Outdoors

Sensory play

Touching, looking, smelling and moving their way through the world, at your child's own pace.

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Compare the age ranges and time, then open a card for materials and instructions.

Age range: Under 6 months · 10 min

Spread a blanket in the shade of a leafy tree and lay your baby on their back beside you. Say very little and let them watch the leaves shift and the light flicker.

Age range: Under 6 months · 5 min

Hold your baby close to a mirror so their face and yours share the reflection. Wave their hand, say their name, and let them stare as long as they like.

Age range: Under 6 months · 5 min

Stand a bold black-and-white pattern where your baby looks during a nappy change, about a foot from their face. Watch their eyes find it, then move it slowly to one side once they lock on.

Age range: Up to 2 years · 15 min

Settle your baby into a carrier or sling, high and upright against your chest, and walk a slow loop of your street. Talk quietly about what you pass, or say nothing at all.

Age range: 6 months–3 years · 10 min

Spread a blanket under a tree and settle with your baby facing up into the branches. Watch the leaves shift in the breeze together and describe what you see — bright, moving, windy.

Age range: 6 months–3 years · 15 min

Fill a shallow basket with safe household objects your baby has never held — a wooden spoon, a metal whisk, a fabric coaster. Sit close by and let them choose, turn, and mouth each one at their own pace.

Age range: 6 months–3 years · 15 min

Clear one low cupboard down to plastic bowls, lids, and wooden spoons, then open it while you cook. Let your baby pull everything out, bang it about, and pile it back in beside you.

Age range: 6 months–3 years · 15 min

Sit together on a soft patch of lawn and let your baby press and wiggle bare feet against the cool grass.

Age range: 1–3 years · 10 min

Lay your toddler on a thick blanket on a smooth floor, hold two corners, and pull slowly in a gentle curve. Stop and say \"again?\" before each go.

Age range: 1–3 years · 20 min

Sit with your child beside a sandbox and give them a scoop, a cup, and a bucket. Fill, tip, pat, and pour, and notice how dry sand and damp sand behave differently.

Age range: 1–3 years · 10 min

Lie on your back with knees bent and place your toddler's tummy on your shins, holding them under the arms. Lift them gently into the air, wiggle your legs, and say \"up, up and away!\" Lower slowly.

Age range: 1–3 years · 15 min

Buckle your toddler into a bucket swing and stand in front of them. Give a small push, say \"push!\", and wait for a look or a word before the next one. Tap their feet each time they swing toward you.

Age range: 1–3 years · 10 min

Lay a blanket on the floor and roll your toddler gently inside it, wrapped loosely with their face clear, for a giggly \"ta-da!\" unroll. Offer a turn rolling you up too.

Age range: 1–3 years · 10 min

Walk along a garden bed or pots of herbs, crouch down, and let your toddler sniff a leaf or flower you pick out. Rub a mint or basil leaf between your fingers and say what you smell.

Age range: 1–3 years · 5 min

Stroke a soft feather lightly along your own arm, then your toddler's palm and foot. Say \"tickle, tickle\" and pause so they can ask for more. Let them try it on you.

Age range: 1–3 years · 15 min

Walk a short path and stop at three or four different trees. Place your child's hand on each trunk and say whether it feels rough, smooth, bumpy, or ridged, and look for what lives on the bark.

Age range: 1–3 years · 10 min

Lay out a towel, a bath mat, a rug, and a smooth patch of floor in a row. Hold your toddler's hand and walk over each, naming how it feels: soft, bumpy, cool. Walk back in the other direction.

Age range: 1–3 years · 10 min

Fill a clear plastic bottle with water, a spoonful of glitter and a few drops of food coloring. Glue and tape the lid shut. Shake it and watch the glitter settle together.

Age range: 1–4 years · 10 min

Dim the lights and sweep a flashlight beam slowly along the wall and floor. Let your toddler point at it, pat it, or follow it, then hand over the flashlight for them to try.

Age range: 1–4 years · 10 min

Hold a toilet-paper or paper-towel tube up to your eye and say \"I see you!\" Hand a tube to your toddler and look at each other through them. Try humming or speaking into the tube.

Age range: 1–4 years · 10 min

Put a few whole spices or dried herbs with mild smells, such as a cinnamon stick, a vanilla pod, or dried mint leaves, in small jars. Open one at a time, hold it a hand's length away, and take a slow sniff together. Name each smell and wave the jar away.

Age range: 2–4 years · 20 min

Fill a shallow bin with dry rice and add cups and spoons. Sit together to scoop, pour, and bury little toys to dig back up.

Age range: 2–5 years · 25 min

Set out an old pot, a spoon, and a little water beside a patch of dirt, and let your child mix, scoop, and \"cook\" muddy pies to serve you.

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