I love sensory activities and I keep a number of dry, fairly easy to clean up sensory bins in my kitchen, but I am not always as motivated to do more messy activities because of the extra prep and mess. With four kids, one of whom is a toddler, it’s so easy to think – oh another day when I have more time, less chaos, help…all of which adds up to not as often as I’d like.
One way I have found to make sure I don’t put off these important activities indefinitely is to set up sensory play dates.
Make a play date a potluck!
Think of it as a sensory potluck: one person hosts and everyone brings a sensory activity to share. Really all you need is one other family willing to participate but 2-5 is probably ideal. You can meet just once or you can set up a recurring date (once a month, once a week whatever works for you).
Whether you are planning a single play date or a recurring one, these tips will help things run more smoothly:
Decide what ages to include.
Sensory play is great for all ages but if you only want a specific age group it’s better to let people know that upfront (my current group is a mixed aged consisting of mostly toddlers and preschoolers but with children ranging from 8 months to 10 years).
Think about how to set up the sensory activities in your space.
Think about your space and how many activities you will want to do at a time. Don’t worry about being short on tables you can utilize benches, low brick walls, lawn chairs and even put sensory bins eight on the floor.
Coordinate the activities just like you would a potluck.
Coordinate activities so people don’t bring the same activities. You may also want to ask for a balance of wet and dry activities.
If you are looking for inspiration check out 25 Sensory Activities for Kids.
Discuss how everyone feels about mixing materials.
Inevitably someone will want to mix the rice and the shaving cream and knowing ahead of time what works for your group will make it easier to monitor the activities.
A great compromise is to have a few extra dishpans available where some of the materials can be brought over for mixing.
Consider how kids will clean up between activities.
If a hose or sink is not in the immediate vicinity you can use a water container with a spigot (affiliate link). I use the disposable variety and cut a hole in the top so it can be refilled.
This often becomes a sensory experience of its own so keep a big bucket under the spout to catch the water for reuse and to avoid puddles.
What should each parent bring?
Suggest that each person bring a towel, a change of clothes, and a snack.
On the day of the sensory play date…
On the day of the play date figure out ahead of time where you will locate each activity.
Have an easy low maintenance activity ready to go so that the kids can be engaged with minimum supervision while the adults set up the activities.
Some of my favorite low maintenance activities are a sticky tape web, a sticky walk or collage or a bubble wrap runway (for more than 3 or for kids I like lots of squares of bubble wrap so everyone can jump, pop, and stomp to their hearts content).
While these are low maintenance activities they still need at least one adult supervising.
Assign a parent or older child to supervise each area and relax, enjoy all the messy fun, doing this in a group means you don’t have to supervise or clean it up all by yourself!
How to Host a Sensory Play Date on handsonaswegrow.com
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