Hair gel sensory bags are inexpensive and ridiculously easy to put together. They also make a great independent play activity for your older babies, toddlers and preschoolers.
This post has been updated on January 27th, 2023 to improve the readers’ experience.
In a past life, before I was a stay-at-home mom to 4 kids, I was a preschool teacher. When I taught preschool, my favorite thing to plan was sensory play. The kids loved it (and so did I).
When I became a mom, I vowed to do sensory play every single day with my kids and I did for a while and that’s how this website came about, to be honest.
Fast forward 7 years…I still love sensory play, but the truth is, I do it mostly because it gives me a break and I can focus on my daily self-care.
Daily self-care is a necessity
Yes, you heard that right. Daily self-care is an absolute necessity. You can’t pour from an empty cup. Adjust your oxygen mask before anyone else’s.
With fun sensory activities like hair gel sensory bags, you can absolutely get some daily self-care into your routine. You’re working on independent play with your kids, too.
How can I practice daily self-care with kids home all day?
You’d be surprised at how many times throughout the day you can actually grab some moments of self-care while you’re still responsible for the kids. My free download will walk you through all the steps to do this.
Self-care at home isn’t enough, though…
Remember that even though you’re making sure to take care of yourself during the day, you still need to be working bigger bouts of self-care into your routine. Downloading my daily self-care freebie will help you get daily self-care into your routine so that you can sustain your energy to plan the out of the house self-care you deserve.
These hair gel sensory bags are so easy to make and are a great way to keep your kids busy. I used to leave them taped up on my back door which was in the kitchen. My 2 kiddos (toddler and baby at the time) would just spend 20+ minutes squishing their sweet little hands into the bags and tracing letters to their name while I made dinner and listened to a podcast/audiobook or watching a show on my phone.
All of the supplies (except for the food coloring which I already had on hand) were purchased at the Dollar Tree. They can also easily be added to your grocery order.
Supplies for hair gel sensory bags
- Sandwich bags
- Food coloring
- Clear (or any color) hair gel
- Packing tape
All we did was squirt some hair gel into some sandwich bags and added a few drops of food coloring.
Then you let out all the extra air and zip it shut. I taped them up on the back door. The sun also looks so cool shining through the colors!
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I also propped the baby up to check them out. So not only does this allow her to do sensory play, but it is working on her trunk strength and core muscles to attempt to stand on her own.
All while I mind my own business, keeping an eye on them while I make dinner and watch a show on my phone.
Now that you know how easy independent play is, grab my daily self-care freebie below. It’s going to walk you through how to grab 2-3 chunks a day of daily self-care.
How did you get the bags to stay on the window??
Hi Kenzie! I taped them to the door with packing tape 🙂
I will try it in my story class,thanks.
Any gel would work, right…such as the two bottles of aloe Vera gel, I just threw out last week 🤦🏾♀️?
Ha! Yes, any gel!
Do you tape around all 4 sides or just top and bottom?
yes!