Sensory Day ideas for OSHC
33 DIY activities for a sensory day at before and after school care or vacation care, usually run around October or World Chocolate Day (7 July). Pick and mix, or build a balanced day in one click.
Calm-Down Glitter Bottles
Children make sealed glitter bottles to shake and watch settle, giving them a simple tool for calming big feelings.
Wellbeing Wednesday · Sensory Day · Mindfulness Day +2Calming Scented Playdough
Children squeeze, roll and shape soft scented playdough as a calming sensory activity during quiet time.
Rabbit Garden Day · Gardening Day · Sensory Day +2Carrot Playdough
Children shape orange playdough into carrots with green tops for a garden play scene. Soothing sensory play.
Chocolate Day · Sensory Day · Messy Play Day +1Cocoa Scented Playdough
Children make and play with chocolate-scented playdough, enjoying a rich sensory experience.
Sensory Day · Messy Play Day · Rainbow DayColoured Salt and Rice Trays
Younger children help dye salt and rice with food colouring, then use the colourful mixtures for drawing trays and small world play.
Slime Lab Day · Sensory Day · Messy Play Day +1Edible Marshmallow Slime
Younger children knead melted marshmallows and cornflour into a soft, stretchy, taste-safe slime, perfect for groups who still put things in their mouths.
Down on the Farm · Sensory Day · Animal Theme +1Farm Animal Sensory Tub
Children dig through oats or hay to find hidden toy farm animals, naming each one and the sound it makes.
Slime Lab Day · Sensory Day · Detective Day +1Feely Bag Textures
Younger children reach into mystery bags and use only their sense of touch to describe and guess what is inside.
Slime Lab Day · Sensory Day · Messy Play Day +2Fluffy Cloud Slime
Children fold shaving foam into PVA slime to make a puffy, cloud-soft slime and compare how it feels with regular slime.
Gingerbread Day · Sensory Day · Christmas +1Gingerbread Sensory Dough
Children squish, roll and cut spiced playdough that smells like gingerbread.
Mindfulness Day · Mental Health Month · Sensory Day +2Glitter Calm Jars
Children make sealed glitter jars to shake and watch as the glitter slowly settles, breathing calmly along with it.
Pirate Day · Sensory Day · Treasure Hunters Day +1Gold Dig Sensory Tub
Younger children sift through coloured rice or sand to find hidden coins and jewels. Calm, absorbing sensory play.
Wild West Day · Pioneer Day · Rock and Gem Day +2Gold Panning Tub
Children sift through a tub of sand and water with sieves to find painted 'gold nuggets', just like gold rush prospectors.
Messy Play Day · Sensory Day · Gross and Messy Day +2Goop, Mud and Sand Stations
Children move between stations of cornflour goop, edible chocolate mud and mouldable sand to explore very different textures.
At the Building Site · Sensory Day · Messy Play Day +2Grey Concrete Playdough Site
Younger children squash, dig and scoop grey playdough with toy diggers, creating a pretend construction site.
Gardening Day · Farm to Table Day · Cooking Day +2Herb Planting
Children decorate a pot and plant a herb seedling to take home, learning how herbs are grown and used.
Sensory Day · Messy Play Day · Beach Day +1Homemade Kinetic Sand
Children mix sand, cornflour and a little oil into soft, mouldable play sand for building and squishing.
Rainbow Day · Messy Play Day · Art Attack Day +2Messy Rainbow Painting
Younger children mix colours on large paper with hands and sponges. Big sensory art outdoors.
Space Explorers · Sensory Day · Science and Space +1Moon Sand
Younger children mix flour and oil into soft, mouldable moon sand and make craters, footprints and moon bases.
Gross and Messy Day · Halloween · Sensory Day +1Mystery Feely Boxes
Children reach into covered boxes to feel squishy, slimy and strange objects and guess what they are.
Messy Play Day · Science Week · Science Day +3Oobleck Exploration
Children mix cornflour and water into a strange goo that feels solid when squeezed but runs like liquid when relaxed.
Messy Play Day · Wizard School Day · Backyard Play Day +2Potion Kitchen and Sand Bakery
Children mix magic potions with water, petals and sand, and bake sand cakes in an outdoor kitchen of donated pots and bowls.
Beach Day · Summer Holidays · Under the Sea +2Sand Sculpture Contest
Children sculpt animals, cars or creatures from damp sand, exploring texture and design in a creative outdoor contest.
Pamper and Zen Day · Science Day · Sensory Day +1Simple Bath Bombs
Children combine citric acid and bicarb soda with a little oil to shape bath bombs. A sensory, hands-on chemistry activity.
Slime Lab Day · Sensory Day · Messy Play Day +1Soap Sand Dough
Children mix sand, cornflour, dish soap and water into a squishy, clumping sand they can mould, cut and build with.
Messy Play Day · Sensory Day · Gross and Messy DaySoft Cloud Dough
Children mix flour and oil into a soft, mouldable dough that holds shapes but crumbles again, perfect for sensory play.
Gross and Messy Day · Messy Play Day · Sensory Day +1Spaghetti Toes
Children fish small toys out of a tub of cooked spaghetti using only their toes, a ticklish sensory challenge.
Halloween · Slime Lab Day · Messy Play Day +2Spooky Cornflour Goo
Children make a squishy, gooey slime from cornflour and conditioner, add colour and hide plastic spiders inside.
Book Week · Sensory Day · Fairy Tale Day +2Story Small-World Tray
Younger children build a small-world tray based on a favourite book using sand, figurines and natural items, then play out the story.
Superhero Day · Science Day · Messy Play Day +3Super Goop
Children mix cornflour and water into a strange goop that feels solid when punched and runs like liquid when held.
Winter Wonderland · Sensory Day · Messy Play Day +2Two-Ingredient Fake Snow
Children mix bicarb soda and hair conditioner into cool, mouldable snow for building tiny snowmen and wintry scenes.
Rabbit Garden Day · Gardening Day · Down on the Farm +1Vegetable Garden Small-World Tray
Children play with a tray of soil, toy vegetables and animals to create a little garden world. Rich imaginative and sensory play.
Pamper and Zen Day · Feel Good Friday · Sensory Day +1Yoghurt Face Mask Station
Children mix a gentle yoghurt and oat face mask and enjoy a few minutes of quiet relaxation. Easy and calming.