Summer Sensory Bins & Other Outdoor Activities for Kids

From getting messy in the garden to splashing in the pool, summer is the best time for kids to play outside. For children and toddlers with sensory needs, outdoor play is a fun way to engage their senses, learn about new things, and develop important skills.

Want your little one to feel safe and comfy playing outside this summer? Choose the socks kids want to wear with FLAT SOCKS® Kids. These sensory friendly socks have zero seams plus moisture and odor control tech, making them the comfiest kid’s sock for summer!

Let your kid go sockless this summer and explore their senses with outdoor sensory activities for toddlers and kids.

In This Article

• What is outdoor sensory play?
• How does outdoor play stimulate the senses?
• 10+ Sensory Friendly Outdoor Activities for Kids

What is outdoor sensory play?

Outdoor sensory play are activities that engage a child’s senses while playing outside. All children, especially kids with autism, sensory processing disorder (SPD), or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), have a lot to gain from outdoor sensory play, including:

• Muscle strength and coordination
• Self-confidence
• Problem-solving skills
• Cooperation when playing with siblings or peers
• Fine and gross motor skills
• Emotional regulation
• Cognitive development
• Exposure to new environments
• Maintaining a healthy weight through exercise

How does outdoor play stimulate the senses?

According to Medical News Today, outdoor play benefits children because it provides multi-sensory stimulation and requires dynamic play while using physical, cognitive, and social skills.

Playing outdoors creates hands-on learning spaces that stimulate a child’s senses through touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Activities like balancing on a beam or climbing trees also help kids with sensory needs receive vestibular and proprioception input.

Outside, children can navigate unfamiliar environments with less structure than they would have indoors. Because places like packed amusement parks and busy beaches can be overstimulating for kids with SPD, outdoor sensory activities allow children to feel safe, have fun, and learn.

10+ Sensory Friendly Outdoor Activities

Before you head out the door, protect your kid’s feet from big bites, sunburn, sharp objects, and more by wearing shoes and FLAT SOCKS Kids. Just slip FLAT SOCKS into your kid’s shoes for that barefoot feel they love plus the comfort and support of no-slip, no-stink cushioning.

Whether you’re looking for fun summer activities on a budget or want to expand your list of sensory play ideas, FLAT SOCKS Kids has tons of activities for a fun, not-boring summer:

1. Summer Sensory Bins

An outdoor sensory bin is one of the easiest and most fun ways for kids to explore their tactile sense. Here’s a list of summer sensory bin ideas and their ingredients:

• Bring the Beach Home – Fill a tub with uncooked star-shaped pasta and sand (kinetic or real), small stones, glass aquarium gems, various seashells, plastic tools for digging, and other beach themed toys.
• Shark Week – Have a little one who loves sharks? Fill a tub with blue kinetic sand, aquarium gravel, small shark toys, large rocks, a couple of toy boats, and other plastic marine animals.
• Gone Fishing – Add colorful toy fish to a large tub of water and have your kids “go fishing” with a small butterfly net. For coordination and color recognition, kids can place their catches in floating bowls that are the same color as the fish.
• Nature Soup – Throw several types of foliage into a tub like leaves, sticks, flower petals, weeds, and grass. Have your kids explore the different shapes, colors, and textures as they mix the “soup” together.
• Pirate Treasure – Go for a treasure hunt with a bin filled with sand, small plastic jewels, beaded necklaces, and gold coins. Consider using chocolate coins so your little one can explore both touch and taste.
• Birdseed Kitchen – Fill a tub with a variety of mixed birdseeds, play kitchen toys and plastic cups or bowls. If you have pinecones, have your kid slather on some peanut butter and roll it in the seed to make a birdfeeder.
• Muddy Day at the Zoo – Let them get messy with a tub of mud, grass, and sticks inhabited with diverse zoo animals. Have a plastic bowl ready for digging and ask them what sounds each animal makes as they find them.

Whether you buy one online or make your own, an outdoor sensory table is a durable, fun way to keep kids entertained without spilling the contents all over the yard. These water and sand tables have one or more tubs secured in the top that you can fill as you please.

2. Summer Squish Bags

Ideal for toddlers who like to put things in their mouths, squish bags are easy summer sensory activities for safe tactile play. Grab a large plastic bag that zips shut and fill it with hair gel, blue food coloring, sand, glitter, and seashells. Tape the edges of the bag with clear packing tape to prevent oozing.

3. Sensory Scavenger Hunts

Gather a list of items kids can find outside like leaves, stones, flowers, pinecones, birds, squirrels, and more. Use this list to put together a scavenger hunt. Kids can keep track of the items they find while exploring the yard, experiencing different sounds and sights.

4. Visit a Playground

A quiet visit to a playground that isn’t too busy can help kids develop skills that are harder to practice in their own yard. Hanging upside down or climbing monkey bars improves gross motor planning skills and core strength. Spend several minutes on the swing set or walking along a balance beam to practice coordination.

5. Obstacle Courses

Doing an obstacle course is a great way for kids to be active and experience different senses like learning how to balance on a beam or crawl through a small tunnel. Add a water slide, use noodle rugs for different textures underfoot, and have them complete the course wearing a body sock to boost body awareness.

6. Do Some Yard Work

Kids can learn important skills by helping you out around the yard. Ask them to help you pull weeds, rake grass, gather sticks or firewood, repot plants, and water the garden. These tasks make great heavy work for kids with sensory needs.

7. Play in the Garden

From playing in the dirt to taste-testing ripened strawberries, your little gardener can help you tend to the plants and get excited watching them grow day by day. Invite them to touch different leaves and flowers or show them how to sow and plant seeds.

8. Go Camping

There’s lots of sensory fun to be had camping in the backyard! Kids can roast marshmallows and make goopy smores around a campfire. Set up a tent with blankets, pillows, and plush toys. Then, finish the night stargazing or catching fireflies in the yard.

9. Sensory Play on Vacation

When traveling with kids, bring some toys and games along with sensory fun in mind. Fidget toys, squish bags, stress balls, and other sensory toys keep them engaged while in the car or on a plane.

At the beach, kids can do heavy work lifting buckets of wet sand to build sandcastles or explore different textures by collecting shells, seaweed, and more. If your child feels calm in a weighted vest, try burying them in the sand for the same deep pressure sensation.

10. Rainy Day Sensory Play

Gentle summer rains are perfect for playing in the rain, feeling the cool droplets on their skin, and splashing in puddles. If the weather gets stormy or the heat index is too high, modify your outdoor activities for the inside like building forts, having scavenger hunts, and playing with sensory bins on the dining table.

Have a Sensory Fun Summer with FLAT SOCKS Kids

Sensory play is important for healthy childhood development, especially when your child has sensory needs. With outdoor activities by FLAT SOCKS Kids, you can provide your child with safe and fun opportunities for sensory play every day.

References:

Lucchetti, L. (2023, October 13). Benefits of outdoor play for children. Medical News Today.

Outdoor Sensory Play Ideas. (2023, August 8). Sensory Direct Blog.