Be A Fun Mum: Sensory Activities to Share with Your Baby or Toddler

The early years with your child are so unique and precious. You’re getting to know each other and each day brings new discoveries and things to wonder at, both for you and for bubs.

It can sometimes be tricky to be sure you’re doing all the right things though. Are you helping your baby reach their milestones on time? Is your toddler getting enough stimulation to help develop their growing brain?

In a world where so much focus is placed on measuring progress, sharing and comparing, it can be easy to lose sight of the precious, fleeting time you have together as a mum and bub. 

Fortunately, there are ways to savour the moment, finding flow states where you both lose track of time and are fully enraptured in the current moment. 

Some of the best ways to do this is to get involved in sensory activities together. 

What Are Sensory Activities?

Sensory activities are things you do that engage at least one, but often more, of the senses.

Think about things you can see, hear, smell, touch or taste.

Of course we’re doing one or more of these things all the time, but sensory activities are designed to deliberately stimulate and nurture the senses in fun ways. 

When playing together, it’s a good idea to think about which senses are being used and speak to your child about them. 

You might say, “Listen, can you hear that truck rumbling past? Feel how the ground shakes as it goes by!”

You might also point out surprising things that you see, like a paddock full of butterflies or a column of ants marching over the pavement towards a dropped bit of watermelon. 

As your little one gets older, they will probably start pointing these wonderful things out to you too, so make sure you stop, listen, and take a moment to experience what they’re sharing with you. 

Why Are Sensory Activities So Beneficial to Babies and Young Children?

Sensory classes are extremely beneficial for babies and young children, helping them to develop and refine their sensory perceptions.

Through activities designed to focus on particular senses, young children become more aware that there are differeny ways of perceiving their environment. This can help them to learn skills more quickly. 

It can also help growing children better perceive and manage risks and dangers in their environments. 

For example, a child that has felt ‘rough’ textures is likely to have a better understanding of what might happen if they were to fall on gravel. 

As young children learn more about their senses, new neural connections in the brain strengthen, helping them navigate their world better.

Sensory stimulation has also been shown to be very important for language development. Introducing different food textures not only encouraging your toddler to eat a wider variety of healthy foods but also helps them develop the muscles required for clear speech. 

Just as important at an early age, little ones love to engage their senses. Because of this, sensory activities can be so much fun!

Children can explore and discover, developing skills that will help them observe things in a scientific way. They can form hypotheses, try out their ideas and either experience success or failure, leading to new experiments and insightful conclusions. 

Whether its exploring touch with some tactile crafts or listening carefully on a walk in the woods, these activities are easy and often don’t require many supplies.

This means you can set up sensory activities for babies and toddlers any time you like!

Sensory Classes for Babies and Toddlers – Worth the Hype?

A variety of sensory classes have popped up all over in recent years, including everything from Montessori play groups to toddler music and dance classes. 

The promos look good, but are these baby sensory classes worth the hype?

Well, as we know, opportunities for babies and toddlers to engage their senses in play are incredibly valuable for their development. 

This means that a well-designed sensory class is likely to be very beneficial for your little one. 

They’ll also probably have a lot of fun and as they get older, start learning to play with and befriend other children. This social connection is so important in helping them learn to get along with others, negotiate and compromise. 

Beside the benefits for baby, baby sensory classes can be great for you too! 

They are a wonderful opportunity to play with your baby minus the need to organise the schedule, making special memories to carry you through the teen years and beyond. 

Beyond that, they’re a great way to socialise with other mums, maybe even making a friend or two yourself! 

Many new mums notice their pre-kids’ friendships changing or coming to an end entirely, so it’s important to allow yourself the time to develop a new group of supportive mum friends. 

Sensory Activities You Can Do at Home

If going to a sensory play class isn’t possible or you’d like to carry on the sensory play adventures at home, there are plenty of things you can do with only a few (or no) supplies.

Here are a few of our favourites.

Water Play

Water play is one of the simplest and most fun things you can do with your bub. 

It can be as simple as filling a clean ice-cream tub with water and plastic dinosaurs to count, sort or splash around with. 

Bath time is a great time of day for water play. A bath full of bubbles can be a mountainous island sheltering pirates or a magical glass fairy castle, full of delightful sights, sounds and smells.

And there’s nothing like splashing in puddles after a rainy day!

Playdough

Playdough has been loved by generations of toddlers – and with good reason. 

This delightful substance bends, twists and becomes whatever a young heart desires. 

It might feel warm, soft or grainy, with an array of bright colours to choose from (although mix too many and it all becomes brown – a sensory lesson too!). 

Playdough smells like childhood and it’s a bit salty! Hint: Make your playdough with edible, non-toxic ingredients for little ones, they WILL taste it. 

After playdough has run its course, or for a different sensory experience, there’s always slime in all its forms to keep the sensory exploration going.

A Sensory Picnic

Pack a picnic designed to stimulate the senses. 

Include (where age appropriate) foods that are smooth, crunchy, salty, sweet, sour and bitter. 

Include fresh, sweet, fragrant fruits or make ants on a log (celery sticks topped with peanut butter, sesame seeds and raisins).

Head outdoors and enjoy a meal together, talking about the different tastes and smells. Notice how the celery crunches, the feel of the grass underfoot and the sound of the wind in the trees. 

A Backyard Music Tree

Create a musical space in your backyard by hanging an assortment of tools, cutlery and other noisy things from a tree.

Spend time lying under the backyard music tree together listening to the sounds. 

As you can see, there is so much you can do together to help your child develop their senses. 

Start with the baby and toddler sensory activities suggested or invent your own!

Most importantly, enjoy you special time together.