Top 10 Sensory Activities for Children for Learning and Growth

Sensory activities for children are vital tools in fostering holistic development during early years. These structured engagements stimulate the senses, enhancing cognitive, emotional, and physical growth.

This article delves into why sensory play matters and lays out ten hands-on ideas to try. Giving children these experiences opens doors to discovery and self-reliance, paving the way for robust learning and personal growth.

Table Of Contents

What is Sensory Play and Its Benefits?
10 Sensory Activities For Children For Child Development
Encourage Growth Through Sensory Activities For Children With UNIS Hanoi

What is Sensory Play and Its Benefits?

Sensory play involves activities that stimulate a child’s senses – touch, sight, sound, smell, taste, as well as movement, balance, and spatial awareness. These experiences are fundamental to early development, as a child’s senses mature gradually through interaction with their environment. It’s their first bridge to the world, building brains and skills through every poke and listen.

For infants, sensory play fosters environmental comprehension and underpins early linguistic development through reactions to diverse stimuli. By the preschool years, manipulating objects or listening to stories refined independence and language precision.

Beyond these stages, sensory activities for children sharpen curiosity and problem-solving, strengthen motor abilities, and quietly build resilience against distraction.

10 Sensory Activities For Children For Child Development

Here are 10 hand-picked sensory activities for children to spark their growth through the senses. They are simple to try, whether at home, nursery, or school.

1. Fairy Dough

Fairy dough integrates tactile and visual senses through a mixture of one-part hair conditioner and two-parts cornstarch, kneaded into a soft dough with optional food colouring and glitter.

The tactile input from kneading and shaping strengthens sensory processing, while the visual sparkle of glitter engages sight. Crafting fairy scenes with natural items like leaves enhances multisensory integration, aiding children in coordinating touch and vision effectively.

2. Mud Play

Mud play offers an authentic, messy experience that integrates sensory exploration with learning. Set up an outdoor mud kitchen with utensils and containers, allowing children to concoct imaginative recipes like mud pies.

Alternatively, provide tools for sculpting mud artworks or building structures with sticks and stones. Activities like building mud structures or splashing in puddles integrate touch with physical effort, supporting sensory organisation and motor planning in a natural context.

3. Colour Mixing

Colour mixing introduces children to basic science through sensory play. Fill squeeze bottles with water and a few drops of primary food colouring (red, blue, yellow). In a large bin or bath, children can squirt and blend these colours, observing the formation of secondary hues.

This hands-on experiment, safe and non-staining, enhances visual perception and cognitive understanding of cause-and-effect relationships, making it ideal for controlled indoor or outdoor settings.

4. Treasure Chest

Using spray paint, transform a wipes container and jar lids into a golden treasure chest. Fill a sand-filled bin with these “coins” and hidden treasures, encouraging children to dig and discover. This activity sharpens fine motor skills and spatial awareness while igniting imagination and recycling materials for sustainability for kids.

5. Sensory Bins

Sensory bins, filled with rice, sand, or pasta, provide versatile exploration. Select age-appropriate fillers – dyed for thematic appeal – and add tools like scoops or tongs.

Themes such as dinosaurs or oceans extend learning, refining motor skills through pouring and transferring while offering boundless creative outlets for young minds.

6. Outdoor Listening Activity

This simple yet effective exercise hones auditory skills. During a nature walk, children predict sounds – birds, wind, leaves – and record them on a paper plate.

As they hear each sound, they fold over the corresponding section, blending sensory input with cognitive prediction. This practice fosters listening precision, physical activity, and reflective thinking, enriched by unexpected natural symphonies.

7. Pick The Balls With Your Feet

Retrieving balls from a water bin with feet engages tactile and proprioceptive senses. The water’s temperature and the balls’ texture stimulate touch, while foot movements provide muscle feedback. Placing a towel beneath the bin manages spills, ensuring practicality.

The task strengthens gross motor skills, particularly foot dexterity, and introduces a novel sensory challenge that differs from land-based activities. The playful challenge blends sensory input with physical exertion for holistic development.

8. Blowing Bubbles

Blowing bubbles combines sensory and motor development with minimal preparation. Mix one part washing-up liquid with six parts water, stirring gently to avoid excess foam.

Use homemade wands – bent paper clips, straws, or biscuit cutters – to create bubbles of varying sizes. Children blow bubbles, tracking their flight and observing their iridescent surfaces, which enhances breath control and eye coordination.

9. Kinetic Sand

Kinetic sand, crafted from sand, glue, dish soap, and cornflour, offers a mouldable yet fluid texture.

Mix the ingredients, kneading until cohesive, and allow children to shape or manipulate it. This activity enhances fine motor precision and encourages creative expression, providing a dynamic sensory experience with broad educational appeal.

10. Rainbow Rice

Rainbow rice transforms plain rice into a vibrant sensory material. Combine rice with gel food colouring and a half-teaspoon of vinegar in a container, shaking to coat evenly, then dry on a baking sheet. You will have a colourful, taste-safe medium for scooping, sorting, or imaginative play.

The vinegar ensures the colour remains fixed, preventing mess, while the bright hues stimulate visual discrimination. This activity supports fine motor development through manipulation and encourages imaginative scenarios, making it a practical addition to sensory curricula.

At UNIS Hanoi, we embed sensory activities within a framework of inquiry-led education to promote child development.

Our Early Childhood Centre offers specialised facilities – such as gymnasiums, mud kitchens, and sandpits – tailored to encourage exploration and questioning among young learners. Within our Elementary School, we cultivate a child’s emotional, social, and academic development, fostering their unique contribution to the world.

Recognising children as innate researchers, we utilise sensory play to build neural foundations and skills adapted to individual developmental needs. Our committed faculty designs experiences that bridge knowledge and application, ensuring our students thrive as active community participants and conscientious global citizens.

Encourage Growth Through Sensory Activities For Children With UNIS Hanoi

Sensory activities for children are instrumental in developing children’s cognitive, social, and physical competencies. At UNIS Hanoi, we embed these practices within our educational framework to cultivate well-rounded individuals, capitalising on their natural inquisitiveness.

We invite families to join our vibrant community. The 2025-2026 application process is open; contact our admissions team at admissions@unishanoi.org for guidance. Let us support your child’s growth through sensory-rich learning at UNIS Hanoi!