I follow a lot of Montessori/Waldorf style Instagram accounts, probably like the majority of you, and I’ve been seeing a lot of these cardboard activity trays? I guess that’s how I would have described them in the beginning.
At first, I wasn’t sure what they were called. Some sort of diy open ended carboard sensory bin thingny? What would you call it?
Well, after a little digging in the hashtags and checking out lots of different accounts I figured out that these are called “Sensory Puzzles”. You could find them easily on Instagram looking for #cardboardpuzzle or #sensorypuzzle in the search bar. It’s a rabbit hole that I didn’t mind falling into.
They seem to be geared towards toddlers and young children, focusing on working fine motor skills, color matching, and shape recognition. School aged children might still enjoy playing, but I’m not sure they would be engaged in the activity as long as a toddler.
I noticed the puzzles tended to be made out of recycled carboard. Sometimes they were painted and sometimes they are left natural. It really depends on the look that you’re going for and the amount of effort you really want to put into the project. Also, there are no rules when it came to which fillers were included. Moms were using everything from colored beans, to waterbeads, or even those flat marble things.
Because they are cardboard, and basically put together with hot-glue, these puzzle are disposable and won’t really be something that you pass down to the grandkids. I chatted with some moms and found out that sometimes the kids have one final go at the puzzle by filling it with baking soda and using an eye dropper with vinegar to make the puzzle fizz.
I tried making my own, and since my girls are really into mermaids at the moment, the choice was obvious. We’re also on summer break right now, and I love being “on theme”.
I grabbed a piece of cardboard and painted a simple mermaid. I looked at some pictures on Google to help, and I spent maybe 30 minutes painting. I don’t think it has to be super perfect because the puzzle will be filled with marbles and rice.
After that was dry, I cut long strips of poster board that were about an 1.5″ wide. I might have been able to go a little thinner, but I think it really depends on what fillers will be used. I used a bunch of hotglue sticks to get everything down in place. I worked in small sections, squeezing out the glue along the edges, then placing the strips and holding them in place until dry.
This took me about an hour so I ended up watching a show while working. I think next time I might simply the shape so I can work a little faster. Or maybe it’s just because I was still new to this diy so I worked slower.
I heard that some people try to store these and keep them for multiple uses. After spending an hour and half making this thing I can understand why most want to get more than one play session out of it. Sometimes people hang them up as decorations in their kids bedrooms. I like that idea too.
One thing I figured out was that painting colors in the puzzle can lock you into what color sensory fillers you use. If you’re wanting to match marbles or colored beans, you’ll have to use colors of paint that you already have fillers for. Next time I might just paint the skin tone and background of the puzzle, but leave other parts natural and open ended.
Again, I hope you have a fantastic weekend, my friend. Have you ever heard of sensory puzzles? Or am I just late to the game. You can share your thoughts with me through DM on Instagram, or commenting on this post!
See you next weekend!
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