Since children of all abilities can benefit from sensory play, building a sensory toy box is a constructive way to grow and expand your children's developing minds. Sensory toys have become increasingly popular and accessible in recent years and have a slew of benefits like stimulating the nervous system and helping with organization, all while keeping your child entertained as they play.
Sensory toys and tools allow us to introduce sensory play to children at a young age in a controlled, safe environment. Occupational therapist Devin Breithart tells Best Products that determining which toys are the best is all about reading your child’s cues.
What to Consider
So how do you choose? There are myriad sensory toys on the market, and all of them seem to hit different areas of your children's senses. There are toys that crinkle, toys for chewing, toys meant to be visually arresting, and toys meant purely for soothing, so it might take you some time to figure out which works best for your child. Getting a range of these toys helps your children not only tune in to each of their senses but also allows you to assess which sensory play types they like best.
Breithart tells Best Products, “For sensory toys, it can be highly dependent on each child’s needs and interests. Some sensory toys will work well for some kids but not others. For example, if you have a kid who LOVES movement, they would probably do well with some sort of swing. But for other kids, the sensation of swinging can be scary and uncomfortable.” Test out a few toys, and get a feel for each.
We also need to be observant of what our child is seeking out through their play, and what they might be shying away from. Psychologist Dr. Eva Lazar of The Lazar Center in Teaneck, New Jersey, tells Best Products that we need to ask ourselves what our child needs and the goal of the tool or toy we're considering for them. If you want to help your infant explore, these black-and-white squishy books are a great option that helps improve cognitive development. If your child is older and they're autistic or have ADHD, these beeswax modeling sticks offer a unique tactile sensation in a toy.
We spoke to a myriad of experts, from occupational therapists to pediatric ophthalmologists to psychologists and physical therapists, to determine which toys and tools are the best and for whom. Each of the 15 sensory toys on this list has been suggested by one of these experts and categorized for who might benefit the most from it. Shop the best sensory toys below and help your child get stimulated while they're enjoying playtime.
Kids with sensory issues often have a hard time in the bath and need some distraction while they're getting clean. Providing novel toys in the bathtub is one way to do that.
Breithart urges parents to find out what most affects their children's comfort levels. Nubby toys like Boon's Jellies can be incredibly helpful because they allow kids a different type of controlled, sensory input when they have to do something uncomfortable, like getting into the bath or going out to eat.
Kinetic sand is a huge hit in our house. And it's a favorite of pediatric physical therapist Dr. Giselle M. Tadros, too.
She tells Best Products that all children can benefit from sensory play and that “kids need to run, climb, smell, hear, and touch all sorts of textures in order to grow and develop.”
Kinetic sand is one of those toys that are rich with texture and give kids the ability to shape and form it into objects that engage with their potential for pretend play — which the American Journal of Occupational Therapy says is absolutely crucial to the development of spatial awareness.
There's something super satisfying about popping bubble wrap, and this toy recreates that same sensation. Your baby will love the eye-catching colors and the soft silicone texture of the little bubbles.
They can push, pull, and pop each mound for endless sensory play. This is essentially a squeeze ball in a different form, and it's touted as a favorite by many of the occupational therapists I spoke with. The bounce-and-release sensation is both a way to learn about cause-and-effect and to genuinely just chill out.
Black-and-white books may seem like the least interesting type of baby toy. But until they're about 3 to 6 months old, your little one can only see about 12 to 15 inches in front of them.
Pediatric ophthalmologist Benjamin H. Ticho, M.D. tells Best Products, “High-contrast toys are most useful at the very young age when it can be hard to tell what the baby’s looking at. Anything that holds their attention makes their visual fixation that much easier to observe.”
Every tot needs a sensory Bandana Buddy! Each Bandana Buddy comes with 10 different activities, from teething to self-recognition in the little mirrors.
Designed for smaller babies in mind, this might just be a matter of what your baby likes, as Breithart says. If they love their rattles and chewing toys, this fox is a great option.
This toy is like a little fidget spinner for babies and toddlers. Psychologist Dr. Fran Walfish, author of The Self-Aware Parent, tells Best Products that sensory toys like this are particularly useful for kids who need some help focusing when things get distracting.
They're especially good for kids who are on the spectrum or who deal with ADHD. (Or both.) They are a locus amidst the chaos. Plus, babies just like to look at things that spin. Ever seen a baby stare at an overhead fan for hours?
Whether they're getting fidgety or need to relieve some stress, these squishy, bright relief balls are great to have at the ready. Aside from squeezing, your kid can stretch, pull, and massage the material between their fingers.
Dr. Tadros and Dr. Walfish both sing the praises of simple balls for children looking for some sensory input and needing to find their inner chill.
Holy cow, this fidget cube is epic, isn’t it? It has buttons to push, areas for spinning, and even knobs and switches.
Even though fidget spinners aren't as trendy as they once were, Dr. Walfish is still a huge fan of them. She says that they let kids find their visual and physical center by engaging both in the motions and feel of the toy.
A cross between gritty sand and stretchy slime, your kid will fall in love with this sensory experience. They can crush it, pull it, and mold it into endless shapes and designs. The reusable bucket keeps the slime safe until the next play session.
It offers the same sensory-play benefits as kinetic sand, but it pops it up a bit by adding the ooey-gooey texture of slime. (A perennial child favorite.)
Dr. Rashmi Parmar, M.D., a pediatric psychiatrist at Community Psychiatry, tells Best Products that some children might favor one system over the other for sensory input, be it their visual, auditory, tactile, taste, or vestibular (balance) systems.
If your kid is a spinner/jumper/toe walker, this balance board can be a real game-changer.
Every child loves a good toy ball to play with. These toys are a favorite of Dr. Leela R. Magavi, M.D., a psychiatrist and the regional medical director of Community Psychiatry. She asserts that “toys that are flexible, soft, and colorful can calm children subsequent to emotional outbursts.”
This HABA ball provides a whopping eight different sensory-input mechanisms for the itty-bitties to play and engage with.
Applied behavior therapist, Akeem Terrell, tells Best Products, "My rule of thumb for choosing a good sensory toy is to choose one that activates two or more senses: touch, smell, sight, and sound."
This trampoline is a similar type of toy as the balance board, as it works with your child's vestibular system. A favorite of Dr. Tadros, trampolines ramp up your child’s playtime — and also get all their wiggles out.
I know what you’re thinking: “Beeswax? What the heck?” and it is unorthodox, but that’s the reason it’s so effective as a sensory toy, according to Dr. Lazar. She says that parents need to stop getting caught up “in generic spaces.”
The beeswax is multisensory, engaging the sense of smell and touch. On top of that, molding it into shapes takes some effort, so kids are forced to find their center and feel grounded as they play. As mentioned earlier, this is also a great sensory toy for autistic children or kids with ADHD.
Cat BowenParenting EditorCat Bowen is the parenting editor at BestProducts.com where she researches all of the best products for families from pre-conception through their teen years, focusing on matching scientific evidence with real-life needs.
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