As a parent you are endlessly searching for ideas and activities to keep your busy toddler occupied throughout the day. It is not an easy task and most days you end up banging your head against the wall in frustration. One night while scrolling through Facebook I saw someone had shared an excellent sensory activity for toddlers. I managed to get all the items easily and spent around $20 (AUD).

What you need

  • Plastic tray
  • Play-Doh (I used two colours)
  • Artificial grass (Cut to size)
  • Sand
  • Mini animals (Base the animals on the theme you choose)
  • Stones (Can also be pebbles)
  • Artificial plants or greenery (To save money find twigs and leaves from garden)
  • Scoop or a spoon (optional)



Creating the dinosaur adventure

  1. Place artificial grass into base of tray.
  2. Position the artificial plant in corner of tray. If you are using items from your garden I suggest using some Play-Doh as the base to help it stay upright.
  3. Use the stones or pebbles next and place them around the plant. I decided not to use the scoop or spoon, but instead used green Play-Doh as a “mountain” for sticking rocks into.
  4. Decide where you want your “water” to go. In this case I have made a creek in one of the corners with one of the Play-Doh tubs.
  5. Spread the sand around the edge of the “water”. I’ve used two colours here, but you can use one if you like. The amount of sand used is up to you. I have half a pack of each colour left over.
  6. Add animals around the tray. Keep to using only a few, so as not to overwhelm them. I chose dinosaurs as our daughter is into dinosaurs at the moment.
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Once created I placed some cling wrap over the top to stop the Play-Doh from drying out. Obviously, something like this needs to be created during nap time or when they are in bed at night.



Was this sensory activity for toddlers successful?

After a nap and a chat I sat our daughter down at the dining table and brought out the dinosaur sensory activity that was now set up for play. Her first reaction was excitement, then hesitation. She loves a chat, so we discussed all the different bits inside the tray and I started playing with the dinosaurs to show her what she could do. She was a bit hesitant at first, but once we went into the garden and added Peppa Pig and George to the mix, the fun took off. We mixed sand with the “water” to create an ocean, the “mountain” suddenly became a rock covered cave and all the dinosaurs were George’s pets.

Excited over dinosaur adventure.
More fun outside.

The dinosaur adventure ended up being a big hit throughout the afternoon and encouraged imaginary play. While it did encourage some independent play, it is not the sort of activity that you can just leave them with. Although having a moment to drink that one hot coffee during the day was a massive win. Adding the time it took to buy, create and play with this sensory activity I would say it is well worth trying.

Please be mindful that some of the items being used in this activity can be a choking hazard, so make sure you watch your toddler at all times during this play.