Bring books to life with these fun and sensory rich book activities for kids. There are so many ways to enjoy reading books and pairing them with early learning activities, themes, and concepts makes it easy! Our book activities are meant to be very hands-on! You won’t find crafts here, but you will find sensory activities that will delight any child and make reading fun!

Sensory Rich Book Activities for Favorite Preschool Books

BENEFITS OF SENSORY PLAY

Sensory play such as sensory tables, sensory bins, glitter bottles, sensory dough and slime, are always a hit whether you are using them as a classroom center or at home! Plus, you can add favorite preschool books to create a hands-on literacy activity.

There are so many wonderful benefits to sensory play:

Practical Life Skills ~ Sensory play lets a child explore, discover and create play using practical life skills (dumping, filling, scooping) and learn valuable play skills.
Play Skills {emotional development} ~ Great for both social play and independent play, sensory play allow children to play cooperatively or side by side. My son has had many positive experiences over a bin of rice with other children!
Language Development ~ Sensory play increase language development from experiencing with their hands all there is to see and do. It leads to great conversations and opportunities to model the use of language.
Understanding 5 Senses ~Many sensory play bins include a few of the senses! Touch, sight, sounds, taste, and smell are the 5 senses. Children can experience several at a time with a sensory bin.

Imagine a bin of brightly colored rainbow rice: touch the loose grains against the skin, see the vivid colors as they mix together, hear the sound of sprinkling over a plastic container or shaken in a plastic egg! Did you add a scent like vanilla or lavender?

Please do not taste uncooked rice, but there are plenty of sensory play options that you use edible ingredients like our pigs in mud pudding play.

30 Book Activities for Preschool Books

Whether you love sensory bins, sensory bottles, sensory dough, or even slime, book activities paired with sensory play are fun! We love to read books every day, and these book activities to go along with the story have become a much anticipated part of our day. What a wonderful way to think and talk about the story you have just read.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Best Early Reader Books

BOOK ACTIVITIES WITH A SCIENCE THEME

Growing Seeds in Egg Shells

Seed Jar

Planet Earth Lorax Slime for Earth Day

All About Tornados

Bugs and Insects Sensory Bin

Liquids, Solids, Gases

Exploring Gravity

Learning About Ocean Pollution and Recycling

My 5 Senses Discovery Table

Penguins Theme – Habitats, size, and type!

BOOK ACTIVITIES FOR LEARNING LETTERS, MATH AND STORY TELLING

Preschool Learning Farm Theme

Alphabet Mystery Letter Hunt

Pirate Alphabet Sensory Play

Tractors!

3 MORE BOOK ACTIVITIES AND SENSORY BINS

I wanted to include these three book activities and sensory bin ideas to show you what I have created and put aside for the week.

I picked a few of my son’s favorite books, grabbed aquarium rocks and my trusty TOOBS Ocean and Boats. I dug around for some toy construction vehicles and added some wood pieces.

Three quick and simple book play ideas in a great travel box with lid. The book fits inside. Throw in a few extra books for the theme.

Pirate Treasure Hunt and Counting

Old MacDonald Rice Sensory Play

Which book will you turn into an activity today?

MORE AWESOME ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS

FIZZ AND BUBBLE EXPERIMENTS

SIMPLE ENGINEERING PROJECTS FOR KIDS

WATER EXPERIMENTS

COOL THINGS TO BUILD WITH LEGO

HOMEMADE SLIME

SELF PROPELLED VEHICLES

PRESCHOOL ACTIVITIES

Simple Book Activities for Everyday Play and Learning

Click on the link for more sensory play ideas.

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I am an Amazon Affiliate and receive a very small compensation from any products you purchase. All our activities are always free to enjoy! I couldn’t find them all but we do have all of these!