100 Sensory Activities For All Ages

I went home in tears.

I remember thinking as I sobbed in the parking lot, “How am I going to add this in to all that we are already doing? I feel like I’m failing already.”

It just felt like more.

It took a lot of time, many more tears and some trial and error, but I finally began to figure out how sensory activities not could not only “fit” into our schedule, but actually help contribute to our learning.

For more than five years now, I have been incorporating sensory friendly activities into almost every one of our days. The benefits have been at the very least, noticeable and at best, life changing.

Sensory activity helps to not only calm and “sync-up” a child’s sensory system, it also strengthens the brain’s neural pathways and connections. For example, when my son is able to learn something new through a sensory activity vs. a worksheet, he retains it faster and for longer periods of time.

Sensory exercises and play are not just for out-of-sync children. They can and do enhance learning for all of us!

What are sensory exercises for kids?

Sensory activities engage the 5 senses – touch, smell, sight, taste, and sound – as well as the vestibular (balance) and proprioceptive (position and movement of the body) systems.

Specifically, sensory exercises can positively impact language skills, fine motor and gross motor skills, social skills and self-control/self-regulation.

They calm my children like nothing else, and even better, they’re fun! But it can be hard to find sensory activities for all ages.

With this in mind, I wanted to provide a resource that would work for families just like mine.

Here are my all time, top 100 favorites.

100 Sensory Activities For All Ages

Homemade Bath Bombs

Kitchen Slip and Slide

Yoga Ball Chair

Yoga Ball Trampoline Bounce

Perler Bead Calendar 

Balloon Stress Balls – Somewhat Simple

Nerf Gun Letter Practice

Human Body Sidewalk Drawings – True Aim

Q-Tip Painting

Make Snow!

Sidewalk Chalk

One Foot Hopscotch

Soapy Sidewalk Spelling

Water Balloon Toss

Water Balloon Trampoline Bounce

Baking Bread

Twister

Giant Bubble Making – My Little Poppies

Toothpicks and Gumballs

Egg Drops and Egg Rolls

Water Beads Foot Bath

Making Stone Soup

Rock Hunt and Painting

Sticker Maps

Finger Knitting

Dot Marker Bingo

LEGO STEAM Activities (add Learning to Sensory Input!)

Nature Walk and Scavenger Hunt

Ping Pong Basketball

Quill and Ink Writing

Dice Drills

Homemade Floam – Teach Beside Me

Coffee Filter Crafts – Look! We’re Learning

Fingerprint Art

Ancient Greek Pottery Writing

Atoms with Playdough

Chalk Marker Window Writing

Bubble Wrap Stomp

Painter’s Tape Maze

Lightbox tracing

Mining for Gems

Dough Numbers and Letters

Baking Soda Bombs and Volcanos

Edible Starbust Slime – Teach Beside Me

Birds and Bugs Playdough Mats – Look! We’re Learning

Sensory Bottles – This Outnumbered Mama

Frozen Oobleck Sensory Play – Learning and Exploring Through Play

Edible Sludge Sensory Play  – And Next Comes L

Cocoa Slime – 3 Boys and a Dog

Plastic Kite Bags  – Munchkins and Moms

Mud Kitchen Tuff Spot – Clare’s Little Tots

DIY Chalk Paint  – Busy Toddler

Homemade Finger Paint Recipe – Powerful Mothering

Fly Swatter Painting  – Munchkins and Moms

DIY Sidewalk Foam Paint – The Tip Toe Fairy

Collect and Paint Rocks – Rhythms of Play

Colorful Melting Ice – Bambini Travel

Easy to Make Water Bombs – Adventures of Adam

Ice Cream In A Bag – Kara S. Anderson

Sensory Bins (all the sensory bins)

Seed Bombs

Fairy Garden

Simulating A Heartbeat  – Primary Theme Park

Anatomy Dough Play Mat – Our Time To Learn

No Sew Weighted Lap Pad – Lemon Lime Adventures

DIY Crash Mat – Kids Activities

DIY Sensory Retreat Area – A Sensory Life

DIY Squoosh Box – Lemon Lime Adventures

Lego Calm Down Jars – Lemon Lime Adventures

Worry Stones

Edible Ocean Layers – Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Shell Critters – Mosswood Connections

Snow Dough

Shaving Cream Earth  – Crafty Morning

All The Fidgets!

Edible Rock Cycle – Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Paper Plate Masks

Dish Soap Silly Putty

Jump Rope

Gardening

Weaving

Bounce Balls

Balance Boards

Pumpkin or Watermelon Carving

Finger Painting

Homemade Sugar Scrubs

Aromatherapy Putty

Giant Water Beads

Chalk Pastels Art

Resistance Bands

Dancing the Hokey Pokey

Dancing to Favorite Songs

Masking Tape Balance Beam

Wall Push-Ups

Car Wash

Crossing The Midline Exercises

Hammer and Nails

Lego Builds

Couch Cushion Obstacle Course

Sprinkler Play

Making Beaded Jewelry

Sensory Salt

Bear Hugs!

I can’t stress enough how much incorporating sensory activities and exercises into our days has helped. My boys are noticeably calmer, happier, and better able to focus when I am intentional about their sensory routine.

They aren’t alone in this. In fact, there is ample evidence that sensory activities and therapies may be beneficial to children with a number of struggles including:

• social or emotional dysregulation
• activity level that is unusually high or low
• difficulty with transitions from one situation to another
• inability to calm self or unwind
• delays in speech, language or motor skills
• delays in academic achievement

The truth is, in my home, research, or no research, this simply works. 

Sensory Exercises Around The House

Is Sensory Processing Disorder Real?

Top 10 Tips For Sensory Kids and Their Parents

This post is part of iHomeschool Network’s 100 Things Link-up. See more fun lists here!