Create Your Play Sensory Tray

The Create Your Play Sensory Tray is a versatile 3-piece activity tray supplied with 14 reusable cups, three fine motor tools and eight double-sided activity cards. It creates an organised space for sensory exploration, loose-parts play, sorting and themed early learning at home, in classrooms and across early years provision.

The cups come in varied shapes and sizes, helping adults separate materials and helping children compare, scoop, transfer and categorise. Three tools support pinching, grabbing and scooping actions, while the activity cards provide prompts for guided play when a starting idea is useful. The Create Your Play Sensory Tray can also be used without the cards for fully open-ended exploration.

Sand, water, dried pulses, water beads and other activity materials are suggestions only and are not included. Adults can therefore choose suitable contents for the child, learning objective and environment. The tray, cups and tools are dishwasher safe for practical cleaning between activities.

What makes this product special

The Create Your Play Sensory Tray combines a defined play surface, storage-style cups, manipulation tools and activity prompts in one coordinated resource. Instead of placing loose materials in an undivided tray, adults can prepare separate colours, textures or categories while keeping them visibly connected to the central activity.

Its eight cards are double sided, providing 16 activity faces for inspiration. The cards can guide a themed session or be removed completely when children want to develop their own ideas, giving the set value for both adult-led and child-led learning.

Key features

• Three-piece sensory activity tray
• Fourteen reusable cups in assorted shapes and sizes
• Three fine motor tools for scooping, pinching and grabbing
• Eight double-sided activity cards
• Sixteen activity-card faces in total
• Suitable for sensory and loose-parts play
• Tray, cups and tools are dishwasher safe
• Activity materials are not included
• Suitable for home, classroom and early years settings

Sensory benefits

The Create Your Play Sensory Tray allows adults to present several appropriate textures in an organised way. Children can explore dry, wet, smooth, grainy, soft or firm materials according to what has been selected. Cups keep contrasting resources separate until the child chooses to combine them.

The central tray contains the activity and provides space to pour, mix, arrange or investigate. Because sensory preferences differ, adults can begin with a small number of familiar materials and gradually introduce variety where appropriate.

Fine motor development

The three tools supplied with the Create Your Play Sensory Tray encourage different grips and hand movements. Scooping supports wrist control, pinching calls for finger precision and grabbing asks children to coordinate tool position with the chosen item.

Transferring materials between the 14 cups and central tray can support hand-eye coordination, bilateral hand use and controlled release. Children can repeat these movements within a purposeful sorting or creative activity rather than as an isolated exercise.

Sorting, counting and early maths

The Create Your Play Sensory Tray provides strong opportunities for classification and counting. Children can group loose parts by colour, shape, size, texture or type, then place each category into a separate cup. Adults can ask children to explain their sorting rule and consider whether an object could belong to more than one group.

The cups can also support counting, comparison and simple pattern work. Children might distribute equal quantities, identify which cup contains more or arrange selected items in a repeating sequence across the tray.

Imaginative and creative play

With themed contents, the Create Your Play Sensory Tray can become a miniature garden, construction site, seasonal scene, colour laboratory or storytelling landscape. The reusable cups might hold ingredients for a pretend recipe or treasures for a sorting mission.

The activity cards provide starting ideas, but children remain free to combine and arrange materials in their own way. This balance can help practitioners support children who value a visual prompt while preserving open-ended creative choice.

Why choose Create Your Play Sensory Tray

This coordinated tray set supplies the organising equipment that often has to be gathered separately for sensory activities. Fourteen cups, three tools, a 3-piece tray and eight double-sided cards create a complete reusable framework; buyers only need to select suitable play materials.

For schools and nurseries, the dishwasher-safe components support repeated use and flexible topic planning. For families, the tray helps define the play area and keep small loose parts grouped. Its combination of guided cards and open-ended possibilities gives the resource lasting versatility.

Perfect for

• Nursery and preschool sensory provision
• Classroom sorting and early maths activities
• Home messy play and creative exploration
• Fine motor and hand-eye coordination practice
• Loose-parts play and themed learning
• Adult-led tasks and child-led investigation

Specifications

• Product name: Create Your Play Sensory Tray
• Product code: 95376
• Contents: One 3-piece sensory tray, three fine motor tools, eight double-sided activity cards and 14 reusable cups
• Activity materials: Not included
• Dimensions: Not supplied
• Material: Not supplied
• Colours: Not supplied
• Indoor/Outdoor: Suitable for indoor use and supervised outdoor sensory activities
• Care: Tray, cups and tools are dishwasher safe
• Batteries: Not required
• Learning focus: Sensory play, fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, sorting, counting, early maths, imaginative play and creativity
• Recommended age: Not supplied