Are you seeking some fun and educational science sensory activities for preschoolers, including engaging sensory bins, sensory bottle activities, and sensory play ideas? Look no further!
These eighteen activities are all quick and easy to set up, and they’re all sure to get young children excited about science. From exploring colors and textures to learning about the weather, these activities are a great way to help your child learn and expand their knowledge.
So why not give them a try? Who knows, you may even inspire that little scientist in them!
1. Bubbly Lemonade
Promotes: Enhance Sense of Smell, Fine Motor Skills, Visual and Tactile Stimulation
Activity By: Intensive Therapy for Kids
Items Needed
- 2 lemons
- Baking soda
- Water
- Clear glass
- Tray
Directions
- Cut two lemons in half
- Juice the lemons into a clear glass over a tray
- Add baking soda (1/4 teaspoon)…does it start to bubble like crazy?
- Add water for a “visually stimulating effect” as it pours over the glass onto the tray
For this easy experiment, watch your lemonade concoction bubble in ACTION.
2. Cloud Dough (or Air Dough)
Promotes: Tactile Sensory Stimulation, Creativity, Fine Motor Skills
Activity By: Intensive Therapy For Kids
Items Needed
- Cornstarch
- Hair conditioner (unscented for a neutral base, or scented for added sensory experience)
- Mixing bow
Directions
- In a mixing bowl, add 2 cups of cornstarch.
- Gradually mix in 1 cup of hair conditioner.
- Stir the mixture until it reaches a dough-like consistency. You may need to use your hands to knead and combine the ingredients thoroughly.
- If the dough is too crumbly, you can add a little more hair conditioner. If it’s too sticky, add more cornstarch until you achieve the desired texture.
Cloud Dough is a fun sensory experience for little ones as they squish, shape, and explore the unique texture with their hands.
The activity is not only a source of sensory stimulation but also an opportunity for creative play, making it a favorite for 3 to 5 year olds.
This recipe is easy to adjust, so you can add more of either ingredient to get the consistency you prefer. Remember to store the Cloud Dough in an airtight container to keep it fresh for future sensory play!
For a quicker option, you can buy pre-made air dough.
3. Exploding Milk
Promotes: Color recognition, Fine Motor Skills, Visual Stimulation
Activity By: Blooming Brilliant
Items Needed
- Clear bowl
- Food coloring
- Dish soap
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
Directions
- Pour milk into a bowl
- Drop various hues of food coloring into the bowl
- Add a squeeze of liquid dish soap to the center of the bowl … do you see what happens?
- Sprinkle some baking soda on top
- Then add white vinegar…NOW watch what happens?!
If you want some messy play, this science experiment is EXPLODES of fun, literally!
The chemical reactions of baking soda and vinegar get the milk moving and grooving.
4. Flour Sensory Tray
Promotes: Tactile Sensory Stimulation and Creativity
Activity By: Hands On As We Grow
Items Needed
- Flour
- Tray
You most likely have these household items on hand!
This activity uses simple ingredients and is perfect for hands-on fun for little fingers.
Simply pour flour onto a tray and let your little one explore the soft powdery texture with their fingers by drawing or making hand prints. It’s a fantastic way to engage a child’s senses.
To kick up the fun, consider adding baking utensils or small toys like cars, animals, or trains for your child to get creative with. Sensory play like this is not only enjoyable but also valuable for your child’s development.
5. Fluffy Slime
Promotes: Fine Motor Skills, Tactile Sensory Stimulation, Bonding experience
Activity By: Especially Education
Items Needed and Directions
Step 1. Mix these ingredients FIRST.
- Shaving cream (3 cups)
- Glue (1/2 cup)
- Food Coloring (5 drops)
- Baking soda (1/2 teaspoon)
Step 2. Then add…
- Contact solution (1 tablespoon)
Step 3. Stir and need the slime with your hands. Voila, that’s it!
The ULTIMATE tactile sensory activity. Kids get a kick out of poking, pulling, twisting, and playing with the slime.
This easy-to-make slime recipe will have your kiddo playing in a jiff.
6. How Water Travels Through Leaves
Promotes: Imaginary exploration, Patience, Visual and Tactile Stimulation
Activity By: Buggy and Buddy
Items Needed
- Clear cup
- Water
- Leaf
- Red food coloring
- Scissors
- Magnifying glass (optional)
- Free observation sheet (optional)
Get ready to explore how water moves through leaves!
This is a fun preschool science activity to create over a 3-day time period.
Find a leaf outside and slightly snip the end of the stem. Put the stem into the water with red food coloring. Let it sit for three days.
Watch as the leaf SLOWLY changes its color.
7. Lemon Volcano
Promotes: Smell, Visual and Tactile Stimulation, Fine Motor Skills
Activity By: Babble Dabble Do
Items Needed
- 2 lemons
- Baking soda
- Food coloring
- Craft stick
- Dish soap
- Tray
- Cup
This is an amazing smelling science activity to stimulate a child’s senses!
Combine the chemical reaction of baking soda and citric acid to make a lemon volcano.
Simply cut a lemon in half or core it. Add the baking soda, food coloring, and soap (which creates extra bubbles). Take your stick to poke and combine the ingredients in the lemon.
You’ll notice the bubbly colors begin to ooze like a volcano!
8. Otis and The Tornado Science Activity
Promotes: Learning, Reading, Fine Motor Skills, Tactile and Visual Stimulation
Activity By: Stir The Wonder
Items Needed
- 2 plastic liter bottles
- Water
- Food coloring
- Hot glue
- Duct tape
For the weather fans, this is a combined booked inspired activity and science experiment in one! Based on the adorable kid’s book, Otis and The Tornado, you get to make an actual TORNADO.
Take two empty bottles (like a plastic liter pop bottle) and add water to one bottle along with a splash of food coloring. Then take hot glue to seal the empty bottle on top. After it dries, duct tape both bottles together. The glue PLUS tape ensures no leaks.
Shake away while you turn the bottle over and watch the water swirl through like a tornado!
9. Play Dough
Promotes: Fine Motor Skills, Creativity, Tactile Sensory Stimulation
Activity By: Intensive Therapy For Kids
Items Needed
- Homemade or store-bought playdough (various colors)
- Plastic playdough tools (e.g., cutters, molds, rolling pins)
- Small plastic toys (optional)
- Cookie cutters (optional)
- Beads, buttons, or other small decorative items (optional)
Play Dough is a classic sensory activity for little hands.
You can use store-bought or homemade playdough in various colors. Provide plastic playdough tools like cutters, molds, and rolling pins, allowing kids to shape and mold the playdough as they please. For added fun, offer small plastic toys, cookie cutters, or beads and buttons to incorporate into their creations.
This activity is a wonderful way for children to engage their fine motor skills, explore making different shapes and textures, and let their creativity run wild. Whether they’re making sculptures, pretending to cook, or creating a world of their own, playdough offers endless possibilities for sensory play.
10. Salt Painting
Promotes: Fine Motor Skills, Color recognition
Activity By: A Dab of Glue Will Do
Items Needed
- Paper
- Pencil
- Bottle of glue
- Salt
- Watercolor paint
- Dropper
- Tray
- Plastic cup
This simple art activity turns into a cool science experiment.
Draw a glue design on a piece of paper (like a letter or number) and pour salt over it. After it dries, take a dropper (that has watercolor paint and water mixed in it) and pour it onto the salt.
Watch the beautiful colors absorb!
It transforms your glue drawing into a colorful piece of art. 🙂
11. Sensory Bags
Promotes: Tactile Sensory Stimulation, Fine Motor Skills, Visual Stimulation
Activity By: Intensive Therapy For Kids
Items Needed
- Sealable plastic bags
- Various sensory materials (e.g., hair gel, colored water, beads, glitter, small toys)
- Duct tape (optional for sealing the bags)
- Permanent markers (optional for labeling)
Sensory bags are a versatile and mess-free way to promote tactile sensory stimulation and fine motor skills.
Fill sealable plastic bags with various items like colored water, hair gel, beads, glitter, or small toys. Seal the bags securely with duct tape for added safety, especially if young children are participating.
These bags provide a captivating visual stimulation as kids explore the different textures, colors, and shapes within the bags. They can squish, press, and manipulate the contents without any mess, making sensory exploration a breeze.
12. Sensory Bin
Promotes: Sensory Play, Fine Motor Skills, Cognitive Skills
Activity By: Intensive Therapy For Kids
Items Needed
- Large plastic bin or container
- Sensory materials (e.g., rice, dried beans, sand, water beads)
- Small toys or objects for exploration
- Scoops, containers, and tools for manipulation
A sensory bin is a versatile sensory activity to encourage sensory play, fine motor skills, and cognitive skills.
Start with a large plastic bin or container and fill it with sensory materials like rice, dried beans, sand, or water beads. If you prefer, you can use little bins too. Add small toys or objects for kids to discover within the bin. Provide scoops, containers, and tools for manipulation.
Sensory bins are a fun sensory activity that offers a range of tactile experiences, from the textures of the materials to the exploration of hidden treasures. Children can engage their creativity and cognitive skills as they play and learn within the sensory bin.
13. Shaving Cream Rain Clouds
Promotes: Visual and Tactile Stimulation, Fine Motor Skills
Activity By: One Little Project
Items Needed
- 1 can of shaving cream
- Food coloring
- Water
- Clear glass
- Small 1 to 2-ounce size containers
- Eye dropper (you may also use a syringe or small measuring spoon)
Directions
- Pour water into a clear cup and top it off with shaving cream.
- In a few small one to two-ounce containers add water.
- Then add different colors of food coloring into each small container (several droplets).
- Last, pour SMALL (super tiny) amounts of food coloring over the shaving cream using a syringe, eye dropper, or small measuring spoon. Don’t worry, you won’t over-saturate it or melt it too fast!
The sky’s the limit with the color combos you want to create for your kiddos.
Most of these items you can find at the Dollar Store or you may have at home.
Watch in AWE as the gorgeous colors trickle through the shaving cream. Preschoolers have so much fun with this one!
14. Two Color Oil and Water Discovery
Promotes: Visual stimulation, Fine Motor Skills, Hand-Eye Coordination
Activity By: Play Trains!
Items Needed
- 2 plastic bottles
- Water-based food coloring
- Oil-based food coloring
- Long skewer stick
You may even add marbles or small objects to the water to intensify your visual experience!
Directions
- Fill one plastic bottle halfway with water (add a couple of drops of water-based food coloring)
- Fill another plastic bottle almost full with cooking oil (take a long skewer stick to gather the oil-based food coloring on it and then swirl it into the oil)
- Dump the oil into the water
What happens when you mix colored oil droplets and water together? You create something mesmerizing.
Notice the beautiful pigments of oil droplets floating on top of the water.
15. Vinegar Experiment
Promotes: Scientific Method, Visual and Tactile Stimulation, Cognitive Skills
Activity By: Intensive Therapy For Kids
Items Needed
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Clear containers or cups
- Food coloring (optional)
- Spoon or dropper
The vinegar experiment is a simple and exciting sensory activity for kids of all ages.
Fill clear containers or cups with baking soda and add a few drops of food coloring (if desired). Then, provide kids with vinegar and a spoon or dropper. As they pour the vinegar onto the baking soda, watch as a bubbly and colorful reaction occurs.
This experiment engages their sense of sight and touch while teaching basic scientific concepts. It’s a fun and educational sensory experience not only for young kids, but older kids too.
16. Water Beads
Promotes: Tactile Sensory Stimulation, Fine Motor Skills, Color Recognition
Activity By: Intensive Therapy For Kids
Items Needed
- Water beads (available in various colors)
- Clear containers or bowls
- Water
Water beads are an easy way to promote sensory exploration and early learning of colors.
To create this sensory experience, simply soak water beads in water until they expand and become squishy. Place them in clear containers or bowls, and let kids explore the fascinating textures and vibrant colors of the water beads.
This activity offers a soothing and enjoyable sensory experience as they squish, pick up, and observe the beads. It’s a great way to introduce color recognition in a fun and hands-on manner.
17. What Melts In The Sun?
Promotes: Tactile Sensory Stimulation, Taste, and Problem-Solving Skills
Activity By: Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls
Items Needed
- Muffin tin
- Objects of your choice (coin, marble, chocolate, crayons, ice, cheese, pom poms, soap, butter)
Explore items that melt in the sun!
This fun activity is a breeze to whip up on a hot sunny day.
Grab a muffin tin and fill it with different materials or objects that may or may not melt. Get your kiddo involved in picking out what they want in the tin.
What does the simple experiment reveal? Did it melt or did it not? That is the burning question!
18. Whip Up Homemade Butter
Promotes: Fine Motor Skills, Taste, Encourages focus
Activity by: Mommy Poppins
Items Needed
- Jar with a lid
- Heavy whipping cream
- Hand mixer
Directions
- Open the jar
- Pour heavy whipping cream into the jar
- Seal up the jar
- SHAKE, shake, and shake until you have whipped butter!
This recipe is super quick and easy to whip up! Not to mention, a great way to stimulate your sense of taste.
The smaller the jar the faster it takes to make your butter. For instance, a baby jar takes about 10 minutes to whip up.
For faster results or to support kids with upper extremity challenges, use a hand mixer for blending the heavy whipping cream in a bowl.
Final Thoughts
So what are you waiting for?
These activities are not only focus on sensory play but also make fun preschool science experiments because they engage a child’s sense of touch, sight, and even taste.
Get started on these science sensory activities today and help your preschooler explore the world around them.
They’re sure to have a blast with all of the fun experiments, and you’ll love watching their little minds grow!
Thank You
We want to wrap up by extending our gratitude to thank you for stopping by today!
What other science sensory activities for preschoolers do you recommend?
Let us know in the comments below. ♥
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Hi there. Thank you for this really lovely post. Such simple ideas with such wonderful results. I loved the one with the shaving foam. Going to try it later 🙂 It’s always so nice to be reminded how we are surrounded by wonderful things. I sometimes forget that and go searching far and expensive. Your post reminded me just that. Thank you for that too.
Thanks for sharing! So glad to hear the post was helpful to you. 🙂
Very sensational and immersive experience. I can only imagine how great this will be for pre-schoolers aged 3-5. I loved how you expounded on the benefits of doing these activities and what to expect as a result.
This definitely felt like a science experiment.
I would love to see more images though — this would enhance some of the more explosive points. The only direction is up that is.
Wonderful! I appreciate your feedback. 🙂
This is a really excellent post! There are some really cool and easy activities here that can be completed with stuff in your cupboards right now. My daughter is a childcare worker and is always looking for cool things to do with her kids. I will definitely forward this site to her. She will definitely do these little experiments with her kids. Thanks for sharing, very cool article!
Thanks so much for the kind words! I’m so glad to hear this post was helpful to you and to your daughter. 🙂