas sensory activities:

Christmas Sensory Bins

Christmas sensory activitiesChristmas Sensory Activities

Christmas Sensory Bottles

Melted Snowman Sensory Bottle

This melted snowman sensory bottle is adorable!

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In the words of my kids, this is the “cutest sensory bottle ever”! I came up with the idea to make a melted snowman sensory bottle when I was at the craft store and saw an adorable snowman making kit. I imagine what would be left of a melted snowman and found a way to represent it in a discovery bottle.

This melted snowman sensory bottle is adorable!When I set out this year to create a new sensory bottle every month, I worried that I would run out of ideas, but they always come from some inspiration or another.

It’s the middle of November and where I live in Canada, there’s usually enough snow to have built a snowman family in the yard by now but as of today, there isn’t any snow on the ground so this melted snowman sensory bottle really got the kids’ imaginations going.

melted-snowman-sensory-bottle-squareMelted Snowman Sensory Bottle:

Materials needed:

  • large empty water bottle (I used a Voss water bottle because I like the shape of them)
  • 5 dry black beans
  • 3 black or grey buttons
  • 2 colourful larger buttons
  • orange sponge, cut into the shape of a carrot
  • 2 twigs
  • small piece of fabric, cut in a rectangle
  • 2x 5 oz. bottles of clear glue
  • scissors

Empty the water from the water bottle and squirt the clear glue in. Add warm water to almost fill the bottle and add the lid back on and then shake the glue and water together for a bit to combine. Little ones are often very helpful with this task!

VOSS Water Plastic BottlesVOSS Water Plastic BottlesClear GlueClear GlueOrange SpongeOrange Sponge

Add the other items into the bottle. The twigs are for the arms, the black beans for the mouth, the fabric strip for the scarf, the dark buttons for buttons, the colourful larger buttons for the eyes, and the carrot shaped sponge for the nose.

melted-snowman-sensory-bottle Add the lid back on and your melted snowman sensory bottle is ready to use for play. If you have younger children, you may want to hot glue the lid in place so they can’t open it. As with all sensory and exploration activities for kids, adult supervision is of course recommended.

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities (just pop your email into the box below) and get a printable list of 175 Great Sensory Ideas.

Christmas I Spy Discovery BottleChristmas Counting I-Spy Sensory Bottle

Snowflake Discovery BottleSnowflake Sensory Bottle

Sky Sensory Bottle

A Sky sensory bottle to encourage exploration and imagination.

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We have been enjoying our sensory bottle creations and it is always fun to come up with new themes and ideas for them. I was inspired to make this sky sensory bottle after making our sky sensory bin and wanting to use the adorable parachute glider that was in the In the Sky toob I used to make that sensory bin.

A Sky sensory bottle to encourage exploration and imagination.After I made this sensory bottle, I was trying to take pictures of it inside where I normally take photos and my daughter Granola Girl insisted that Sky sensory bottles needed to be played with (and therefore photographed) outside! Granola Girl loves to be barefoot, loves to be outside and feel the grass between her toes. I never think to bring our sensory activities outdoors so it’s nice to have her to remind me to expand my way of thinking.

sky-sensory-bottle-squareShe was absolutely right about the sky sensory bottle belonging in the great outdoors! She practised her hand modelling skills while I took the pictures and then she ran off to explore with the sensory bottle, holding it up to the sky to see what it looked like with the sun shining through it. I’m so glad she has such a free spirit and reminds me of the beauty in simple things.

Sky Sensory Bottle:

Materials needed:

VOSS Water Plastic BottlesVOSS Water Plastic BottlesSafari Ltd In The Sky TOOB by SafariSafari Ltd In The Sky TOOB by Safari

Empty the water from the water bottle and then squirt some gel into the bottle and add an item from the In the Sky Toob. Continue to layer gel and items from the tube so that the items suspend in the blue “sky”.

sky-sensory-bottleAdd the lid and your sky sensory bottle is ready to use for play. If you have younger children, you may want to hot glue the lid in place so that they can’t open it. As with all sensory and exploration activities for kids, adult supervision is recommended.

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities (just pop your email into the box below) and get a printable list of 175 Great Sensory Ideas.

sky-sensory-bin-squareTake Flight with a Sky Sensory Bin

Monster Sensory Activities

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The term “monster” is one that makes most people think of cuddly creatures like the Cookie Monster rather than striking fear. As such, monsters have become a fun way for kids to engage their imaginations and explore. These monster themed sensory activities allow them to do just that while also meeting their sensory needs.
These monster sensory activities will have your little ones squealing with delight! Perfect for all kinds of sensory exploration.

monsters-collage-560x560

monster-collage-3-560x292

easy to make monster craft out of cups. These are so cute!Easy Monster Craft

Join our free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get our Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

Simple Fall Sensory Bottle

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This Fall Sensory Bottle is lovely for discovery of the season and can be used as a calm down bottle as well. Kids will love watching the falling leaves (no pun intended!) and shiny sequins.

This Fall Sensory Bottle is lovely for discovery of the season and can be used as a calm down bottle as well.Materials needed:

Place the plastic fall coloured leaves, leaf shaped confetti and glitter in an empty water bottle. Fill with water and replace the lid. If you’ll be using this fall sensory bottle with younger children, you may want to secure the lid with hot glue so that they won’t be able to open it.

The colours in this sensory bottle are lovely. When I added the water to mine, the plastic leaves’ colour bled just slightly making the water a hint of a fall orangey-red colour.

Join our free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get our Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

Spring Sensory Bottle

Take Flight with a Sky Sensory Bin

This Sky sensory bin is perfect for flight units or for kids who want to explore and use their imaginations.

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Last year, we did a flight unit in our homeschool and I always like to add sensory elements to everything we study. It allows the kids to explore and use their imaginations and helps their retention. Recently, we created three sky sensory activities that would have complemented that unit nicely including this sky sensory bin. They would also work well with a weather unit.

This Sky sensory bin is perfect for flight units or for kids who want to explore and use their imaginations.For this sky sensory bin, we used a base of dry pasta that we dyed blue. If you’ve never dyed pasta before, you can read about how to do it using either rubbing alcohol or vinegar. (click those words and it will take you to simple tutorials for each method)

For the actual bin for this, I used a clear food storage container that was fairly deep. After filling it with the blue pasta shells, we added some of the items from the In the Sky Toob and used the remaining items from the tube to add to our Sky Sensory Bag and Sky Sensory Bottle.

The kids cut cloud shapes out of white foam and added them into the bin. We also added cotton balls to represent fluffy clouds. I like how colourful the items are. They make this such a cheerful looking sensory bin.

sky-sensory-binThe hot air balloon from the In the Sky Toob was a particularly popular element and there were several imaginative play scenarios that resulted from it.

sky-sensory-bin-squareFor dozens of other sensory bin ideas, check out all of our past Sensory Bins.

If you are looking for information on making sensory bins, you may be interested in my book all about it. The Ultimate Guide to Sensory Bins

Join our free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get our Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.