21 Tactile Activities For Kids To Give Them hands-on experience

Through tactile play activities, our kids can engage with their environment by touching objects with their hands and feeling the shapes and textures, which helps improve their fine motor skills and aids in socio-emotional development. 

Tactile activities are essential for kids from an early age to stimulate their senses and help them discover the world. I found that it helped my son in many ways. If you are a parent looking for ways to engage your kids in tactile play, you are at the right place!

Interesting Tactile Activities for Your Kids

I believe hands-on activities are essential to give kids opportunities to participate in tactile play and learning to help them discover things from a new perspective and through touch and feel. 

Engage with a Sensory Bin

I would say that sensory bins are a popular way to promote tactile play and let your kids nurture their senses and feel a sense of calmness.

Fill a large container with a sensory material of choice like sand, salt, rice, water, shaving cream, soap foam, water beads, ice cubes, and so on, along with small toys and other objects to make a sensory bin. 

You can make a sensory bin for your kids and add some items like scoops and spoons to let them discover textures and have fun playing with the materials.

Engage with Playdough

Playing with playdough is one of my son’s favorite pastimes, as it brings him so much happiness and allows him to be creative and use his imagination.

You can give your kids playdough in different colors to roll, shape, knead, flatten, and mold the clay into various kinds of creative and fun shapes and figures. 

I also give my son a variety of tools like toy rolling pins, cookie cutters, crinkle cutters, stamps, and so on to make the activity more fun for him.

While they use their hands to feel the texture and play around with the playdough, they engage in a tactile experience, which also helps them strengthen their finger muscles and fine motor skills.

Pro Tip:

I made homemade playdough at home for my son with flour, salt, food coloring of choice, warm water, and vegetable oil, and you can try it, too.

Play with Slime

You can let your kids play with slime and engage in tactile play by using their hands to touch and feel the textures of the slime material.

My son loves playing with slime, and it helps kids improve their fine motor skills and stimulates their senses as they knead and pull the slime.

Play with Shaving Cream

My son loved playing with shaving cream because of its smooth and airy texture and how it felt in his hands.

You can fill a walled tray with shaving cream and let your kids play with the cloud-like foam. The texture of the cream makes it fun for kids to touch and handle while offering them a tactile experience. 

Play with Bubble Wrap

My son loves playing with bubble wrap, and these wraps offer endless hours of play with their unique texture, which is great for tactile play and is oddly satisfying, too.

You can save the bubble wrap from your next order packaging and let your kids engage in tactile play – pop the visible bubbles in the wrap and explore the squishy texture it has.

I would say that bubble wraps can calm kids and keep their little fingers busy as they try to pop all the visible bubbles on the sheet.

Blow and Pop Bubbles

If your kids love blowing bubbles as much as my son does, then I am sure they will enjoy this simple yet fun activity of blowing and popping bubbles.

You can get your kids to blow bubbles, watch them float in the air, and try to pop them with their hands. This lets them engage in tactile play and is also a great way to keep them entertained and excited.

Child experts also recommend blowing bubbles as a way to help kids develop their fine motor skills and oral motor skills. 

Engage with Nature

Nature offers children countless opportunities for tactile play, helping to nurture their senses and explore various textures. 

You can make your kids run barefoot in the grass to feel its texture and also run their fingers over objects like stones, dry leaves, flowers, sticks, barks, pine cones, and so on found in nature.

My son loves engaging in tactile play outdoors in the natural world, and this helps him connect better with natural surroundings and observe more.

Trace with Squish Bags

I recommend you give your kids squish bags for them to enjoy a mess-free tactile experience. There were days when my son would prefer the squish bags over touching sensory materials with his hands, so this came in handy.

You can fill a ziplock bag with a thin layer of liquid like shaving cream, shower gel, glue, paint, or a slurry of flour and water. Make sure you seal it well to prevent the liquid from leaking.

These squish bags are perfect for your kids to practice their pre-writing strokes, write letters and numbers, draw shapes on the surface of the ziplock bags, or engage in sensory play. 

Play with Kinetic Sand

Kinetic sand is soft and crumbly play sand that can still hold its shape well. Your kids can shape, squeeze, twist, mold, and roll the kinetic sand to nurture their senses, engage in sensory play, and have a great time. 

You can give your kids some kinetic sand to play with, which I would say is oddly satisfying for kids due to the nature of the sand. I recommend you let them indulge in this calming tactile experience.

I would say kinetic sand can be molded like you would with wet sand but without it being actually wet. Unlike regular dry sand, this kind of sand leaves no mess and involves less cleaning after your kids are done playing!

Engage with a Sandbox

I recommend you let your kids engage in tactile play with a sandbox for them to play with the sand, which is also a great sensory material.

You can invest in a sandbox or make your own by filling a walled container with a layer of dry or kinetic sand. To make the activity more fun, add sand toys, buckets, shovels, and scoops, and let your kids have fun exploring the textures of the sand. 

My son loved building sandcastles in the sandbox in our backyard, which reminded him of the beach.

Engage with Texture Cards

Texture cards are so easy to make and give your kids a tactile experience as they run their fingers along the different materials and their textures.

You can cut thick cardboard into small individual cards. Glue various sensory items on these cards, like rice, salt, sand, pasta, beans, fabric pieces, felt pieces, velcro, coins, bubble wrap, shells, and so on. 

I found my son loved playing with these texture cards, which helped nurture his senses and provide him with a tactile-rich experience.

Make a Tactile Object Box

You can make a tactile box with small objects with different types of textures. Allow your kids to touch and feel the various textures to nurture their senses. 

I recommend making your kids collect various items from around the house to place in the box. You can add fabrics, coins, buttons, textured papers, beads, soft toys, and so on.

 Instruct them to feel the textures and name them as a fun activity.

Create Art with Finger Painting

Things might get messy with this fun art activity that promotes tactile play. Your kids can get creative and try doing finger painting to create art.

Cover the working surface with newspaper to prevent paint marks. Place a sheet of paper and let your kids dip their fingertips in paint and freely create various designs and patterns on the paper.

Play with Water

My son loves the water and has always enjoyed splashing and playing with the water. You can try the same with your kids if they love playing with water, too.

You can fill a baby pool or bathtub with water, add rubber ducks, plastic balls, cups, and other toys, and let your kids play as much as they like. You can also do this with buckets filled with water and let them scoop, pour, and splash around.

Sensory Touch and Feel

When you invite your child to explore this Sensory Touch and Feel activity, you help them discover different textures and playfully boost their sensory development.

You’ll notice their curiosity grow as they feel, describe, and compare each material on the hand shapes.

By joining in, you make learning hands-on, memorable, and strengthen your bond through shared exploration.

Touch and Feel Symmetry

When you guide your child through this Touch and Feel Symmetry activity, you help them understand shapes and symmetry using their sense of touch.

You’ll see their confidence and curiosity grow as they match pipe cleaner halves to complete each shape. By exploring and playing together, you make learning about math and patterns memorable and fun at home.

Engage with Sensory Coin

When you set up this Sensory Coin activity for your child, you help them explore different textures and build important sensory and language skills in a hands-on way.

You’ll notice their curiosity and descriptive abilities grow as they touch, compare, and talk about each coin’s surface. By joining in, you make learning playful, memorable, and strengthen your connection through shared discovery.

Tactile Number Counting Card

When you set up these Tactile Number Counting Cards for your child, you help them learn numbers using touch and sight, making early math fun and interactive.

You’ll notice their focus and confidence grow as they trace and count each colorful card with their fingers.

By joining in, you turn simple counting into playful bonding time and show your child that learning can be exciting every day.

Tactile Letter Tracing Activity

When you encourage your child to try this Tactile Letter Tracing activity, you help them build early literacy skills and fine motor control in a playful, hands-on way.

You’ll notice their letter recognition and writing confidence grow as they use their finger or a feather to trace each letter in the sand.

By joining in, you make learning letters fun and show your child that you love being part of their learning journey.

Tactile Letter Road Tracing

When you introduce your child to these Tactile Letter Road Tracing mats, you help them build letter recognition and fine motor skills in a playful, hands-on way.

You’ll notice their excitement and confidence grow as they drive little cars along each letter road, making early literacy fun and active.

By joining in, you turn learning the alphabet into a joyful bonding experience that your child will love and remember.

Play with Cloud Dough

You can make cloud dough at home with just two ingredients, and it has a soft and light texture, which makes it exciting for your kids to play with. 

I involved my son in making the cloud dough with equal parts of cornstarch and hair conditioner and combined them to get a smooth dough-like consistency.

Conclusion 

My son loved doing these activities, and they provided him with a sensory-rich and hands-on experience. I guarantee your kids will love these engaging yet fun activities.

I hope you enjoyed reading the above activities to promote tactile play and found some fun activity ideas to do with your kids.

Please leave a comment if you have any ideas to share or any doubts for me to solve. I would love to hear your feedback!