8 Easy Ideas for Sensory Play Trays

Easy ideas for some sensory play inspiration

A sensory play tray is a fun way to engage in some calming play for children!

In this blog post you will find ideas for 8 easy sensory play trays using a range of sensory bases.

The small figurines/ objects added into the trays are only ideas. You can use whatever you have handy at home to make your tray interesting. We reuse our sensory bases and just add in new items to create new interest in playing again.

*Important - These play ideas are for children ages 3+ as they contain small parts. All play was actively supervised by an adult.

Here is a list of 8 easy ideas for sensory play trays:

SENSORY PLAY TRAY 1

Fine Motor Workout

- Lentils

- Bowls

- Coloured wooden balls

- Scoops

SENSORY PLAY TRAY 2

Garden Play

- Kinetic sand

- Flowers (could use real ones)

- Little pots (we used Grapat mates)

SENSORY PLAY TRAY 3

Scoopy Fun

-Kinetic sand

-Scoopy tweezers

-Animals

-Container or bowls

SENSORY PLAY TRAY 4

Beautiful Loose Parts

- Coloured chick peas

- Loose parts - We used Grapat mandala pieces

- Scoops

- Bowls

SENSORY PLAY TRAY 5

Orange Calming Tray

- Sand

- Loose parts (We used Grapat Mandala cones and rings)

SENSORY PLAY TRAY 6

Learning Letters

- Coloured chick peas

- Letter tiles (Q Toys brand)

- Jewels (Grimms large jewels)

SENSORY PLAY TRAY 7

Scoop and Fill

- Chickpeas

- Containers - we used Grapat Lola tubes

- Ice cube tray

-Grapat Mandala Eggs

- Flower Toob

- Scoops

SENSORY PLAY TRAY 8

Fill A Bucket

-Pom poms

-Container or small bucket

-Tweezers

-Optional - Fill a Bucket book

Thank you for reading this blog post!

These 8 different sensory trays used a range of bases - chickpeas, kinetic sand, lentils, and pom poms. You can use the same sensory play tray many times by quickly swapping out the figurines etc that are added in or changing the sensory base.

I hope that you found some inspiration for some fun sensory play today.

Until next time, have fun learning in a playful way!

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