This Christmas sensory board is a fun Christmas activity for toddlers and preschoolers. This sensory play activity is fun and it’s great for fine motor development. It’s a simple sensory play activity to create and for parents to enjoy with their children.
We are a family with two little boys who are sensory seekers! This Christmas sensory board has been a big hit! I’ve been excited to get into the holiday spirit as a family this year and this sensory board is a WIN-WIN for so many reasons.
This board can be designed for tactile sensory stimulation and it’s also a great deterrent from the other Christmas decorations in the house!
Christmas Sensory Board Materials:
A quick trip to our local Dollar Tree provided us with exactly what we needed. I picked up a few of the Christmas decor items with different textures to glue to our poster board that I also purchased at the Dollar Tree.
- Hot glue gun/glue
- Poster board
- Christmas items such as ornaments, door decorations, bows, stickers, bells (the Santa ornament with a cottony beard is a huge hit in our house.)
To Make the Christmas Sensory Board
While the boys were napping, I went to work. I arranged the items on the board to create the sensory experience. Then, I used the hot glue gun to glue the items. I glued around the edges again to secure the items in place. I used a lot of glue to secure the items for those little hands.
How to Play with the Christmas Sensory Board
The boys started out just exploring the Christmas Sensory Board.
This Christmas sensory board is set up as an activity for a parent and child to do together. It’s important to choose objects that are developmentally appropriate for your child and that your child won’t try to swallow. This is not an activity for kids to do independently as it is a sensory learning activity that also is great for building language skills.
I was really surprised at the language development this activity permitted. With my little one (14 months), it allowed me to simply build his language. He points at an object, I tell him the name of the object.
With my 3-year-old, we practiced asking/answering questions. We also focused on descriptive language – what I like to call building those juicy words such as glittery, bumpy, scratchy, smooth, and soft.
The Christmas Sensory Board has also been used to practice colors! For example, I would ask my toddler to find the green bow.
We’ve also played a great guessing game. We close our eyes and take turns guessing what we’re touching. And if all else fails, it makes for a great peek-a-boo board (just ask my 14-month-old!)
I was crazily surprised that the board was not yanked apart in minutes. I definitely used a lot of glue and both boys were eager to touch but it has held up so far! My only regret is not making this earlier this month!
We love sensory activities! Here are some other sensory play activities to enjoy with preschoolers!
Do you like integrating sensory activities into your child’s play? What’s your favorite sensory activity?
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How cute! It looks like your boys really enjoyed it.
They truly did enjoy it! Thanks for the kind word, Alanna!
What a great idea! I love how simple this is to make and can just imagine my son being entertained for hours!
Thank you, Rebekah! I’m hoping to give it a whirl for different holidays since they loved it so much!
This is a really cool idea! It’s so simple and yet so many kids would love something like this.
Thanks, Crystal!
This is awesome! We use a lot of sensory objects and such for the kids in my house and I think they would love it for a Christmas time fun.
I love sensory play! I just see my boys really light up getting to play with objects that are different than traditional toys!
I don’t have children and am quite a ways away from that time in my life, but I love the idea of a sensory board. My family did not do this while growing up, but it seems like such an easy way to grow accustomed to holidays and different events!
Thank you for the kind words, Julia! This was the first time we tried it but I’m thinking we will definitely do it again with a different theme!
What a great idea! I don’t know why I never thought of this before.
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Thanks, Dominique! I can’t believe the ideas people think up – I just think “gosh, these people are so smart!” This is so simple and yet entertaining!
This is such a neat idea! A hot glue gun is best when making things for toddlers… My 3-year-olds are experts at ripping foam stickers off of crafts Haha! Building in language to play time is a good idea too. You’re such a smart Mama!
Thanks, Nikki! I have such a little hot glue gun from before I had kiddos – I was thinking I should upgrade so I can load our projects up! LOL! Happy Holidays to you!