Three-Ingredients (or less!) Tactile Sensory Play

Below are recipes for tactile play that you can implement at home with your child, utilizing simple and easy ingredients that you probably have handy! Tactile-sensory play is beneficial because, through the exploration of touch, children integrate their tactile system, including, touch, pain, temperature, and vibration. Tactile play can also be calming and regulating for many children. Engaging in tactile-play with your child at home has many benefits, but we would like to focus on how participating in these activities with your child can promote regulation, engagement, and shared attention. Actively engaging with your child to create and play with these recipes is a great way to address their functional emotional developmental capacities of sharing attention and relating while benefitting from sensory input.

Fluffy Cloud Dough

Ingredients:

2 Cups Cornstarch & 1 Cup Conditioner (Scented or Unscented)

Instructions: Pour cornstarch and conditioner into a bowl, mix with spoon and/or hands. It’s ready to play with!

Shaving Cream Slime

Ingredients:

4 oz. of white glue, 2-3 cups of shaving cream, 6-7 tbsp of contact lens solution. (Optional: 4-5 drops of food coloring)

Instructions: In a large bowl combine glue, shaving cream, and contact solution. Mix well with a spoon and/or your hands. It’s ready to play with!

Shaving Cream Paint

Ingredients:

1 cup of shaving cream and a dollop of paint

Instructions: In a bowl, mix together shaving cream and paint. Use your hands to paint or use brushes!