It’s nearly half term and the summer holidays. Which means only one thing … 

Many parents will already be worrying about planning things to do whilst their ‘bundles of energy’ are at home. Creating fun memories, sensory activities are also recommended to strengthen children’s motor skills and build their: 

• Five senses 

• Awareness of their environment 
• Balance and movement. 

Discover four cost-effective ways in this guide to assist your child’s sensory development that won’t feel like homework for them (or you). 

Create Their Very Own 'Galaxy in a Bottle'

This multisensory show-and-tell stimulates their sight and helps to strengthen their coordination in the process. 

A wonderful way to bond as a parent and child, it’ll also prove a fun craft session for all. 

Simply: 

• Find a clean plastic bottle 
• Fill three-quarters of it with water and colourful handsoap 

• Top with beads, sequins, buttons and glitter 
• Secure the lid and shake. 

This sensory activity also provides little tykes with the option to be creative and personalise their own ‘galaxy’ by decorating theirs in their favourite colours. Watch their faces light up as they gaze into the mini-universe they’ve made. Teaching them cool facts about space at the same time will make this activity even more special. 

I Can See a Rainbow

Encourage your children’s arty side, vision, sense of touch and hearing with rainbow-coloured rice. 

Here’s how to make your very own multicoloured batches: 

• Place uncooked rice into 3 or 5 pots 
• Mix a few drops of food colouring gel through each pot 
• Add ½ a teaspoon of vinegar to the rice to prevent dye transfer 

• Let the rice dry on a baking tray for 2 to 3 hours 
• Pour stripes of the different coloured rice into a plastic box. 

Asking younger children to name each colour they touch will help them recall primary and secondary colours. Surprisingly calming, they’ll also enjoy stirring the dry rice with their hands given its tactile feel. 

Play the 'I-Spy' Game with a Sensory Twist

This ‘spot the object’ game is bound to boost your child’s cognitive thinking. But little do they know, it’s actually encouraging them to make decisions, examine different textures and solve problems through memory recall. 

Gather everyone at the kitchen table and ask them “Can you find something fluffy/bright/cold/that smells nice in this house?”. Give top points for teamwork between friends and siblings on this sensory treasure hunt. They can then bring their items back to the table. 

Once they’ve finished gathering their chosen objects, make a list of what they’ve found, whilst they sit down to describe each item in more detail. 

Open a Mud Kitchen

Sensory activities don’t need to be kept indoors. They can also take place in the garden among the sights and sounds of nature. Building a mud kitchen outdoors amongst the sound of birdsong and bright flowers means less mess indoors here. It allows your youngster to roll up their sleeves and play with soil, mud and water. 

Give them some child-friendly utensils, plastic bowls, yoghurt pots and even that sandcastle mould you bought at Scarborough. They’ll love inventing a menu of muddy treats as they pretend to be top chefs. 

Whilst their creations shouldn’t be eaten for safety reasons, this sensory activity is sure to strengthen their reasoning and decision-making capabilities. These open-air spaces encourage sensory integration too. 

Don't Forget to Visit Sensory Planet!

We hope these ideas for sensory activities make your child’s school holidays their best yet! Each task relies on sensory stimuli which can be experienced on a larger scale within our two fabulous sensory rooms here in Knottingley. Call us on 01709 919036 (Option 2) or email knottingley@sensoryplanet.co.uk to book a unique day out.