Easy DIY Snow Sensory Play Tray with 3 ways to play!

One easy to make sensory base = lots of fun! See how we reused this for extra play time ...

Snowy sensory play tray - Perfect for easy winter themed play!

Sensory play trays are so much fun! All 3 of my kids enjoy playing with this type of tray.

Not only are they simple to put together, but they can easily be reused over multiple days/even weeks for extra play time!

Sensory play can be very calming and it's also a great way to develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, oral language and vocabulary through story-telling with the animal figurines.

Sensory play trays are perfect for storing away for another day (or more) of play. Here are three ways we played with the same simple sensory base. From a snowy arctic land, to a Winter themed tray, to potion play - let's have fun while keeping it simple!

Important: These play ideas are for children ages 3+ under adult supervision. Please supervise all play involving water. You know your child best. Please use your judgement when deciding whether these ideas are suitable for your child.

Child-led Sensory Play Tray 1 - Snowy Arctic Play Tray

This tray was set up by my eldest and middle child. Miss 5 had brought home a recipe from school for easy DIY snow, so she was excited to make this with her sister.

This sensory tray was child-led. The girls set this up themselves and chose the animals that they wanted to add into it. I found the tray for them and helped with the water, but they did the rest.

Snowy arctic sensory play tray - set up by my kids

What we used to make this sensory tray:

• Arctic animal figurines - mostly CollectA brand (use what you have)

• Bicarb Soda (baking soda)

• Water

• Blue food colouring

• Gus and Mabel Co Busy Bee Tray with half tray insert (substitute with any tray or 2 separate containers would work too)

• Lucite rectangles (optional)

• Mat or towel underneath to catch the mess (Rudie Nudie waterproof mats)

Two sensory bases were used in this sensory play tray.

How to set up this sensory tray:

To make the snow, sprinkle bicarb soda into the tray and add in water gradually to achieve a snow like consistency. The bi-carb should be able to be clumped together to make snow. You can use a spoon for this step to mix the ingredients.

For the coloured water - simply add a few drops of food colouring to achieve the desired colour or water can be left uncoloured.

Note: We had too much blue food colouring in this water and it did temporarily stain the tray. This really needed more water added in to dilute the food colouring more.

You could easily use 2 trays/containers to recreate this with one filled with the snow mixture and the other with water. There is no need to buy a new tray - use what you have.

This simple snow is lots of fun to play with!

Arctic Sensory Play Tray 2

We left out the sensory tray used above and the snow dried out, but it had actually turned blue from where the coloured water had splashed onto it.

To make this tray interesting for play again on another day this is what I did ... I removed the water side, and add a little bit of tap water in to make the bicarb soft and snowy again ready for play.

This sensory base rehydrated well. Once it dries out it can be left in the tray or stored in a container/bag to use another time for play.

This sensory snow can be reused again by adding in water to the dried out snow.

I added in some of the arctic animals and a book about Winter called 'Millie-Mae in Winter' written by Natalie Marshall. It has beautiful illustrations to show the seasons (there are 4 books in the set).

Adding in a book with some sensory play adds some extra interest and learning!

Potion Play

I wasn't sure if this would work for potion play, but I'm happy to report that the snow sensory base can be dried out and stored in an air-tight bag or container to use on another day for potion play!

We have used this mixture for potion play 2 times already, with more mixture leftover for another day. As you can see below the blue colour has faded over time. You could always add some more colouring in if you wished. This potion play needs vinegar to make a fun fizzing reaction with the bicarb soda.

A tray ready to make some fizzy potions.

For this fun potion play you will need:

• The snow bi-carb soda sensory base - dried out

• Vinegar in a small container (you can add some water to make the vinegar go further - just not too much or it won't fizz properly)

• Water

• Tray or container

• Pipette or squeezy dropper

• Spoon

• Bowls or little containers (use what you have)

• Large tray to catch the spills

• Waterproof mat or towel

  
  

Potion play set up in an IKEA trofast tray.

How to play:

1. Gather all the supplies listed above and set up on a mat or towel to catch the spills. This is also a good one to set up outside.

2. Add a some of the potion mixture (dried bicarb snow) to the bowls.

3. Using the pipette or dropper, add a squeeze of the vinegar mixture into the bowl with the dried potion mixture. Watch the fizzy reaction!

4. Repeat. Add in more water to make blue watery potions.

   Optional: Add in a touch of eco glitter for extra sparkly potions

The vinegar makes the bicarb fizz!

Fizzy potions are lots of fun to make!

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Easy DIY Snow Sensory Play Tray with 3 ways to play!

Thank you for reading this blog post.

I hope you found some inspiration to set up a fun sensory play tray for your child/ren. As you can see one tray can end up being used over multiple play sessions when you use a reusable base, such as this simple snow.

From a snowy arctic land with water, to a simple snow tray, to fizzy potions, there is lots of play potential here!

Remember use what you have + keep it simple and have some fun!

If you know someone who would enjoy these play ideas - please share this blog post with them.

Until next time, let's make it fun and playful!

Danica

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