32 Best Sensory Activities for 1 Year Olds

Let’s have a really fun sensory activity with your 1 year old toddler. Today we are sharing our favorite sensory activities for 1 year olds! Your little one will have a great time while stimulating their fine motor skills and gross motor skills. All it takes is a little bit of imagination and some simple supplies. Use our favorite sensory activities at home, daycare or in your playgroup.

Sensory activities for toddlers - Image shows a compilation of kids playing with sensory activities. Ideas from different sources. — Here are some fun ideas to promote sensory play!

Related: Easy Homemade DIY Moon Sand Recipe

Sensory Play Ideas That Are So Much Fun For Little Hands

Sensory bottles are a great way to enhance young children’s cognitive development and hand-eye coordination… but it isn’t the only way! You can use so many different ways and different materials you can use to help your little one experience the world.

Materials like shaving cream, plastic eggs, pipe cleaners, and rubber bands are so easy to get and together can make a great activity to promote the sensory play.

Sensory development is essential for kids of all ages as it helps improve their social skills, brain development, problem solving, creativity, and language skills. That’s why we put together an article with different sensory play activities so your kid can really enjoy the benefits of sensory play.

Let’s get started!

1. Make a Sensory Mini Water Blob for Baby Play

Image shows a sensory bag with a turtle toy inside. Idea from KAB. — Get your kids’ favorite toys for this activity.

Give baby a wonderful sensory experience with this mini water blob. It’s a mess-free sensory experience that all babies will love.

2. Easy DIY Ocean Sensory Bag You Can Make

Image shows a sensory bag ocean-themed. Idea from Kids Activities Blog — Sensory bags are a great way for toddlers to have fun.

Babies and toddlers will delight in the squishy ocean sensory bag that is filled with sea creatures.

3. Make a Seaside Inspired Ocean Themed Sensory Bin

Image shows a seaside sensory tub. Idea from Kab — Let’s make a sensory tub!

This homemade sensory bin uses items that you likely already have at home and can help kids keep memories of a recent beach vacation.

4. Early Learning: Mystery Box

Image shows a mystery bag for sensory play for kids. Idea from KAB — Do you know all you can do with a shoe box?

One fun way to get a little child to focus on their sense of touch for learning is through the use of a mystery box. The idea is to put an object in the box and your child has to try to guess what the object is using only their hands.

5. Dinosaur Dig Sensory Bin

Image shows a dinosaur toy buried in sand. Idea from KAB — Sensory baskets are one of our favorite ways to promote play in younger toddlers.

Kids can pretend to be a scientist as they uncover the pieces of this dinosaur sensory bin, gently brushing away the dirt to uncover dinosaur and mammal bones.

6. {Oh So Sweet} Sensory Bin for the Babies

Image shows a baby looking at a hair tie. Idea from KAB. — You dont need fancy items to keep babies entertained.

This sensory bin for babies is so simple – you literally only need a bunch of scrunchies with different textures and different colors for them to touch and play with.

7. Sensory Bins to Teach Night and Day

Image shows a night/day sensory bin. Idea from Learn play imagine — A sensory bin ideal for kids of all ages.

Create sensory bins to teach about day and night with cloud dough, flowers, coffee grounds, and glow in the dark stars. From Learn Play Imagine.

8. Bug Sensory Bin

Image shows a sensory bin with toy bugs. From The Best Ideas for Kids — Bugs are cute!

This bug sensory bin is a great way for toddlers that love bugs to have fun and experience sense of touch. From The Best Ideas For Kids.

9. Ocean Beach Sensory Activity

Image shows an ocean sensory bin for kids. Idea from Mommys Bundle — Here’s another fun ocean sensory bin.

This ocean beach sensory bin promotes sensory stimulation, learn through play and engages kids’ imagination. From Mommy’s Bundle.

10. Digging for Dinosaur Sensory Bin For Toddlers

Image shows a dinosaur sensory bin with dinosaur toys and sand. Idea from Mommy Evolution. — A great idea for dinosaur-loving toddlers.

This sensory box is very easy to put together and will have kids excited to dig out some dinosaur (toys)! From Mommy Evolution.

11. Taste Safe Ocean Sensory Bin

Image shows an ocean small world sensory bin from Rainy Day Mum. — Try this edible sensory play idea.

Set up a cute ocean world sensory play with lime jelly, food coloring, water, oats, chocolate play dough and shell pasta. From Rainy Day Mum.

12. Let The Ice Melt: A Spring Sensory Bin & Pouring Station

Image shows a spring sensry bin with colorful iced cubes. From Mommy Evolution — We love a colorful activity like this one.

This sensory bin has it all: color recognition, sense of touch, and lots of fun! Get colored foam and food coloring – and let the fun begin. From Mommy Evolution.

13. Flour Bin: an easy toddler activity

Image shows a toddler playing with a flour binw ith different bowls. Idea from Busy Toddler — Let’s make a flour bin.

Need a fun, easy toddler activity? Make a flour bin! It’s a little messy but so much fun and an easy way to occupy your toddler. From Busy Toddler.

14. Paw Patrol Sensory Tub

Image shows different Paw patrol character toys in a cheerios sensory bin. Idea from Craftons on sea — Who doesn’t love Paw Patrol?!

This Paw Patrol sensory tub will cost you pennies as yo uonly need a big box, Paw Patrol toys, cheerios, broccoli, and wooden slices. And of course, a toddlers willing to play! From Crafts On Sea.

15. Farm Harvest Sensory Bin

Image shows a farm harvest sensory bin. From Mommy Evolution — A great way to learn about our fruits and vegetables.

Try this inventive Harvest Sensory Bin to get kids exploring farming and connecting with the food they eat. From Mommy Evolution.

16. Mess Free Snowflake Sensory Bag

Image showsa toddler holding a snowflake sensory bin. Idea from Crafts on sea — This is a great mess-free activity.

You can put this simple activity together in around two minutes and adapt it for different ages and different seasons. From Crafts on Sea.

17. Color Mixing Sensory Bags For Toddlers and Preschoolers

Image shows a color mixing sensory bag. Idea from Views from a stepstool — Shaving cream makes learning better.

Learning color mixing theory is fun with sensory bags. From Views From a Stepstool.

18. My First Sensory Bags: Clean and Safe Sensory Play for Baby

Image shows the hand of a toddler playing with a water bead sensory bag. Idea from Life with Moore babies — Here’s a safe sensory bag for 1-year-olds.

These sensory bags are completely safe for little kids but still make for a fun and sensory learning activity for your baby. From Life with Moore Babies.

19. Easy Nature Sensory Bags

Image shows a toddler's hand playing with a nature sensory bag. Idea from Kiddy's charts. — Nature is the best teacher.

These nature sensory bags from Kiddy Charts are a great sensory expeience, provide an opportunity to name the different objects, are mess-free and there’s no choking hazard risk.

20. Nebula Calm Down: Jar Sensory & Science

Image shows a toddler holding a "galaxy" sensory jar. Idea from Views from a stepstool — How fun it is to hold a “nebula”!

This nebula calm down jar is a perfect mix of calming sensory play and science, all wrapped up into a fun project! From Views from a Stepstool.

21. How to Create an Amazing Farm Discovery Bottle

Image shows a farm discovery bottle from Little Worlds Big Adventures — Are you looking for an exciting farm-related project?

Putting together this farm discovery bottle is so easy- fill an empty bottle with chickpeas, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, corn kernels, and farm animal toys. From Little Worlds Big Adventures.

22. Water-bead Sensory Bottles for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers

Image shows colorful sensory beads on bowls. Idea from Living with Montessori — Perfect activity for color recognition skills.

Follow this simple tutorial for making water-bead sensory bottles in a rainbow of colors. From Living Montessori Now.

23. Sensory Play – Rainbow Bottles Music Shakers

Image shows a musical shasker made with a plastic bottle — Sometimes all you need is an empty water bottle to have a nice activity.

These rainbow sensory bottles are bright and cheerful and just perfect for babies and toddlers to explore and create music with. From Kids Craft Room.

24. Firework Sensory Bottle

Image shows a kid playing with a sensory bottle from Messy Little Monster — This craft is so easy and fun for toddlers and preschoolers.

Get some water bottles and fill them with sparkly objects for a fun sensory bottle. From Messy Little Monster.

25. Edible Playdough Recipe

Image shows an edible play dough recipe with letters from Danya Banya — Let’s make some edible play dough!

This recipe to make edible playdough is fun, low sugar, and only needs three ingredients: instant milk powder, peanut butter, and honey. From Danya Banya.

26. Baby School: Valentine’s Sensory Bottles

Image shows a baby playing with sensory bottles on a toddler chair — Let’s make Valentine’s sensory bottle!

Make cute Valentine’s sensory bottles for your little one with really simple supplies, like pom-poms, glitter, shiny paper, tissue paper, bells, etc. They are perfect for babies 6 months old and older. From Something 2 Offer.

27. Simple Entertainment: Sensory Bottles

Image shows a sparkly sensory bottle for kids. Idea from Mamas Smiles — What a cute and simple idea!

To make this sensory bottle, simply take a clear plastic container, and add water and glitter. That’s it. From Mamas Smiles.

28. Spring Flower Sensory Bottle

Image shows a compilation of spring sensory bottles. From Kids craft room. — Celebrate spring with these sensory bottles.

Let’s make a magical sensory bottle filled with a mixture of real flowers, glitter and little butterfly and flower jewels. From Kids Craft Room.

29. Sensory Fort for Babies

Image shows a toddler playing in a sensory fort made for babies. Idea from Messy Little Monster — What’s better than a sensory fort?

This simple teepee fort has a lot of sensory activities and fairy lights that are so exciting and fun. From Messy Little Monster.

30. Arctic Small World Play

Image shows an ice sensory bin with toys. From Views from a stepstool — This is a perfect activity for the winter.

Make a small world that is intended to evoke imaginative play. Use the outside freezing temperatures to freeze a large block of ice. From Views from a Step Stool.

31. Smash Tuff Spot

Image shows a toddler playing with buckets. Idea from Adventures and Play — Here are a lot of activities for your toddlers.

Here are three activities for toddlers that can be quickly set up and require very simple supplies like wooden spoons, cornflakes, mixing bowls, and water. From Adventures and Play.

32. DIY Spring Toddler Activities That Your Child Will Love

Image shows a toddler playing with recyclable containers. Idea from Natural Beach Living. — Take a look at this homemade toddler activity!

Here are some ideas to make some fun spring toddler activities with things found in your home, like egg carton, pom poms, etc. From Natural Beach Living.

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