16 Sensory Activities for 1-2 Year Olds (2024)

These 16 sensory activities are great for improving fine motor skills, expressing creativity, and learning through play.

*We use affiliate links and may earn commission from purchases made through those links. All opinions are our own.

Water Bead Play

Okay, if you don’t know about water beads, you should try them because most kids LOVE them. When you buy the beads, they’re little and dry, but when you add water, they become the most interesting thing to toddlers and preschoolers. Fill a bin with them and watch your child play, play, play.

At Home Beach

Add flour and oil (ratio is 8 cups of flour to 1 cup of oil) to a bin and mix together. Add beach materials, such as seashells, plastic sea creatures, shovels, and buckets and explore the beach while sitting in your home. It’s also a taste-safe activity.

See Also

The Best Sensory Activities for 2 Year OldsSensory Play Ideas and Activities for 2-year-olds – Creating Compassionate Kids24 Sensory Activities for 1-2 Year Olds25 Sensory Table Activities for 1-2 year Olds - OhMyClassroom.com

Chocolate Cereal Explosion

For a great taste-safe sensory activity, add chocolate cereals to a bin—you can use just one kind of chocolate cereal or multiple, it’s up to you. Throw in a few plastic dinosaur toys and let your child explore this new land! Or, add in a few toy trucks, and your child can bulldoze dirt to his/her heart’s content.

Sensory Finger Painting

1-2 year olds aren’t going to have much control when using utensils such as
paintbrushes or markers, so encourage them to use their fingers and hands to paint! We love painting on different textures—think tinfoil, Styrofoam, cardboard, mirrors, plastic wrap, newspaper, etc.

Shaving Cream Building

Blocks are so fun for 1-2 year olds, even if playing with them simply means you building towers and your 1-2 year old knocking them down. But, you can add a new element that will excited them (and make them messy): shaving cream. Squirt a couple of cans of shaving cream into a bin (we use dollar store shaving cream) and add blocks. Your child can search through the shaving cream to find the blocks or you can build towers with the shaving cream acting as mortar.

Pasta Bins

Dry pasta or cooked pasta—both provide different experiences. Fill a bin with dry pasta and add different toys, such as cars or measuring cups, for sensory fun. Or, fill a bin with cooked pasta and watch your child explore the new sensations! Plus, pasta is taste-safe!

Sticker Art

Stickers are going to be a hit for your child as he/she grows, so start practicing now! The child may not be able to peel off the stickers yet, but he/she will be able to stick them onto paper. Use stickers from the dollar store or try the labeling circle stickers from an office supply store.

Bin Painting

Sit the child in a large, clear bin (obviously do NOT put the lid on) and give him/her paint to use in the bin. The child can paint himself/herself, the bottom of the bin, or the sides of the bin. Rinse the child off and rinse the bin when he/she is finished painting.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Play

Using an egg-less recipe, make edible chocolate chip cookie dough, and, when it’s finished, let your child play with it. They can roll it, squish it, break it, etc. And, it’s taste-safe.

Magnet Play

Grab a cookie sheet and child-friendly magnets (letters, numbers, animals, shapes, etc.) for some fun learning. The child can explore the concept of magnets (yay science), as well as begin the early stages of recognizing letters, numbers, animals, or shapes.

Mess-Free Painting

Thanks to Arty Crafty Kids for this fun idea! Add paint to gallon-size plastic bags, let out the extra air, seal them and tape them to a wall or table. Then, let the child move the paint by pushing their fingers across the surfaces of the bags. You can even add a science element and put two primary colors in the bags and explore color mixing!

Sticky Wall Art

Tape a large piece of contact paper to the wall—sticky side out. Encourage the child to stick paper shapes onto the contact paper. It’s like playing with stickers, and playing on the vertical space is good for children’s brain development.

Soap and Water

Kids love to play with water, so add water to a shallow tub, squirt in some dish soap, and let your child play! Add some whisks, plastic cups, or toys to extend the play.

Ocean Exploration

Prepare a package of blue jello, but before putting the liquid into the fridge to harden, add plastic sea creatures and/or seashells to the child-safe pan or container. When the jello hardens, it will “trap” the toys inside. Your child can dig through the jello to uncover the toys, and then he/she can play with the toys and the jello.

Painting with Blocks

Paint is a great go-to when spending time with 1-2 year olds. To add an element of extra fun, use plastic blocks or bricks as paintbrushes. Set out paper, paint, and blocks, and show the child how to stamp the blocks into the paint and then onto the paper. It may not be the most beautiful painting you’ve ever seen, but it’s about the process of creating it. Thanks to Raising Little Super Heroes for the inspiration for this idea.

Flour Land

For an even simpler version of the At Home Beach, just put flour in a sensory bin, and let your child use whatever toys he/she would like to explore and play in. Kids love flour!

Looking for more activities to do with your little one? Check out these:

Follow us onInstagramfor more art history and process art activities!