Simple Christmas Sensory Activities Your Toddler Will Love!
Toddlers love these easy DIY winter sensory bags and balancing games! Try them out this season! Great for ages 2-4, these Christmas sensory activities are a must for toddlers who love to explore, squish, and play.
How to make these easy and simple sensory bags for toddlers? Wonder no more and read below!
What Are Sensory Bags?
Sensory bags are sealed plastic bags filled with water (or gel) and interesting objects to explore. They’re perfect sensory activities for toddlers. Kids can exploire and develop fine motor skills without the mess, making them ideal for indoor play during winter months.
Basic Materials for DIY Sensory Bags
To create a simple water sensory bag is indeed pretty simple. For this purpose, you will need as a basis:
Essential Supplies:
- Clear resealable plastic ziploc bag (gallon size works best)
- Free Christmas Printables (available on our site)
- Duct tape (to seal and secure)
- Fluid (water, gel, or soap)
- Fillers (pom-poms, beans, buttons, etc.)
Best Fluid for Sensory Bags (Eco-Friendly Option!)
About the question what fluid goes in sensory bags, there are some options. You can certainly use liquid soap, hair gel, or even gel detergent.
However, I prefer to use tap water for two good reasons:
1. Safety First
If the bag gets damaged, it’s just water that comes out—no chemicals, no sticky mess to clean up.
2. Environmentally Friendly
You can reuse the plastic bag for new sensory bags and don’t need to use chemicals such as hair gel, detergent, or liquid soap. If you need a gel-like substance, you can use gelatin instead!
Filler Ideas for Winter Sensory Bags
Use your imagination and experiment! From toe separators to buttons to beans, everything can be a great filler for toddler sensory bags.
Popular winter-themed fillers:
- White pom-poms (snowballs)
- Blue sequins or glitter (ice/snow)
- Small Christmas tree decorations
- Jingle bells
- Cotton pad snowflakes
- Dry white beans
- Red and green pom-poms
Marshmallow Bear Sensory Bag
Materials You Need:
Bag & Base:
- Clear resealable plastic ziplock bag (gallon size)
- Free Winter Printable
- Duct tape
Fillers:
- Water (fill 1/3 of bag)
- 3-4 small White pom-poms
- Optional: small white buttons, snow flakes
Tools:
- Scissors
- Duct Tape
Step-by-Step Instructions:
1. Prepare the Sensory Bag
Add Fillers
Place your chosen fillers inside the bag. Mix different textures for more sensory interest!
Add Water
Fill the ziplock bag to about 1/3 with water. Don’t overfill—you want space for items to move around.
Remove Air and Seal
Press out as much air as possible before sealing the bag completely.
2. Place the Sensory Bag on Top of the Printable
Secure with Tape
Tape the printable to the table and the sensory bag on top of the printable. Tape the opening with duct tape to prevent leakage. You can also tape the entire bag to the table!
How to Play:
This Christmas activity is a great fine motor activity for toddlers!
Simple version: Let your toddler squish and explore the bag.
Advanced Version: Place the Marshmallows in the chocolate cup.
Gingerbread Man ColorSorting (Perfect for Young Toddlers!)
This Christmas sensory bag is especially great for younger toddlers who are still developing fine motor skills and color recognition.
What You Need:
Bag:
- same instruction as the Marshmallow Bear
Fillers:
- Water (1/3 of bag)
- Few green and red pompoms in different sizes
How to Play:
Simple version: Let your toddler squish and explore the bag.
Advanced Version: Place the red pompoms in the red present, the green ones in the green present.
Gingerbread Family Pompoms
How to Play:
Simple version: Let your toddler squish and explore the bag.
Advanced Version: Share the pompoms equally, count, color sorting or create patterns and do your own memory game.
Santa Balancing Game
How to Play:
Try to balance the ball into Santa’s hand.
Why Winter Sensory Bags Are Perfect for Toddlers
These easy DIY winter sensory bags are great for so many reasons:
Fine Motor Development
Pressing, squishing, and manipulating the bags strengthens hand muscles needed for writing later.
Sensory Play
The squishy texture and moving objects provide crucial sensory input for developing brains.
Learning Tool
You can use winter sensory bags for:
- Simple math activities (counting pom-poms)
- Matching games (colors, sizes)
- Sorting activities (by color or type)
- Language development (naming colors, objects)
Indoor & Outdoor Fun
Your little one can play with them indoors during cold days or take them outside for winter exploration!
Tips for Reusing Sensory Bags
Make your sensory bags last!
When your toddler finishes the activity, just pour out the water and dry out the pompoms, beans, or other fillers, so you can reuse the bag and materials for further activities again.
More Easy Christmas Activities for Toddlers
Looking for more easy Christmas activities for toddlers? You can set up these 15 easy and fun Christmas activities for kids at home in just one minute!
Looking for more? You set up these 15 easy and fun Christmas activities for kids at home in just one minute! Christmas Time is also time for Reading and Christmas learning.
Christmas Time is also time for reading and Christmas learning! With our printable eBook and Christmas Activities Special Busy Book Printable – Christmas Alphabet, your little one will love Christmas learning!
Happy Playing!
Let me know in the comments how these work for you!
