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DIY Sensory Board for Babies

September 25, 2012 by Kate 33 Comments

Here are the instructions on how you can make your own DIY sensory board for babies. I encourage you do make one of these yourself, your little ones will love it! 

DIY sensory board for babies
Providing our little ones with rich sensory learning experiences is so important. The good news is that it’s also really very easy to make your own sensory board for your baby using a few items that are easily found around the house. My little girl, Possum, absolutely LOVES her sensory board, more than any other toy in the house. Also gets her doing tummy time! 


Quite simply I gathered together a few interesting scraps from around the house that I felt were safe. I really thought about their texture and how well they would adhere using hot glue. 

To make your own sensory board for babies you will need-

  • cardboard
  • hot glue gun
  • various safe textured items from around the house
Items that I included were –

bubble wrap, straws, cupcake wrappers, clean face washer, non-slip rubber, rock, wood, plastic from a sandwich bag, paper, card and fabric.

 
I arranged them on the cardboard and attempted to spread out the various senses. So, for example, I tried not to have all the ‘smooth’ textured items together but instead mix them up so there was variety. 

Using a hot glue gun I stuck down each of the pieces, waited 24 hours for them to fix completely and checked each item for any movement. Double check that there are no pieces that can come away from the sensory board. 
 
 

Babies engaging in a sensory board

Possum was instantly attracted to the board, as you can see. I think visually the board looked inviting because of the colours of the items and textures. It was also something interesting and new.

DIY sensory board for babies

She instantly began using the board. Touching, rubbing, flicking, scratching and pulling were some of the ways she explored this board. She was exploring what she could visually see, hear and touch. It was a brilliant sensory exploration.

 
 
You can just image how different each piece felt to her. I also found this a great opportunity to talk with her about what was happening and how things felt by using key words to describe each item. Words such as ‘fluffy’, ‘smooth’, ‘scratchy’ were how I described some of these items.  
 
Sensory board for babies DIY

Would your baby enjoy exploring their own sensory board? 

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Filed Under: 0 - 12 months, Making, Play Tagged With: babies, DIY, sensory play

Comments

  1. Bethany says

    January 23, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    I just found this project and your blog through Pinterest and will definitely be making one of these for my baby girl. Thanks so much for sharing!!!

    Reply
  2. Kate Lloyd says

    January 24, 2013 at 10:35 am

    Thank you Bethany. I really appreciate you making a comment. My little girl really loves her sensory board. She will choose it over most other toys. It was so cheap and easy to make. Best wishes to you and your family.

    Reply
  3. Katie Herb says

    February 20, 2013 at 6:17 am

    Just saw this on Pinterest and I absolutely love it. My little guy and I walk around stores exploring textures…why not bring them to him. Genius. I will definitely be using this as inspiration and I will be following your blog. Thanks for this!

    Reply
    • Kate Lloyd says

      February 20, 2013 at 8:59 am

      Thank you Katie for taking the time to comment. What a wonderful mum you must be to your little boy. This DIY sensory board is an absolute favourite with my little girl. It look very little time to make but she has had hours of great sensory learning from it.

      Reply
  4. Just Karen says

    February 26, 2013 at 2:35 am

    Love this idea, How old of a baby would you recommend this for?

    Reply
    • Kate Lloyd says

      March 11, 2013 at 11:10 am

      Hi Just Karen. My little girl was about 6 months when I did this. She had good neck control and was incredibly curious about anything. I guess it’s up to the individual but I hope that gives you a guide. 🙂

      Reply
  5. raggamuslims says

    March 9, 2013 at 10:41 am

    Very clever! I’m always looking for DIY children activities because I live abroad and tend to be a bit nomadic. This is a great idea! Thanks! 🙂

    Reply
    • Kate Lloyd says

      March 11, 2013 at 11:11 am

      Thanks raggamuslims! This was such a simple activity board to make for my little one. I hope your children get as much enjoyment out of it as my little one did. 🙂

      Reply
      • Patricia says

        June 11, 2014 at 11:41 am

        Really. enjoyed looking at these,I definitely am going to try and make them.

        Reply
        • Kate says

          June 11, 2014 at 3:15 pm

          Thank you so kindly Patricia. I appreciate your comment so much. Let me know how you get on making a sensory board for your own little one. 🙂

          Reply
  6. wildflowerramblings says

    April 8, 2013 at 2:22 am

    Wow, I love love love this! I will be making one for my baby girl!

    Reply
  7. suzyhomeschooler says

    August 5, 2013 at 10:50 am

    I love it! So many sensory board tutorials require expensive hardware or lengthy assembly time. This is exactly what busy, frugal moms want and need. I only wish I had come across this a few months ago when my toddler was still in the mouthing everything phase.
    Found via Pinterest and re-pinning.

    Reply
  8. Carol Johnson says

    January 22, 2014 at 11:17 pm

    This is brilliant! This is perfect for them cause they can carrying it around.

    Reply
  9. Suzann says

    July 8, 2014 at 8:36 pm

    At what age can you start doing this and other activities in your Zero to Two book?

    Reply
    • Kate says

      July 9, 2014 at 12:25 pm

      Hi Suzann. I would probably suggest using this sensory board for ages over 3 months, supervised of course. At this young age I would rest the baby on your lap and allow them to explore the board. As they get older they can explore it on their tummies etc. Lots of fun. We still have ours.
      All the activities in the Zero to Two book are designed for children who are newborns to 2 years of age. Lots of wonderful sensory exploration activities and fun. Hope that helps Suzann. Thanks for your comment.

      Reply
  10. randy robbins says

    November 1, 2014 at 2:27 pm

    Great ideas for the sensory boards. We are setting up a room at our church in Burlington so that the parents of special needs kids can come and leave their kids with us for an hour on Sundays while they can enjoy the adult service knowing their kids will have a special time as well. We are using a room that is about 28 feet long by 14 wide and it has two windows for natural light. We came up with a theme for the room that has a log cabin look at the one end for the kids that just want to be quiet and an activities area at the other end for kids that want to explore and touch things. We are just now waiting for board approval to get started with the design and we already have four kids coming to the church who have special needs. The one mother who just started coming has a toddler who is in a wheel chair so we are grateful that we have an elevator for her to bring her to the room. I’m a 58 year old grandfather and we have raised five children and now have 4 grandchildren but have never helped out with kids with special needs so I’m happy that you have shared your ideas so we can get something designed for the kids. May God bless you for being such a great mom.
    Thanks again Randy

    Reply
    • Kate says

      November 1, 2014 at 2:47 pm

      Randy what a beautiful message you have left for me to read. Thank you so much. I absolutely wish you the greatest success with your room. It’s wonderful that you are supporting children with special needs. You are no doubt someone with a precious heart. All the best and I hope you continue to enjoy my blog ideas. 🙂
      Kate

      Reply
      • Jahlie Kenig says

        May 5, 2015 at 3:15 am

        Love this so much – thanks for the idea!!!

        Jahlie Kenig

        Reply
        • Kate says

          May 5, 2015 at 4:56 pm

          Thanks Jahlie!!! 🙂

          Reply

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Welcome
Hello and welcome!
My name is Kate and I am a mum to two little girls, Possum and Boo. We have lots of fun together learning with play at home and are pleased to share some of what we do with you.
Read my about page to find out more.

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