Sensory Play

Photo Credit: @mummy_and_my_three

Sensory Play is play that engages your childs senses: touch, sight, sound, smell and taste. It helps build nerve connections in the brain, encourages learning through physical exploration, problem solving and creativity, and also helps with language development and motor skills.

Personally I have always found sensory play a bit overwhelming so I decided to reach out Jess from @mummy_and_my_three for some tips and tricks for sensory set ups and to find out where she gets her inspiration from.

You are so creative with your sensory play (and your DIY crafts). What is your background?

My background is in Design, I studied Art and Design / Interior design at College and University. I’ve always loved anything creative, I can remember at school struggling with the academic side of things but having a real passion for art and design, then leaving school and going to college to study Design I had a real drive to succeed and I had found something that I was really good at.

I think that’s why I get so inspired with the kids play and activities, I want to pass that creativity and passion on to them.

Why do you love sensory play?

It wasn’t until Mason was about 2 that we started introducing sensory play at home - inspired by some of the amazing accounts on Instagram at the time. I think the first shop to really inspire our sensory play was Carla’s Treasure we got a gorgeous treasure basket full of natures treasures.

Then our play ideas grew from there, I can remember how Mason used to love our small world play set ups we would add coloured rice or Chickpeas to Farm or under the sea set ups he would love it, then Evie came along and what amazed me was how differently she would play with the same things, she really loved pouring and scooping and had a totally different approach to the whole thing

I think that’s why I love it as it allows them to be individual and grow in their own way.

Where do you get inspiration for your sensory set ups from?

I get a lot of Inspiration from Pinterest also there are some amazing accounts on Instagram, I think also just following your little ones interests, for a long time Mason loved Dinosaurs so we did lots of Dino small world play using playdough, rice, cereals and seeds as a sensory base

What ages did you start introducing sensory play to your children and what did you start with?

With Evie and Florence it’s been from early on, I used to try and encourage tummy time with homemade Sensory tubes and Sensory bags, then we moved on to things like coloured spaghetti and taste safe baby paint which they loved.

A lot of people find sensory play daunting (myself included). Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for minimising the clean up aftermath?

If you want to keep the mess contained definitely invest in a Crafty Pod, there’s no way I would do some of the stuff we do without it. The Pod is basically a pop up play pen with a wipeable mat inside…. So simple but absolutely genius

Then when your little one is finished you can tip it all to one side, hoover the pod out and fold it up in to a small bag and store it away.

If they’re really messy I just put them straight the bath, Evie went through phase of painting her whole self everytime we did painting so it was always bath time after!

What are the must have items for sensory play?

Definitely the Crafty Pod, we love our Playtray, it might seem pricey but you shouldn’t need any other trays or containers once you have this and we use ours all the time

The kids also use tongs, scoops and wooden play dough tools a lot.

Join the Directory to read the full interview for more tips and tricks, inspiration and where to source products.