Modeling and Sensory Games
Kneading, feeling, exploring: Ideas for all the senses.
Some kids need just that after an exciting day: something that feels good and keeps their hands busy. Homemade playdough, slime, or sand do exactly that, and they usually only require a few ingredients from the kitchen.
We've put together some ideas for making your own play dough and sensory materials easily. You'll also find sensory games and calming massages that help develop awareness. Perfect for rainy days, winding down, or just because playing with dough and feeling different textures is so much fun.
With just one click, you can find the complete step-by-step guide for each idea. Many recipes can be stored airtight for several days to weeks, so it's definitely worth making a larger batch right away.
Making your own play dough and modeling clay
With just a few ingredients from your pantry, you can whip up your own playdough in minutes, soft, scented, or even air-dried.
Play Dough Cup Recipe
Flour, salt, a bit of oil, and citric acid mixed with hot water create a smooth play dough that can be colored however you like. The step with the hot water should be handled by an adult, and after that, the kids can take over the kneading and shaping.
View instructions → Make Your Own Cloud Dough: A Magical Dough Adventure!
Cornstarch and hair conditioner come together to create a dough that feels incredibly soft, almost like a little cloud you can touch. Just two ingredients, but a big wow moment when this fluffy mass forms while mixing.
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Make Your Own Lavender Scented Play Dough.
Flour, salt, and a few drops of lavender oil come together to create a dough that not only forms under your fingers while kneading but also smells like summer. It's especially lovely as a little calming ritual after an exciting day, where the kneading and scent work together to soothe.
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Make Cold Porcelain – Modeling Clay
By mixing baking soda, cornstarch, and water, you create a modeling dough that feels soft like playdough but dries to a firm cold porcelain when exposed to air. It's perfect for making small figures, pendants, or decorations that can stay out instead of disappearing back into the container.
View instructions →Playing and learning with play dough
Modeling clay is more than just shaping: it also strengthens finger muscles and helps with learning letters and words.
Cutting Play Dough
Roll the modeling clay into a long snake, then grab some scissors to cut it into short or long pieces, straight or at an angle. Since the clay doesn't slip around, it's a great way to practice using scissors safely.
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Molding Letters
Instead of using a pencil, letters are shaped here with fingers made of clay, starting with individual letters and maybe even spelling out your own name. The movement involved in shaping often sticks in your memory better than just copying.
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Play Dough Word Formation and Learning Words Practice
Instead of copying the current spelling list from school, we shape each letter out of colorful play dough. It's a fun way to practice spelling without it feeling like homework.
View instructions →Make Your Own Slime
Whether it's made from cornstarch, psyllium seeds, or chia seeds: slime can be easily made at home in many different ways, and some of them are even safe to eat.
Making Magic Slime
Mixing cornstarch and water creates a slime that can feel solid like a lump one moment and then flow through your fingers the next. It's a simple basic recipe that beautifully demonstrates why some substances are neither completely solid nor completely liquid.
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Making Slime from Psyllium Seeds
Psyllium husks heated in the microwave swell into a slime that feels slippery and somewhat gelatinous, quite different from the classic cornstarch slime. Using the microwave is best left to adults, but once it's done, the slime is completely safe.
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Making Chia Slime
Chia seeds swell in water to form a natural, non-toxic gel that’s perfectly safe even if little siblings want to give it a try. When dyed with food coloring, it looks just like little colorful fish eggs that are fun to touch.
View instructions →Sand for Molding and Feeling
Even without a beach, you can easily make moldable sand at home without making a mess.
Making Kinetic Sand
Just flour and oil create a sand that can be shaped like at the beach, but stays dry and doesn't crumble everywhere. When mixed in different colors, you can easily prepare several batches for various sand play activities.
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Sand Tattoos: Painting with Water, Sand, and Imagination
Using a wet brush, paint directly on the skin, then sprinkle dry sand over it. The sand will stick exactly where the water was, creating a sand tattoo that will wash away completely after the next bath.
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DIY Mortar for Kids
Mixing sand and shaving foam creates a substance that feels almost like real mortar and can be shaped. With a few stones as building materials, you can create a small wall or a little tower that will even hold up for a while once it dries.
View instructions →Feel, taste, touch: Sensory games
These ideas engage multiple senses at once, featuring unusual textures, colors, and little surprises.
Homemade Snow
Mixing shaving cream and baking soda creates an surprisingly soft, cold-feeling artificial snow, perfect for a little snowball fight on the kitchen table, even in the middle of summer. The texture is always a delightful surprise.
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Easter Magic: Marbling with Shaving Cream
Shaving cream is swirled with food coloring, then you dip your paper with Easter-themed designs into it and pull out swirling marble patterns. Feeling the fluffy surface is almost as much fun as the final result.
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Jellyfish in a Bottle Sea
A disposable glove turns into a floating jellyfish, enclosed in a bottle filled with blue-dyed water. As you tilt and turn the bottle, the jellyfish's tentacles move through the water, creating a little discovery bottle to observe and enjoy over and over again.
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Ships Made of Jelly
Little pieces of colorful, wobbly jelly float in hollowed-out orange peels, creating an edible sensory experience that blends cooking and play. Feeling the squishy texture is just as important as the tasting that follows.
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Magic Squishy Ball
Fill a clear balloon with water and glitter, and use colorful balloon covers for a fun look on the outside. Squeezing the balloon helps strengthen finger muscles, which is great for anything that requires a steady, strong hand later on, from drawing to tying shoes.
View instructions →Sensory massages to unwind
Completely without any materials, just using your own hands: These little massages enhance body awareness and create a calm moment for two.
Chestnut Massage. Strengthen Your Senses & Body Awareness
Collected chestnuts can be gently rolled over hands, arms, or feet. Their smooth, cool surface awakens the senses and creates a peaceful moment. It's a lovely way to continue enjoying the chestnuts that would otherwise just sit in the craft box.
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Winter Massage
A little story about a snowman and his animal friends is not only told but also gently retold with soft touches on the back. It's a calming massage story, perfect for bedtime on chilly evenings.
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Rain Massage
With your hands, you mimic the sound and feeling of rain on the back of siblings, friends, or parents, from the first drops to a heavy shower. It's a simple yet very relaxing massage that requires no materials.
View instructions →Noch mehr Inspiration?
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And if you're looking for more ideas for molding, feeling, and exploring, feel free to browse through our categories or check out the free Grubenfuchs app. We wish you lots of fun with squishing, molding, and trying things out.