With Easter right around the corner and the school half-term fast approaching, you may be looking for some fun activities to keep the kids entertained. The absolute best thing about sensory play, is that you can incorporate it into almost every activity imaginable, and these activities are no exception. So, if you're looking for a bit of Easter fun for the kids that will also aid in cognitive development, increased fine motor skills and improved focus and concentration also, you've come to the right place!

To begin with, let's discuss what sensory play is, in case you're new to the concept. Sensory play is whatever you make it! By creating activities that encourage children to explore their senses and expand on their creativeness and imaginations, we can help them to improve on a variety of vital aspects. Sensory play is all about having fun whilst helping development.

1. Create Your Own Easter Egg

This activity is great for creative development, as it allows children to make use of their resources whilst also adhering to a relatively loose guideline. Draw a large egg shape onto a piece of paper and let your child pick different resources to colour it in! This could be something as simple as pens, but it could also include various other materials such as wool, glitter, sequins, buttons, etc. Try experimenting with different textures and patterns to help your child explore their senses.

2. Easter Egg Water Play

If you're for an activity that's a little messier and can allow for some outdoor time, you should give water bins a try! Fill a large container with water and set it up in a area that you don't mind getting a little messy. Then, add some plastic Easter eggs and begin adding whatever extras you'd like! We recommend adding shaving cream for some fun texture, food colouring to create marble effects in the water and even water beads if you have some on hand!

3. Marbled Easter Eggs

Another messy activity that can create some pretty eggs for an Easter egg hunt! There are dozens of ways to decorate eggs for Easter, however this method is one of our favourites! Start by adding shaving cream into a bowl and adding drops of food colouring to create a marble pattern. Then, roll your eggs around in the shaving foam to add coloured patterns to the egg, then set the covered eggs onto a drying rack to let the excess shaving foam fall off, leaving you with a beautifully marble-patterned egg! Note, this activity can be done with real eggs, but wooden eggs can be used too. 

4. Carrot Painting

Another great creative activity that can allow for some fun paintings! Put away those paintbrushes and get out a packet of carrots! Chop the carrots into various shapes and sizes and let the kids dip them into various colours of paint and press them into paper!

5. Matching Sounds and Colours

This activity may take a little longer to set up, but can be particularly good at aiding children in exploring their senses. Take some plastic Easter eggs and fill them with whatever resources you would like, for example: buttons, nuts, beads, mini pom poms. Then, let your child shake them to listen to them as they shake them and match up the ones that sound the same. This aids children in refining their listening and concentration skills. You can also try this with colours and have your child match the colours of the eggs into different piles, too!

There are many different creative, sensory play activities that children can engage in, and incorporating them into the holidays can make them even more intriguing. Keep an eye out on our blog for more fun activities, or check out our store to buy some of our sensory toys too!