Don’t want to mess up the house or scare the dog with loud noises? Sensory play doesn’t have to be indoors, in fact there is more to do outside that can benefit your child! And forget about the prep time and worry about if your kids will ever want to come back indoors. Let’s go over some great sensory play ideas for kids to do in the backyard!

Balance Beam

A balance beam is a great way to engage your kids motor skills and increase their confidence to do every day tasks. For a balance beam it can be as simple as walking along the curb of your road or for starters maybe even follow the lines in the sidewalk and walk as straight as possible. Don’t have a sidewalk or live on a busy road? Put tape down on your deck or patio as a guideline for your kids to test their skills.

We offer our own vinyl balance beam that seamlessly blends in with your swing set. Finished with no slip adhesive guarantees your children will have grip!

Sand Box

The classic, most grew up with a sandbox or pit in the backyard and it benefitted us whether we think so or not! Soaking in the sun or the shade searching for worms and insects. Feeling their way through the sand and unfortunately most of the time kids even taste, boasting taste and feel for a great sensory play activity! Adding sand toys and plastic shovels increase their interest and enjoyment discovering the earth.

Most of our swing set’s include a sandbox under the tower for a added form of backyard adventure!

Noise Bottles or Bells

On a swing set there will always be noise, whether it’s the birds chirping, leaves blowing, or even the chains clinging as the swings glide back and forth. Enhance their hearing by adding bells on the playback or around the tower posts for them to play with, perhaps near the sandbox for a double whammy! Or maybe make noise bottles, a very easy and simple way to entertain and grow your children’s hearing skills.

To make them is very simple, collect old water bottles, gatorade bottles, or anything you have around the house. For the noise all you need is stones, perhaps from the road, driveway, landscaping or more. Even plastic pieces from broken toys or household objects. This creates an easy and entertaining way to grow your kids hearing skills! Best part is, if they are outside they won’t drive the pets crazy and you, the parents!

Swinging, Climbing, Jumping

Your kid’s vestibular system is an important sensory skill as well! This is how your body accommodates for forces induced by other objects. A great example of this is sliding down a slide, just about every slide has curves, twists, humps or more. Take the avalanche slide on most of our swing set’s, it has humps or bumps that bring the rider further joy that just a standard straight to the point slide.

Try putting your children on a swing, such as the belt swing we all love and enjoy. Swing high or low and you have to stay up right. Perhaps take it one step further, have your kids put their stomach on the seat of the swing and spread out like the beloved superhero superman. Gentle pull their legs back and have them concentrate on staying straight and balance themselves as they soar through the air!

Adding to the sensory play ideas you’ve collected, if you have a rope wall on your swing set have them climb to the top. The rope will move according to where they have their weight. They will have to counteract by adjusting their hands and feet to stay straight and upright!

Gather these sensory play ideas and put them into action in the backyard or on a commercial swing set, your kids will love it and so will you! Being fun parents to your kids but increasing their skills in the process!

Want a free digital catalog for our vinyl swing set’s? Enter your email below ⬇️