DIY Sensory Board

Lately our little girl has become so curious! I can tell she's learning so much everyday, I just want to encourage her in anyway I can. So I started looking around Pinterest for ideas on sensory toys and decided a sensory board was what she needed. 

Most sites had CRAZY boards that required a lot of hardware, nuts & bolts, zip ties, peg boards, etc. And then there were others that just hot glued stuff onto a poster board. I was leaning more towards the hot glue side, when I realized that there are lots of things that can't just be glued on. 

So to maximize my options I decided to do something in the middle. I bought one of those foam poster boards and poked holes in places where I wanted to zip tie larger items, and then hot glued everything else. 

I had so much fun exploring the Dollar Tree for things that Marley would love to explore. It was interesting trying to think like a baby. Here are some of the items I bought:

Gift wrap bows
Bath Sponges
Dog toy rope
Car wash sponges
Dish scrubbers
Colored pom poms
Metal strainer
Hair brush
Duster
Bubble wrap
And a Sparkly letter "M"

The trick is to get a variety of textures. Soft, rough, smooth, hard, etc. Then space them out on the board so that similar textures aren't grouped together.
 
I bought one of those foam poster boards and zip-ties at Wal-Mart (Before I realized they were at the Dollar Tree too) and the whole project ended up costing me about $12. 

I used a screw driver to poke holes into the board for the zip-ties, and make sure you place them close enough together so that the item is secure. For the other items I used A LOT of hot glue to make sure Marley can't pull them off. 

Overall, I'm so glad I made this for my little one. She loves it! I can tell the little wheels are turning in her head and she can't stop exploring. 

 Most of the items on here aren't choking hazards, but I don't like to leave her alone while playing with this. (She MAAAAY have already destroyed that silver bow) Plus, its a great opportunity to get on the floor and play with your little one! 



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