A whole lot of the questions I frequently get in my dms relate to one topic, Asher’s sensory play setup. It’s quickly grown into a basis for some of our most fun activities here at home, so I wanted to create a master post detailing what we have, and how we make it work for us.
The sensory table is an ikea flisat, which works with the trofast bins in all their sizes. We also have this trofast storage unit in Asher’s closet (a fb marketplace score), and the interchangeable bin setup is really so useful for organization and toy rotation that I can’t help but keep up with it.
To be totally transparent, I had to go on a quest for this table- shipment shortages and pandemic delays mean that it goes in and out of stock, and when it is stocked is sometimes only avail in a limited quantity instore etc. Diligence, patience (several months), and luck paid out for us, but if you don’t want to do all that, and i don’t blame you a bit, it’s available new through resellers (at a steep upcharge), or used on mercari, Facebook marketplace, etc.
If you are here hoping for a fancy play room reveal, I lovingly regret to remind you that we live in a snuggly two bedroom apartment so Asher’s “desk“ nestles right up next to mine, behind the couch, in the main area of our home. I was really worried about the mess at first, since it looks you right in the face when you open our front door, but having it so centrally located is actually really useful, because it means that Asher returns to and plays with with it often throughout the day.
Some of the setups I’ve done recently are pictured and linked below, but it’s truly so organic over here. There’s a peek into my collected stash (mostly leftovers from packages people send and other bits and bobs I’ve inexpensively gathered up) towards the end of this #mommyschool instastory highlight, but otherwise I usually just raid his bookshelf and toy box, as well as the kitchen, for things that go along with whatever ‘theme’ I have in mind, and augment with seasonal but ideally multiuse/reusable items from the dollar store or target dollar spot. I normally set a playscape up at night, and introduce it in the morning and he returns to it with minimal encouragement or effort on our part throughout the day. Some- the ones with water mainly, are for a single day, but most others get several days to more than a week of play.
For example, Asher got this Melissa and Doug farm animal puzzle for Hanukkah, so I created a little playscape including it. Recycled papers crinkles stand in for hay, where I buried animals and we tried matching the wood peg ones to their plastic animal pairs. And lots of animal themed books, including the farm volume from the little Einstein mini book set.
farm puzzle // peg animals // plastic animals // baby Einstein mini books // books 1, 2
I’ve been making lots of sensory bins for Valentine’s Day lately, as you can see, but have kept it super simple. We had some rice spill in our pantry, so I dyed it shades of pink and purple with food coloring and used heart shaped cookie cutters to shape the pattern in the sand. I raided the kitchen for some silicone muffin cups and measuring spoons, and added little wooden scoopers too. I got a big bag of blank peg dolls, so I painted a few simply but festively. I’m not the greatest artist- there are really talented makers in the wood toy/pegdoll space and i’m not it, but I think it’s important to show Asher that we can do things for enjoyment if not excellence. the little red mailbox was a target dollar spot find and i just used a chalk marker to personalize it.
heart cookie cutters // heart measuring spoons // heart silicone muffin cups // peg doll blanks // wooden scoopers // books 1, 2
I bastardized a bath bomb recipe, using baking soda and citric acid with a few drops of lavender essential oil and a drop of food coloring, and spritzed it with water until I could press it together. I smushed it into a heart ice cube tray, and let them dry out and harden overnight. Asher and I used droppers to squirt vinegar and water on them, so they fizzed and foamed for Asher to explore. This is definitely a playscape more for a single play session, with engaged parent supervision, but we loved it for a fun STEAM learning activity.
heart ice cube tray // dropper set // fine motor tool set
The cover to trofast bins has a hole perfectly sized for sorting woolen poms. I mixed them into some pink biodegradable packing peanuts I had saved with some felt hearts from the dollar store and added the peg dolls and a valentine’s card Ashe received.
For the Jewish holiday Tu B’shevat earlier this month, which celebrates trees and the earth at the first blossom of spring, we received a fun package from PJ Library that included not just our monthly book, but arugula seeds to sprout.
wooden trees // soft stuffed play food // play charcuterie // bamboo tongs // secret garden book
Not every playscape is this themed or layered, to be clear, and Asher enjoys a simple setup equally. I save these packing peanuts that dissolve in water when I get them in my Glow Recipe packages, so I have several pretty pastels. Here I just taped pieces of construction paper that matched the two colors to the little bins as targets, and he had a blast separating and trying to sort.
You’ll notice a few common threads throughout the valentine’s day bins, and that there’s a lot of reuse and recycling and homemaking and presenting things in engaging ways, rather than spending major time and money. Asher is independent, so he plays best and longest when I keep things low stakes and give him time and space to explore, so that’s what this setup is really all about.
Happy to answer any questions- hope this inspires some ideas for play with your littles!
love, Ravayna
