After I saw this amazing list of different sensory bags, I’ve been wanting to make one for Noah to play with. The marble maze looked simple enough to make, and I thought it would appeal most to Noah, so I made it for him!
There are many other versions of this sensory bag marble maze online, so feel free to improvise and make something that suits your needs best. Here’s how I made ours.
Materials Needed Ziplock Bag (Mine is 8×8″, from Ikea) Hair gel (I got mine from the Value Dollar Store) Marble / Pom-pom ball (Both from Daiso) Duct Tape (From Daiso or Popular) 3M Scotch® Expressions Magic Tape / Washi Tape (From Popular or Daiso) Scissors
Instructions 1. Fill the ziplock bag with hair gel. I used 2 x 250ml jars of hair gel in the 8×8″ ziplock bag. You might want to use less if you don’t want your bag to be too full. You can also use a bigger ziplock bag if you want a larger maze.
2. Put the marble and/or pom-pom ball into the bag, then squeeze out the air from the bag before sealing it.
3. Use duct tape to seal the top, as well as all four sides of the ziplock bag. (Optional: You can put the ziplock bag into another ziplock bag, before sealing the outer bag, just to be safe, but I didn’t do that.)
4. Cut the 3M Scotch® Expressions Magic Tape, or washi tape, if you prefer, into strips, and use them to create a simple maze. After I made this, I regretted not using a brighter colour for the maze, since the hair gel was blue.
5. Start playing with your new sensory bag marble maze!
Teaching Tiger to play the marble maze
The sensory bag marble maze looks really easy to play, but I realised that Noah had difficulties using only one finger to push the marble along. The pom-pom ball was even more challenging, and I’m glad I put both in, which gave him the option of using either one to play the game. This is a good and fun way for preschoolers to work their fingers, and to learn how to control their strength, which I think is useful in developing pre-writing skills. Have fun!
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