Have you seen all those beautiful sensory table set-ups on Pinterest and felt a pang of envy? Me too! I knew I wanted Emme to have a sensory table, I just didn’t know how to start other than by buying a table. Here is how we started this practice now that we have our situation (mostly) squared away!
Please note this post contains amazon affiliate links because I am an amazon affiliate (see full Amazon Affiliate disclosure at end of blog post).
Choose your sensory table
Obviously, the first thing you need to do is decide what actual table you are going to use. The world’s favorite seems to be the IKEA Flisat table. That is what I purchased for Emme, and my mom swears we had one just like it as children. I still do not have the stools for it as she is too little at 18mo. If you want to save some money, skip on the $20/piece stools! I think it is the best table because you can use a variety of tubs and everything just pops in or out. It can be a water table, play table, sensory table, and light table, all in one. If you find a better one please let me know, because I am pretty sure this is the GOAT.
If you want to save money though, look for old tubs you aren’t using! Tubs can be great sensory tables for littles sitting on the floor if the edge isn’t too high!
Decide on your mess threshold
The next thing you need to decide before you do anything is decide on your mess threshold. Meaning, how much mess can YOU handle without it causing you too much anxiety or stress? This will change the way you plan and organize your materials, so it’s best to have a think on it and decide ahead of time. Sensory tables don’t have to be super messy, but they certainly can be! The main thing is, sensory tables are not really a “set it and forget it” thing unless you want a mess to clean up. You pretty much always need to supervise your children while they work, unless they are older and really follow directions well.
Choose your sensory table categories
Next, I recommend choosing a few categories of materials (fillers) you want to use. Here is a list of category ideas:
- Natural materials (easy and free!)
- Water play materials
- Art materials
- Taste-safe materials
- Light play materials (if your table is also a light table, see my DIY here)
- Sound materials
(Stay tuned for a future blog post with a list of 25 super simple sensory table materials!)
Collect materials and tools
I would start by collecting one material and tool per category. I started ours by just using plain water and giving Emme spoons, ladles, and funnels. Then I added these water beads (link to a post about them here) as a second material and some more small kitchen utensils from the dollar store I had access to while living in Japan. Then I started gathering natural materials often, because they are free and fun! Try to think outside the box so you don’t have to spend a fortune. Remember little ones don’t necessarily know “what” something is. The point of a sensory table is to expose them to lots of materials that, well, they explore with their senses! We use bath toys in the sensory bin often, too. Especially bath cups!
Most tools can be used in a variety of fillers/materials. Here is a short list of “staples” that we use all the time:
Here is an easy sample starting list based on the categories in the materials section above:
| CATEGORY | MATERIALS | TOOLS |
| NATURAL | leaves, flowers, dirt, mud | magnifying glass, scoops |
| WATER | water…water beads, ice | funnels, small whisks, spoons, scoops |
| LIGHT | fairy lights for bin (supervise bc of batteries/plugs) | Magnatiles, acrylic blocks, translucent shapes |
| SOUND | think materials that make sounds! Beads, rice, beans, crinkly paper | containers for filling/sorting/shaking |
| ART | air dry clay, playdoughs | roller pins, clay tools, molds, stamps |
| TASTE-SAFE | ice, graham cracker crumbs, oats, noodles | measuring cups, spoons, scoops |
Start rotating
This is my current struggle with the sensory table. We have very little storage here, so keeping a stockpile of rotatable materials is difficult. In a perfect world, I think I would have a closet with trofast bins in a closet that are ready to be pulled in and out whenever I want to rotate them! For example, the light table bin would be there ready to be dropped and plugged in, and then smaller bins with light table manipulatives would be ready to go as well. You will have to see what works for your house and storage as far as how you can prepare for rotating.
I don’t think you necessarily need to have a “rotation schedule” because some materials can be left out longer than others. (Obviously you don’t want noodles sitting at your table for days on end.) The best part about sensory tables is that if you’re using tubs, they can just be put away when you are done. If you are using the flisat table, you put the tops back on and it is a play/building surface again. Sometime I leave the top on one half, and then have blocks in the other half so she can just build on the flat surface!
That is really all there is to it! Get a table, decide how messy you want to be, and choose your list of categories with materials/fillers and some universal tools.
