30+ Easy Montessori Sensory Activities for Toddlers

Montessori Sensory Activities for Toddlers

In the realm of early childhood development, sensory play holds a pivotal role. The first few years mark profound neurological growth, making sensory engagement essential. Montessori education deeply understands this, offering a wealth of simple yet enriching toddler activities. The toddler years are a wondrous time of exploration and discovery. Every sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch is a rich new experience. Their senses are their gateway to the world around them – and engaging those senses is crucial for healthy development. This incredible stage is what inspired the brilliant mind of Maria Montessori to craft a learning approach that celebrates sensory play. Toddlers embark on a journey of joyful learning by indulging their innate curiosity through activities that stimulate each of the five senses. These simple yet impactful Montessori sensory activities provide the perfect way to nurture your little one’s budding mind while forging beautiful memories together.

The 11 Montessori Sensitive Periods: A Guide for Parents

Sight Sensory Activities

1. Fruit and Veggie Color Sorting: Set out a variety of fruits and veggies and have your toddler sort them by colour, boosting visual discrimination.
2. Light Table Exploration: Place translucent or transparent objects on a light table and let your child observe the effects.
3. Colour Mixing With Finger Paints: Introduce primary colours and watch as your toddler mixes them, creating new hues.
4. Matching and Sorting: Sort objects by colour, shape, or size to develop visual discrimination skills.
5. Pink Tower: Arrange wooden cubes in increasing size order to enhance visual perception.
6. Colour Tablets: Introduce colour tablets to help children recognize and differentiate colours.

Sound Sensory Activities

7. Sound Shakers: Fill containers with different materials like beans, rice, or beads for shaking and comparing sounds.
8. Outdoor Sound Hunt: Go for a walk and have your toddler identify different environmental sounds.
9. Musical Instrument Exploration: Provide simple instruments like drums, shakers, or xylophones.
10. Sound Bottles: Create sound bottles by filling containers with materials like rice or beads.
11. Sound Guessing Game: Blindfold your child and play different sounds for them to guess.

Smell Sensory Activities

12. Smelling Bottles: Fill small bottles or jars with scented items like cotton balls, spices, or herbs.
13. Household Objects: Engage your child’s sense of smell using everyday items like candles, flowers, or foods.
14. Nature Walk Smells: Take a walk outdoors and encourage your toddler to smell different flowers and plants.

Taste Sensory Activities

15. Taste Testing: Offer small tastes of different foods and have your child describe the flavours. The picture below is our youngest, who has taste sensitivity and makes a unicorn horn out of edible ingredients. She thinks it is a craft activity but the smell and taste add a unique sensory element.
16. Flavour Exploration: Let your toddler taste and compare the flavours of different juices, herbs, or seasonings.
17. Colour Mixing: Explore colour mixing using food colouring and water for a taste-safe activity.

Touch Sensory Activities

18. Texture Boards: Create boards with different textures like sandpaper, felt, or foil.
19. Sensory Bins: Fill bins with rice, beans, water beads, or kinetic sand for scooping and pouring.
20. Nature Treasures: Collect pinecones, stones, leaves, bark, and more for tactile nature exploration.
21. Texture Collage: Make a collage using materials with different textures like fabric, sandpaper, etc.
22. Blindfolded Touch: Have your blindfolded toddler identify objects using only their sense of touch.
23. Texture Walk: Take a barefoot walk on different surfaces like grass, sand, and pavement.
24. Texture Rubbings: Place textured leaves or objects under paper and rub with crayons or pencils.
25. Texture Puzzles: Cut textured shapes from materials and have your child match the pieces.
26. Scented Playdough: Make playdough using child-safe scents like vanilla, lemon, or herbs.

Full Body Sensory Activities

27. Bubble Play: Blow bubbles and let your toddler pop, chase, and move through them.
28. Dance Party: Turn on music and encourage free movement to the beat.
29. Obstacle Course: Set up physical challenges with an indoor or outdoor obstacle course.
30. Blanket Swinging: Gently swing your toddler in a sturdy blanket to engage their vestibular system. I prefer these very cheap and cheerful fabric swings (easier on the back!)
31. Messy Play: Let your child get hands-on with messy materials like finger paint or shaving cream.
32. Yoga for Toddlers: Practice simple yoga poses to build body awareness and coordination.

Sensory play nurtures curiosity, independence, and a lifelong love of learning. Integrate these Montessori-inspired sensations to support your toddler’s holistic development.