We love all types of sensory play, but sensory bags can be one of the most relaxing. We’ve made many different types over the past few years, but our new squishy ocean sensory bag hasis one of our favourites. Z made this sensory bag himself, with a little guidance from me, and we have attached it to his window to make an easy to access fun sensory activity for him in his room.
Ocean animals are one of our favorite themes, there is so much to explore under the sea and it can’t help but grab kids attention, whatever the age! If you love ocean animals too you’re also going to love this ocean animals craft with free template.
Supplies for Ocean Sensory Bag
To make this ocean sensory bag we used:
- Large clear zip lock bag
- Duct tape
- Hair gel
- Liquid water colours in blue
- Loose glitter (we chose green)
- Wooden ocean shapes
- Black felt tip / marker pen
How to make an ocean sensory bag
First, we added the hair gel to the ziplock bag. You need enough to fully coat the inside of the bag, but it does not take as much as you might think, since once you start squishing the gel it will spread. Add some, then carefully squish and see whether you need more.
Next, add your liquid water colour. You can also use food colouring if you don’t have liquid water colours available. We chose blue for the sea. You can add a couple of different shades and let them mix in the bag, or stick to just one.
Just drop in a few generous drops, and then squish it all around again. Add more if needed.
Once you have enough of both the gel and the colour, tip in some glitter and then squish and mix it again. Z chose green to make turquoise when combined with the blue gel, and to symbolise the plants at the bottom of the ocean.
Next, we took our wooden shapes and added a couple of smiley face decorations in black felt tip to add personality.
Make sure that any shapes that you add do not have sharp edges because you don’t want to split the bag!
Add these inside your sensory bag, and you’re ready to tape it all up ready to use.
We added a layer of duck tape around all of the edges to prevent leaking. At a minimum, you need to add tape to the top of the bag where the opening is.
If you get any small rips or tear in the main part of the bag over time, clear tape will work well to seal that without obscuring the colours. We also used clear tape to attach to the window, which you can see here because of the camera flash but in person you don’t notice too much. I have used clear tape to attach various things to windows and it never damaged my windows so far, and comes off with ease when it’s time to remove that decoration. If you have brand new windows or are unsure then you may want to look into an alternative – everyone’s windows may be slightlydifferent!
Squishing the gel around under your hands is really relaxing and is a great non messy tactile sensory experience. We like to push all of the gel together into the centre and then squish is back out.
Since it’s on a vertical surface, after a couple of days the gel will move further towards the bottom, but this takes time and doesn’t keep happening during play since the gel is pretty thick.
Using liquid water colours really made the colours pretty. This is the brand that we use: UK / US
You might also like:
More Ocean Activities for Kids
- Ocean Scene Invitation to Create on the Window
- Tape Resist Clown Fish
- Jellyfish Fine Motor Craft
- Under the Sea Pictures
- Sensory Play with Water Beads and Robo Fish
- Djeco Enchanted Fishing
More Sensory Bags
- Squishy Sparkly Sensory Bags
- Writing Practice Sensory Bag
- Playdough Sensory Bags
Follow our Sensory play board on Pinterest for more, and don’t forget to pin this idea for later!
Follow Anna – In The Playroom’s board Sensory play and activities on Pinterest.
In The Playroom
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Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
