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You are here: Home / By Age / Preschool / Sensory Play: Salt Tray with Rocks and Mini Salt Tray

June 30, 2013 By Chelsey 4 Comments

Sensory Play: Salt Tray with Rocks and Mini Salt Tray

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Here’s how to set up a simple salt sensory tray with rocks. Younger children can use it for sensory play and as a way to explore making designs, imprints, and even marble runs, while older children can practice writing letters and spelling words or sight words in it. It’s like having their very own zen garden!

Follow our Sensory Play Pinterest board for even more ideas!

 

rock and salt sensory tray for toddlers and preschoolers

 

This post contains affiliate links.

 

I love to set out play invitations for the kids to create and experiment with. I find play invitations are great activities for toddlers and older kids as well! What I especially love about this salt and rock tray  is it’s very open ended, allowing the kids to create and explore the materials on their own. And as an added benefit, it’s a great sensory play experience!

 

Today I created a simple salt sensory tray while the kids were having rest time. I simply poured some inexpensive salt into a wooden tray (similar to this wooden tray). You could also use fine sand or kinetic sand in place of the salt. I also added some rocks (like these river rocks). I couldn’t wait to see how the kids played with the invitation after rest time!

 

salt

close up rocks

 

Lucy was the first one finished with her quiet time. (She gave up naps at age 2- eek! But every day since, she’s still had 45 minute rest times where she reads or does a quiet activity in her room.)

I loved watching all the things she did with her tray!

First she enjoyed just rubbing her hands all through the salt.

 

lucy with rocks and salt

 

Then she started drawing pictures and lines. She enjoyed showing me all the different types of lines she could make: curvy, straight, and zigzag.  She also loved moving the rocks around in the salt and incorporating them into her pictures.

 

Later she created designs and called me over. “Mom, what picture do you see in my design? Do you see a smiley face?” We had fun seeing all kinds of different pictures in the abstract designs she created.

 

lucy drawing

 

She also drew a maze in the salt with her finger for me to do. After tracing the maze with my finger, I added a marble to the tray. We pushed the marble through the maze!

 

Then she started collecting items to create imprints in the salt. She used a cap from her applesauce squeezie to make circles. “I use different tools as I go,” she announced proudly!

 

salt imprints

 

Later Theo woke up and it was his turn. He loved the feeling of running his hands through all the salt. There were lots of squeals of delight! He also enjoyed rubbing the rocks around in the sand to hear the sounds they made.

 

theo salt tray

 

To be honest, I actually sat and played with the salt tray for a while. It was very calming. (I may need to start pulling this out after those long days to help me relax!)

 

letters in salt tray

 

You can also make mini salt trays! Simply find any small, shallow container, add some salt and rocks! We made this one using the top of an old cardboard box.

 mini salt tray

mini tray close up

theo with mini salt tray

 

I’ll definitely be setting this play invitation out often~ so simple and so fun!

 


Find more fun activities in our ebook!

Learn more about it here, or buy it now here!

Fizz, Pop, Bang! 40 Playful Science and Math Activities for Kids

 

rock and salt sensory tray for toddlers and preschoolers

Filed Under: Preschool, Quick & Easy, Sensory Play, Toddler Play Tagged With: salt, sensory play, toddler art

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Comments

  1. Melinda@LookWhatMomFound...andDadtoo says

    July 5, 2013 at 8:36 am

    i think a cut down cardboard box would work too, my nieces would like this. Would love if you shared this on our #kidsinthekitchen linky this week http://lookwhatmomfound.com/2013/07/snacks-for-the-pool-kidsinthekitchen.html

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Art for Kids: Salt Art Inspired by Motoi Yamamoto {Kids Get Arty} - Buggy and Buddy says:
    July 15, 2013 at 7:08 pm

    […] were home. Because the sensory experience is so important to the artist, I first started out with a salt sensory tray invitation for the kids. They spent lots of time exploring the salt in our regular and mini sized salt […]

    Reply
  2. Playing and Creating with Rocks | My Nearest And DearestMy Nearest And Dearest says:
    August 23, 2013 at 4:17 am

    […] time I’ll take a cue from my blogging pal, Chelsey from Buggy and Buddy and put together a salt tray with rocks […]

    Reply
  3. Fine Motor and Sensory Play for Spring Using a Sand Tray - Buggy and Buddy says:
    February 26, 2015 at 8:47 pm

    […] how to push the sand around with your finger. Although Theo has done similar activities (like our salt tray), he wasn’t quite sure how to erase his designs. I showed him and Miss B. how to give the […]

    Reply

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Welcome to Buggy and Buddy! I'm Chelsey, a former teacher and parent living on the central coast of California. I love sharing crafts, science, STEM and STEAM activities, free printables and more! Read More…

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