The Chaos and the Clutter

sensory play

Honeycomb Sensory Activity

hexagons made of cardboard filled with honeycomb cereal on a yellow paper

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Ready to celebrate the bees and spring? Our fun and engaging Honeycomb Sensory Activity is a great way to start exploring the world of bees while also providing unique sensory feedback to help your child thrive. Interesting supplies. Fun Activities. A unique smell. Taste-worthy ingredients. When playtime comes, what more could any child want? 

The top half of the image shows the hexagons filled with honeycomb and bees. The bottom half of the image shows the hexagons before they are filled, with a child's hands holding a scoop. In the center, text reads "Honeycomb Sensory Activity."

If you aren’t sure why your child needs sensory play, read The Importance of Sensory Play for Children. It highlights all of the various developmental milestones directly impacted by sensory experience. It’s huge.

From fine motor skills to neural pathways to emotional regulation, sensory play builds up a child in all of the right ways. And it’s not a huge lift for the parent either. In fact, your child might get so engrossed in playtime you have a moment or two to breathe or a chance to fix a home-cooked meal (or ten) while they play at the kitchen counter.

You might have to put up with a little bit of mess every once in a while, but that’s a small price to pay. This type of play is a win for everyone, and we have so many ideas you will never run out. 

How to Make A Honeycomb Sensory Activity

Supplies Needed

  • Honeycomb Cereal
  • Empty Toilet Paper Rolls
  • Yellow Construction Paper
  • Small Toy Bees
  • Scoop or spoon

A collage of four equal squares shows 1) an image with the supplies: honeycomb cereal, toilet paper tubes, scissors, bees and construction paper, 2) an image of cut toilet paper tubes being flattened and folded, 3) an image of hexagons made from toilet paper tubes, and 4) an image of setting up the hexagons with the other supplies for sensory play.

Step-By-Step Instructions

  1. Flatten the toilet paper roll and cut it into sections. You need at least 7.
  2. Shape each section into hexagons.
  3. Place the hexagons on the paper in a honeycomb shape.
  4. Let kids scoop the honeycomb cereal into the toilet paper roll honeycomb.
  5. Let them add bees to the honeycomb if they want to.
  6. Encourage kids to talk about the cereal’s feel, smell, and taste.

Tips to Assemble your Honeycomb Sensory Play Activity

  • Use edible bees instead of toy bees for a fun treat. This is great for little ones who put everything in their mouth. We love this adorable option. This makes it a mostly taste-safe play experience as long as you can keep the cardboard out of their mouths.
  • To easily shape the hexagons, take a flattened section. Move to a spot â…“ of the way across. The remaining section should be twice as big. Pinch each side there to form a rectangle. Then pinch the sides once more halfway across the long side of the rectangle.
  • To form the big honeycomb, place one hexagon on the paper. Then, add hexagons so they touch each side of the first one all the way around. You should have a total of seven once you’re done.

A small child's hands hover over a scoop of honeycomb cereal and hexagons are placed on yellow construction paper where honeycomb cereal has started to be scooped into the hexagons. A plate of honeycomb cereal sits nearby.

Make Sensory Play Even More Valuable with These Tips

Provide tongs for little hands and encourage your child to pinch the tongs to move the honeycomb. This works a different set of hand muscles necessary for later skills like scissors and pencil grip. You can also encourage your child to pick up the honeycomb between thumb and forefinger to practice pincer grip. 

Give your child a scoop or spoon so that he or she can work on hand-eye coordination and muscle coordination moving scoops of honeycomb into the hexagon shapes. 

If your child has experience with scissors, you can have them help with the cutting and folding of the toilet paper tubes to make hexagons. Just remember to demonstrate (don’t just describe), go slowly, and allow imperfection. This will add one more layer of working on fine motor skills, following directions, and hand-eye coordination. 

Ways to Extend This Sensory Play Activity

Practice counting. Have your child figure out how many pieces of cereal or how many bees will fit in each hexagon. You can also practice subtraction, addition, and if you write a number in each hexagon, one-to-one correspondence and number recognition.

Talk about shapes. Show your child images or objects shaped like hexagons and talk about the number of sides, etc.

Talk about beehives and honeycomb. Look at close-up images of beehives and bees found on the internet and compare the bees honeycomb to the one you made and the cereal.

Make our Bee Life Cycle Sensory Bin and learn about the life cycle of bees.

Practice verbal skills. Ask your child to describe the cereal and other supplies — what does it look like, how does it feel, what is the taste and smell, etc.  

Read books about bees and talk about how bees eat, how honey is made and what the bees do for our world. 

Get into the science. Do this bee pollination experiment, a fun honeycomb experiment, or watch a scientific video about bees together. 

Make bee crafts or bee artwork and display it. 

Contact a local beekeeper or ask your county extension office if they have any kind of bee education programs where you can taste honey, taste honeycomb, and learn about bees from a master.

Hexagons are placed on yellow construction paper and filled with honeycomb cereal. Bees have been placed in most of the hexagons. This is the honeycomb sensory activity.

Books to Read about Bees

Textured Water Beads Stress Ball

teal balloon with lumps in it

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You’ve seen this in the store, and have probably had children begging for them in the aisles, but did you know it’s actually easy and fun to make your own water beads stress ball at home? You’ll have stress relief ready in minutes and the supplies to make more as needed with minimal cost. As your child squeezes and releases the ball, the water beads move around and expand the balloon in curious ways. They are so fun to play with! 

What does a Water Beads Stress Ball do?

When you have nervous energy or stress, having something to do with your hands can be a life saver. It gives you something to focus on besides whatever you are anxious about. Squeezing the ball can be hard work, and will actually build grip strength, in addition to being therapeutic. Repetitive motion helps give the brain a chance to relax.

The tactile, bumpy nature of the textured water beads stress ball provides a distraction from ruminating thoughts and helps a person stay grounded in the present moment through sensory feedback.

This homemade version looks amazing and complicated, but it is actually really simple to make. Tweens and teens can easily get in on the excitement and make their own. Each one will cost just pennies! 

If you have experimented with fidget toys, you know that sometimes all your child needs in order to be able to focus in class, calm down during a test, or function in a loud environment is something to occupy their hands. 

In addition to stress relief and emotional regulation, the stress ball also provides a sensory experience with all of the benefits of sensory play. 

How to Make Textured Water Bead Stress Balls

Supplies Needed:

  • Funnel. The whole in the funnel needs to be bigger than the expanded water beads. You can also use an empty water bottle, cut in half. 
  • Water beads
  • Balloons

Step-By-Step Instructions:

  1. Blow up your balloon and let the air out. This stretches it so that it is ready.
  2. Add your balloon to the bottom of your funnel. 
  3. Add in your material (rice, flour, or water beads) until the balloon is full. 
  4. Tie the balloon and cut the end as close to the knot as possible. 

Tips for Making the Best Water Beads Stress Ball 

  • Pre-soak the water beads before you begin. You do not have to use the full amount of water required. The more excess water the beads absorb, the more easily they will break in the ball. This will take several hours — perhaps even a full day of soaking before the beads before you are ready to make your stress ball. 
  • You can add another balloon on top to make it more secure. 
  • You can keep squishing the material down into the balloon to fill it up or leave extra space, depending on your texture preference. 

What to do with a Stress Ball

Introduce the water beads stress ball at a time that is not stressful. Kids love to play with these because they feel strange and are fun. Have them practice squeezing the ball which provides more intense proprioceptive feedback and deep muscle work for the hands.

Talk about how it feels in their hands and how it makes them feel. Ask them questions about the texture, the experience, etc. Don’t wait for a moment of big emotions to hand your child a stress ball for the first time. 

Keep it in your go bag. Whether in a purse, a backpack, a lunchbox, a diaper bag, or in the back of the car, keep a stress ball with you so that it’s around when you or your child needs one. This is a great thing to have in your Calm Down Kit.

Encourage self-regulation. By making a stress ball available to your child, you can put the power of emotional regulation in their hands. Encourage them to find what they need to calm down in the moment, before a full on meltdown happens. Remind them often that they have access to a stress ball (and/or other stress management tools) and should find it when they need it. 

If needed, you can trade out different stress-relieving toys and fidget toys so that none of them become boring. Some children will want the same thing every time and some will want variety. Figure out what works for your child. We have instructions for making a variety of different sensory balls in case this one is not what your child needs.

*Please note that balloons are a choking hazard so adult supervision should be used at all times.

Chai Tea Playdough

Rolled out play dough with cinnamon sticks and star anise pressed into it.

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I love incorporated new and different ingredients into our playdough recipes! Embracing variety provides an ever changing sensory experience for sensory seeking kiddos of all ages. You might be surprised to know that even teenagers will come to the table to play when the playdough smells this good. Get your whole family involved in the making and playing with this Chai Tea Playdough recipe. 

The loose tea in the playdough adds texture and the aroma of the chai tea and spices smells amazing! Add cinnamon sticks and anise stars to your child’s play for a full sensory experience!

Chai Tea Playdough with cinnamon sticks and star anise for sensory play.

Chai Playdough Recipe

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 1 Tablespoon cream of tartar
  • 1/2 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 Tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 3-4 bags of chai tea

Step-By-Step Instructions

  1. Add the flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cream of tartar to a medium mixing bowl. Open 2 tea bags and sprinkle the contents into the flour mixture. Whisk to combine and set aside.
  2. Add the water to a medium saucepan and heat to boil. Remove from heat and add 1-2 tea bags and steep for 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the vegetable oil to the hot tea mixture. Stir to mix.
  4. Gently pour the flour mixture into the saucepan and stir continuously until a large lump of dough forms.
  5. Allow the playdough to cool for 5 minutes before handling.
  6. Transfer the chai tea playdough to a flat working space and knead for 3-4 minutes or until soft and pliable.
  7. Store in an airtight container (or Ziploc bag) for up to 2 weeks.

Chai Tea Playdough with rolling pin, star anise, cinanmon sticks and other tools.

Chai Tea Play Dough Invitation to Play 

If you involved your children in the process of making the playdough (which I highly recommend) the invitation to play isn’t nearly as much about a verbal invitation as it is the provision of ingredients and supplies to encourage exploration and delight. Star anise and cinnamon sticks are the two items we already recommended having on hand. But it doesn’t have to stop there! A well-rounded collection of playdough tools and toys is an excellent investment.  Since we have a pretty large collection of these tools I like to rotate the selection to keep playdough play fresh and new. Here are a few of our favorites: 

In addition to store-bought and playdough specific tools you can also gather items you already have around the house for your children to use. Since this is taste-safe playdough, you can use standard kitchen items like rolling pins, cookie cutters or cookie stamps, and child-safe knives. 

Other items from around the house can be great additions to your invitation to play! Think of things that can make impressions in the dough: varying sizes of bubble wrap, brushes, buttons, coins, straws, plastic silverware, plastic magnet letters, dice, etc. 

Though not taste safe, found items in nature can also be fun! Pinecones, rocks, sticks, holly leaves, acorns, walnuts, shells, and fossils are all great examples of things you can bring inside for playdough play. Ask your kids what else they can find to use in the playdough. They always have the best ideas!

Rolled out play dough with cinnamon sticks and star anise pressed into it.

Chai Tea Playdough Extension Activities

If the pure sensory experience a a delicious smelling dough with a funky texture isn’t enough for your kiddo, you can always add extra activities to tie the play dough play into other subject areas. From tie ins with great literature to reinforcing math concepts, play dough is a great learning aid. Here are a couple of examples.

Demonstrate simple math concepts using LEGO® impressions in the playdough. Practice addition (adding or counting the dots), subtraction (smoothing out the dots to subtract them), or multiplication (lining up the rows of impressions and counting. the outside two rows to multiply, then physically counting the full total to show how that worked.)

Read books such as Have You Seen My Acorn. Make impressions in the playdough with an acorn to mark the squirrels progress as he quizzes all the animals and chases down clues. Provide your child with a bag of Chai Tea Plaudough with an acorn hidden inside as you finish reading the book and provide an invitation to play, talking about the book as you play together. 

Why Play with Play Dough? 

The sensory benefits alone make the mess of making and playing with play dough a worthwhile experience for children. The smells, the textures, and the proprioceptive feedback provided during playdough play will help a child feel more grounded and secure. As if the sensory benefits are not enough, your child will also be improving fine motor skills, developing cricital thinking skills (What will happen if I do it this way?) and practicing verbal skills (“Mommy, look at the cake I just made!”). If encouraged, playdough play can also lend itself toward pretend play, storytelling and more! Giving your child rich and enticing free play opportunities can only help in so many ways.

Chai Tea Sensory Playdough with chai tea on the side.

 

Harvest Sensory Bottle

A very close-up picture of the harvest sensory bottle with one of the sunflowers at the front.

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Do you have toddlers to teens at home and find yourself needing a handy way to calm someone down, keep a little someone occupied in a quiet setting, or fight boredom on a long trip? You are not alone! Our Harvest Sensory Bottle is the perfect tool to have on hand this Fall when the need for distraction arises. Your children will be enthralled. 

A plastic bottle filled with various items including mixed dry beans and sunflowers to represent the harvest or fall.

If you haven’t read about sensory strewing before, be sure to check out that article to learn how valuable it is to just leave things like sensory bottles laying around, waiting to be discovered. Implementing this concept in your home can be life changing! That’s why I do what I do.

How to Make a Harvest Sensory Bottle

Supplies

  • Sticks. Gather these from outside.
  • Acorns. Gather these from outside as well. 
  • Resin Pumpkins and Leaves. Found in the Halloween section at Dollar Tree or other dollar store
  • Sunflowers. Found in the fall section
  • Mini Fall Florals. Look for the tan spiky pieces.
  • Multi-Colored Beans. 
  • Plastic Bottle. I get mine from Amazon.

Supplies for Harvest Sensory Bottle: flowers, beans, bottle, stems.

Steps to Make Sensory Bottles

  1. Wash the jar with hot soapy water and dry it.
  2. Layer the beans with the other supplies on the list. 
  3. Depending on the child, you may want to super glue the lid in place. On the other hand you might want to re-use the bottle so it is up to you.

Large image of the harvest sensory bottle with smaller close-ups of different sections of the jar.

Tips to Make Your Harvest Sensory Bottle the Best It Can Be

Do not overfill the bottle. Ideally you want the items in the sensory jar or sensory bottle to be able to move around, make noise, disappear and reappear, etc.

Even young children can enjoy sensory bottles with small objects as long as the bottles are glued shut and the activity is supervised. But the cool thing is, big kids and adults enjoy them as well! 

Can’t find everything on our list? Other small items found at the Dollar store while you are there can be equally delightful. Small erasers, beads, flowers, or toys that fit with the harvest theme can be substituted! 

Clean it off first. As you gather sticks, acorns, or other small items from the outdoors, be sure to tap the sticks on the ground to shake off any loose bark or dirt that might make a mess in the bottle and rinse any dirt off of the acorns. Give everything time to dry before you make the bottle so you don’t invite moisture to the party either.

You will probably have enough supplies to make two bottles. Sharing the expense with another mom is a great idea!

How to Use a Sensory Bottle

This calming activity can quiet an over stimulated child, help someone regain focus and concentration, end tantrums or boredom, and inspire hours of quiet exploration. Here are just some of the ways one of these bottles can provide a valuable experience for your child.

Visual Perception Skill Building.

This refers to the ability to make visual connections between to options and develop an understanding of depth, spatial relationships, and positional concepts like above, below, under, and behind. 

Problem Solving

“I’m sure I just found a purple bean. I want to find it again. Let me see how to make that reappear.” These are the kinds of thoughts that come out of sensory bottle play. 

Auditory Sensory Feedback

The sound of the beans in the bottle can have a calming or stabilizing effect. It also helps exercise those auditory discrimination skills. 

Large Muscle Movement

The smaller the child, the more of a large muscle workout a sensory bottle will be, and as they shake it, move it, turn it and bang it around they will be getting all kinds of kinesthetic feedback to the central nervous system. Just remember you cannot allow free play with a sensory bottle unless you are present to supervise. Even a glued on lid can come undone. Ask me how I know! 

Harvest Sensory Bottle Expansion Activities

  • Read books about Fall. Some suggestions include Leaf Man by Louis Ehlert and Fall Mixed Up.
  • Rake and jump in leaves together. 
  • Go on a hike in the woods to look for items in the sensory bottle. 
  • Find and draw or name each different kind of item in the sensory bottle. 
  • Visit a field of sunflowers.
  • Talk about the four seasons.

A very close-up picture of the harvest sensory bottle with one of the sunflowers at the front.

More Fantastic Sensory Bottles to Make

We love this Thanksgiving Sensory Bottle and its the perfect time of year to buy the supplies for both this and the Harvest one at the same time. For some extra fun, make this I Spy Birds Sensory Bottle. The I Spy bottles are perfect for taking on long car rides or events that will get tedious for little ones. We have so many different sensory bottle ideas, but one more I want to specifically call out that I think you will love is the Van Gogh Inspired Starry Night Sensory bottle.  

The Day the Crayons Quit Sensory Bin

colored rice in a bin with bright colored pompoms, dice, tweezers, and a magnifying glass

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Building a sensory bin around a book is a genius idea. Reading aloud is so incredibly valuable for our children. Not only will The Day the Crayons Quit Sensory Bin encourage you and your children to read aloud together, it will also provide positive sensory input. Plus, your kids will be working on fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, gross motor skills, observation, and color theory. 

The top half of the image shows a close up of the sensory bin with magnifying glass front and center and the book staged behind. The bottom half of the image shows a different view of the sensory bin with the dice and tongs featured. In the middle, text states "The Day the Crayons Quit Sensory Bin".Bright and engaging colors, a variety of interesting textures, and a story to tell, retell, and imagine will make this a sensory bin your kids won’t want to leave. The value of sensory input for children cannot be overstated. The same can be said for literacy. This activity encourages both.

About The Day the Crayons Quit

A delightful book, The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and Marichelle Daywalt, tells the story of a time when all the crayons were dissatisfied with their lot in life. Each of the crayons leaves behind a letter to explain their plight and a dissappointed young man must convince them to take up their posts again so that he can color. The book covers themes like communication, feelings, empathy, and respect.

Why Connect a Sensory Bin to a Picture Book

The beauty of reading picture books to children is that the pictures help  to bring stories to life for children and help them engage with the story even as they work separately on the skill of picturing a story as they read. Reading out loud to your children has immense value because they can hear and understand far more than they can read on their own. So by reading, you are providing an enriched literary experience they will come to crave for themselves. 

When you add a sensory bin to the picture book experience, you are extending the magic. You keep the story alive in their minds and give them one more way to explore the concepts introduced by the book. As they play, they replay or continue the story in their heads or outloud with each other. This gives kids practice using vocabulary, communicating with each other, using imagination, and exploring the world.

The connection between the sensory bin and the book strengthens neural pathways in the brain and improves comprehension through play. It’s a new way to process and work through new information. 

How to Make a “The Day the Crayons Quit” Sensory Bin

Supplies Needed 

Step-By-Step Instructions

  1. Fill the sensory bin with rainbow rice.
  2. Add rainbow pom poms and number mini erasers.
  3. Add small bowl, tongs, magnifying glass, and dice.
  4. Set the book next to the bin.

Suggested Activities to Go with The Day the Crayons Quit Sensory Bin

  • Read the book.
  • Roll the dice and find a matching number mini eraser with the magnifying glass.
  • Roll the dice and use the tongs to place the correct number of pom poms in the bowl.
  • Use the magnifying glass to take a closer look at the book.
  • Locate a color in the book and find the matching colored pom poms.

How to Play with A Sensory Bin

  • Sort and organize. This is such a valuable activity for kids. You can sort items in the bin by color, type, or size. 
  • Encourage your children to enjoy free play in the bin and see how they approach the experience. Let them run their hands through the rice, scoop and pour it, and play for as long as they like.
  • Compare and contrast. Talk about how the textures, colors, shapes, and sizes of each object compares to the others. Use descriptive words like smooth, soft, fluffy, or bright to describe the objects and compare them. 
  • Gather and distribute. Move all of the pom poms to the bowl. Then dump the pom poms and move all the number erasers to the bowl. Use tongs, tweezers, or thumb and index fingers to work on fine motor skills a variety of different ways.

Sensory Bin Variations

You do not have to use rainbow rice. You could use rainbow pasta, rainbow beans, or a different sensory bin filler in primary colors. 

Be creative! You can find mini crayon erasers and all kinds of things to use in your sensory bin if you have the room in your budget, but you can also pick things up at yard sales, at thrift shops, and from around your home. For this sensory bin focus on primary colors or rainbow colors to go with the theme of the book.

Add funnels, scoops, tweezers, measuring cups, spoons, and other tools to help your child experience the different materials in the bin. 

Learning Extension Activities for The Day the Crayons Quit

Create Your Own Follow-Up Story: The Day the Crayons Were Happy

The Day the Crayons Quit Coloring Page

Make Crayon Ornaments

How to Melt Crayons and Make New Ones

Beetlejuice Sensory Bin

bright green tray with dry black beans, purple pompoms, plastic eyeballs, green ribbon curls, a green pincher, and striped play pumpkin

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With the release of another Beetlejuice movie, there’s a whole new generation who will be introduced to the memorable characters. This Beetlejuice sensory bin would be fun to pair with a movie night or for Halloween. It’s spooky but not overly scary because it carries the quirky vibe from the movie.bright green tray with dry black beans, purple pompoms, plastic eyeballs, green ribbon curls, a green pincher, and striped play pumpkinsThis sensory experience inspired by the unique world of Beetlejuice would also be a great addition to your classroom or party. It’s made with simple items that can often be purchased at a dollar store such as the Dollar Tree.

If you’re looking for similar ideas, check out our Eyeball Sensory Bin, Googly Eye Monster Slime, and Halloween Sensory Game. Or put them all together to create a themed sensory experience. 

bright green tray with dry black beans, purple pompoms, plastic eyeballs, green ribbon curls, and striped play pumpkin

Beetlejuice Sensory Bin

Materials Needed:

  • Black Beans 
  • Ping Pong Halloween Eye balls 
  • Black and white pumpkins
  • Orange and black striped pumpkins 
  • Green curly ribbon bow 
  • Purple foam balls

dry black beans, green bow and ribbon curls, small striped pumpkins, and a bag of plastic eyeballs on a white background

Additional Ideas for your sensory bin:

Add Shovels, Scoops, and Tongs. These tools encourage fine motor skill development as kids dig, scoop, and sift through the bin. They can bury objects and dig them up using their tools.

Incorporate Characters: Position your Beetlejuice and Lydia figurines within the scene to give kids an opportunity to act out scenarios. Perhaps Lydia is searching for Beetlejuice, or the sandworm is chasing them both!

Set up scenes. Create a small “graveyard” area with miniature tombstones or small creepy trees. Position your Lydia and Beetlejuice figurines within a scene or set the sandworm up so that it is chasing them. 

Incorporate other senses. Play spooky music for auditory stimulation. Include citrus scents with candles or essential oils to engage the olfactory sensory system. 

bright green tray with dry black beans, purple pompoms, plastic eyeballs, green ribbon curls, a green pincher, and striped play pumpkin

Other Beetlejuice themed play ideas:

Benefits of Sensory Play

Sensory bins are a great way to stimulate your child’s senses, improve fine motor skills, and encourage imaginative play.

  • Fine Motor Skills: Grasping, pinching, and scooping help to strengthen muscles in the hands and improve coordination.
  • Sensory Exploration: The various textures in this sensory tray stimulate the sense of touch and provide a calming, focused play experience.
  • Imaginative Play: The Beetlejuice theme encourages kids to use their imagination, reenacting scenes from the movie or making up their own storylines with the characters.
  • Language Development: Playing with a themed bin like this one encourages kids to engage in conversation, storytelling, and descriptive language as they talk about the different textures, characters, and elements they discover.

Sensory Play Tips

  • Supervise Young Children: If the sensory tub contains small items, make sure young children are supervised to prevent choking.
  • Store Materials for Future Play: When the bin has served its purpose, you can store the dry black beans in a sealed container to use for future sensory bins.
  • Encourage Open-Ended Play: Allow your child to explore the bin in their own way. Some might enjoy scooping and sorting, while others may create elaborate stories with the items.

bright green tray with dry black beans, purple pompoms, plastic eyeballs, green ribbon curls, a green pincher, and striped play pumpkin

I hope you and your child or students enjoy this Beetlejuice sensory experience. Just remember, you only need to say his name three times!