Sensory Play ‘Rules’

People often ask us - “How do you keep sensory play from becoming a total mess?”  Our response is often - “You don’t!”  The thing is...play is often messy whether it is legos, barbies, dinosaurs, the sandbox, etc.  Messy means imagination, creativity, adventure!  But with messy play, comes boundaries.  If we take time to teach boundaries around play, especially sensory play, we create success for both littles and adults! We have to be careful not to create too many “rules” around play.  We can squash their independence and play discovery skills with too many “rules”.  By setting boundaries around play we build skills like self-control and responsibility. 

Here are some of the sensory play boundaries we teach and practice (and yes, you will have to teach and practice again and again to build these skills!).

•  USE HAND SANITIZER OR WASH HANDS BEFORE PLAY

•  KEEP ALL ITEMS IN BIN OR ON TRAY

•  IF ITEMS COME OUT OF THE BIN, PUT THEM BACK IN

•  RETURN ALL ITEMS TO BIN WHEN FINISHED

•  CLEAN PLAY SPACE AND FLOOR WHEN FINISHED

When we keep our hands and sensory play items clean and contained, they last a long time - like, years!  Allow children to be part of the prep and clean up.  They will invent new ways to engage with sensory play and be more apt to keep things contained if they are also responsible for helping clean up - even from a very young age.  We reinforce self-control and responsibility when we set simple, but clear boundaries while still allowing children the freedom and creativity to use their senses and bodies to creatively play and learn.