Where Play Meets Potential
Not sure if you are in the same boat as me, but my little almost one year old constantly puts everything in her mouth. It’s as if she has no other sensation in any of her body parts and has to explore the world through her mouth.
Ugh, why? I want to play with sand and soapy bubbles and small loose parts like beautiful gems. I want sensory play to look like all of those beautiful setups you see across the internet with tiny objects and non-edible fun things to touch (ie. waterbeads, colored rice, shaving cream, etc.).
Maybe someday, but the truth is, that is not where we are currently.
I still believe in the importance of sensory play so my hope is that by providing multiple appropriate things to put in her little mouth through rich sensory experiences, she will eventually stop putting the inappropriate things in her mouth.
For this post, I collaborated with some amazing moms all around the world to give you some excellent edible and taste-safe sensory play ideas.
Wow this idea from Team-Cartwright looks so delicious! Hopefully your little one will play with it longer than they put it in their mouth. I could see this being so fun for a preschool aged child to pretend play ice cream shop. Click the picture to see all the details.
Here is another idea that looks like it would make a tasty dessert. If you are not scared of a little sugar, then this would be a fun activity and treat. Click the picture to find out more about how to make this fun dough.
Linda over @eli.explores.everything on Instagram has so many great “snacktivities,” but I just chose this one to share with you because I never thought to use mashed potatoes for a sensory base. Colored mashed potatoes gives it even more interest and then you add a scene and you get a sensory activity trifecta.
I’ll admit, this one didn’t look too appetizing when it was first shared with me, but then I found out the ingredients and I thought, “Hmm, that sounds yummy and like something Ruby would love to eat.” So here are the ingredients:
Add your favorite loose part to the mix and you have a very fun and healthy sensory experience. You may even add some food coloring to give it an interesting look.
Photo credit: @fun_with_thekiddos on Instagram
Photo credit: @playingwithwittle on Instagram
Ever have a food that your little one hates, but you don’t want to waste. This ingenious mama took that opportunity to create an edible play dough. The recipe for this edible play dough comes from @playingwithwittle on Instagram. The ingredients include:
Click on the image to take you to the post for the instructions on how to make this playdough. I am definitely going to try this one out.
We made an edible beach scene by using blended Cheerios for the sand and sea animals inside gelatin for the ocean. If you want to see a full review check out my post “Edible Sensory Beach.”
There are other ways to make sand though. @gimme5_play_ideas made their sand with blended crackers. I have also seen blended or whole oats used as sand.
Photo credit: @gimme5_play_ideas on Instagram
Here is another way to use crushed up Cheerios. Add them with some other edible ingredients to create an edible Jungle. Wow, this scene looks super engaging. The ingredients to make this enticing edible jungle include:
@zandersfunfactory has lots of fun ideas (edible and non-edible) that correlate with letters of the alphabet. This is such an engaging way to practice letter recognition and sound.
Photo credit: @zandersfunfactory on Instagram
And another way to use cereal for sensory play is to make a farm scene. Small world play combined with sensory play engages and motivates young children because they have multiple ways to play and skills to practice. Ange @lilzoeplays has lots of fun ideas for babies and toddlers. This farm scene includes rolled oats, Cheerios, and Cornflakes. So many textures to experience and the best part? It’s all completely edible!
Photo credit: @lilzoeplays on Instagram
Edible mud is a fun idea for both younger and older children. In fact, I wouldn’t mind playing with this mud either. The ingredients to make this mud include:
So simple and such a fun alternative to regular oobleck (cornstarch and water). The cocoa powder gives it a great mud look. All you have to do is add some animals, cars, people, or dinosaurs to get muddy and then have fun washing them off. I have seen this idea a few ways and with farm animals it always reminds me of the book Mrs. Wishy Washy’s Farm.
Photo credit: @busybeeprek1 on Instagram
This is one of our all time favorite edible sensory play ideas. Not sure if it was so engaging because of the yummy taste of the yogurt, the sensation, or the hidden picture of mom and dad underneath, but either way this activity kept Ruby’s interest at 10 months for around 15 to 20 minutes. That is a long time for a little one. To set up this activity I simply used some yogurt that she didn’t finish at breakfast and put a couple drops of red food coloring. I taped a picture with clear packaging tape (you could also use contact paper) to a baking tray. I covered the picture with yogurt and gave her a basting brush as a tool. She used the tool a little, but her face worked just as well. You can find more ideas on how to play with pictures on my post “Playing with a 6 to 12 Month Old Baby Using Pictures.”
This is another one of our favorites. We have done this a few times in a few different ways. The first time we did it was around Easter and I put Easter eggs inside gelatin made with orange juice. Again, I think the sweet juice helped her stay with this activity for around 20 or 30 minutes. It was more of a snack than an activity, but at that age (9 months) meal time and sensory play are almost synonymous. I have also used one of Ruby’s favorite loose parts, lids, to put in gelatin made with apple juice and I put sea animals in plain blue colored gelatin. The juice gelatin wins over plain gelatin for sure, but probably because it is a sweet treat.
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