The festive season is upon us and what better time to spend some time inside in the warm with messy play. There are lots of winter sensory tray ideas that you can do at home, perfect for the run up to Christmas.

What would Christmas be without snow?

One of the best ways to bring winter messy play inside is with fake snow, which you can create really easily with shaving foam. We all know that a can of shaving foam makes for endless fun! You could also add glitter if you'd prefer sparkly snow.

We like to adapt this tray by creating a melting snowman. To do this all you need to do is print out all the different parts of a snowman (carrot nose, scarf. etc) then bury these pieces under the snow and let the search commence for a melting snowman. You could also add in some Gelli Snow for a different texture and some colour. 

How about a less messy option?

If you're looking for a less messy alternative then you could make some candy cane rice. Colourful rice is an easy and low cost sensory activity and it's really easy to make.

For our candy cane rice we dyed two bowls of rice, one red and one green. We then added peppermint oil to the bowl for a Christmas candy cane scent (you can find this in most supermarkets). The finishing touch for fully magical candy cane rice tray is to add in some real candy canes. Depending on your child you can use whole candy canes or you can break them up into smaller pieces (this may be a choking hazard so adapt for your child).

We hope you enjoy these two Christmas sensory ideas - we'd love to hear if you have any of your own or if you've had fun using either of these!