What's in the sensory bag?

Playing this fun twist on what’s in the bag using different textures is a great way to expand your child's vocabulary.

When your child experiences a word with more than one of their senses, their brain will create more connections to that word.

Watch the video below to see how our families incorporate lots of opportunities for language development into this sensory activity.

What are the benefits of the what's in the sensory bag activity?

  • Using descriptive language and talking about how items feel helps build children's vocabulary. This in turn helps them make connections between words which will make them easier to recall.
  • Children start to make links between the senses they are using and the language they hear - this makes it easier to remember and will be useful to build their imagination for writing stories and sentences later on.
  • Expanding on what they say encourages them to use longer sentences.
  • Asking them what they think is in the bag, allows them to practise the future tense.
  • Asking them how things felt, gives them a chance to practise using the past tense.
  • Letting them guess the item boosts their thinking and problem-solving skills.
A family sits in their living room and plays a game of What's In The Bag.
It’s through all of their senses that children build connections in their brain and make links between what they see, feel and hear.

Top tips for using a sensory bag to help language learning

A sensory bag can be as simple as a pillowcase or other container filled with several objects with different textures.

You may need to introduce the objects first so that your child has seen and touched them and heard what they are called. This will help them imagine the objects once you hide them.

When your child puts their hand in the bag, they will feel and experience lots of different textures, which you can talk about together.

Why not let your child try and guess what's in the bag before taking it out? Use open questions and encourage lots of descriptive vocabulary.

This requires them to use their other senses to identify the object and the word linked to it.

If they are struggling you might need to offer choices. For example, by asking things like, "Is it hard or soft? Is it round or square?"

Alternatively, you can bury a few objects in a sandpit or box of shredded paper to reach in and feel for them.

Find out more about the benefits of sensory play here.

A family sits in their living room and plays a game of What's In The Bag.
It’s through all of their senses that children build connections in their brain and make links between what they see, feel and hear.

What's in the bag around Tiny Happy People

Haven’t played what’s in the bag before? Click on the below links to find out more about why it's one of our favourite activities for babies, toddlers and preschoolers.

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