Edible sensory play
The sense of taste will be extra important for your visually impaired child and when they can’t rely on their vision, they may use their mouths to explore for longer. These taste safe activities will allow them to do just that while they play and explore.
The sense of taste will be extra important for your visually impaired child and when they can’t rely on their vision, they may use their mouths to explore for longer. These taste safe activities will allow them to do just that while they play and explore.
Spaghetti sensory play
Cooked and cool pasta shapes, spaghetti or noodles are ideal edible items for sensory play.
You can even dye the pasta different colours to make rainbows. You’ll find great instructions on how to do this at home here: bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/rainbow-spaghetti
Edible play dough
Edible play dough is easy and fun to make at home. You can add different flavours and scents to match to different themes – you could try chocolate flavoured at Easter, vanilla flavoured for ice cream play in the summer, apple flavoured for the autumn and cinnamon at Christmas.
Taste safe painting
You can use different edible items to paint with, you just need a messy space and a large roll of paper! Try different flavoured yogurts, make your own edible paint or use food colouring in ice cube or ice lolly moulds (this one is best enjoyed outdoors as they will melt and be very messy) .
Juicy fruits
A plastic juicer laid out in a tray with different fruits, ready halved, makes a great, taste safe, sensory activity for a visually impaired toddler. It will stimulate all of the senses and help with their fine motor skills as they push, squeeze and turn the fruit.
Threading edible hoops
This is another great taste safe activity that develops fine motor skills that will help your VI child later in life. Any hooped shape cereal is perfect for this. They can practice threading them, pulling the thread, removing from the thread and eating them if they wish! For an edible thread try a strawberry lace sweet or for a healthy option a thin slice of celery stick or cooked and cooled spaghetti.
More ideas
Edible jewels sensory play from theimaginationtree.com/edible-jewels-sensory-play
Edible sandcastles from handsonaswegrow.com/edible-brown-sugar-sand-castle-indoor-beach
Taste safe muddy dinosaur sensory bin from myboredtoddler.com/taste-safe-muddy-dinosaur-sensory-bin
Taste safe water beads from thetraindriverswife.com/2014/07/31/edible-miniature-water-beads
Watch this video from the BBC about engaging in language with your baby while you play with jelly or spaghetti! bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/sensory-fun/zmkd92p
Edible winter landscape from myboredtoddler.com/winter-edible-sensory-bin-for-toddlers
Edible farmyard small world play from messylittlemonster.com/2016/04/edible-farmyard-small-world-play-babies-toddlers.html
Breadcrumb rainbow from happilyevermom.com/rainbow-sensory-play-toddlers-babies-kids/
Edible fish small world sensory bin from fantasticfunandlearning.com/edible-fish-small-world-sensory-play.html
Incredible herb sensory play from fantasticfunandlearning.com/incredible-edible-herb-sensory-play.html
Edible sparklers from redtedart.com/edible-sparklers
