Amazon Has a Bunch of Great Sensory Toys on Sale for October Prime Day (2024)

This toy is a two-for-one: Kids can use the big building blocks to construct some of their favorite farm animals — which, when assembled, double as musical instruments. It comes with 45 blocks that can become horse xylophone, a cow drum, a pig cymbal, a chicken rattle, an egg clacker, a sheep with guiro-like notches and more. In addition, some of the blocks have other sensory features, like ears with textures or pieces that click, and it also comes with six color-coded pieces of sheet music with nursery rhymes. "This is a great toy for fine motor development and musical interest," one parent tester noted. Ages 1+

Watching the glitter, colors and other materials traverse these fidget tubes offers a calming experience for kids who need a minute to cool down. This set comes with four tubes, a glitter tube, a fidget tube, a reverse hourglass and a gravity spinner, but Hand2Mind also has tubes that also work on naming emotions or look like trees in changing seasons, among others. Ages 3+

This Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award-winning play set is designed to surprise and delight babies. Each time a child pulls a scarf from the tissue box (which also works on their grasping skills), they'll be treated to a new one with a different color or texture. Parent testers were pleased with the different materials of the scarves, and they reported that their babies loved checking out the different sounds they made. Ages 0+

The Dimpl Digits toy, a previous Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award winner, features the numbers 1 through 10 in a rainbow of bubbles that give a satisfying pop when you push them in. Flip it over, and you'll find the numbers in Spanish, too. In tests, toddlers loved pushing in the bubbles. (Not just toddlers, actually maybe you or an older child might want a Simple Dimpl keychain for yourself?) Ages 1+

This squishy ball is covered in easy-to-grab bumps that each offer a different texture for babies to explore. It also has cool colors, bold patterns and stimulating rattling sounds. Ages 6 months+

Kids can learn about cause-and-effect and see how different materials make different sounds with this musical gift set. It comes with five instruments in all: a "sea sounds" drum, a rainbow shaker, toddler maracas, a bell shaker and a "clip clap" shaker. "I felt that this set taught my daughter a lot from a sensory and developmental perspective, seeing how the beads move back and forth and make sounds," one parent tester said. "And I honestly had a great time playing with these myself!" Ages 1+

Kids can make a sand castle without a trip to the beach with this play set, which is stocked with sand that's always at the perfect consistency. The set comes with two and a half pounds a sand plus nine tools that let kids cut, dig, shovel, scoop and mold the sand. Testers report that, even when kids weren't actively involved in castle-building, they just loved feeling the texture of the sand with their hands and letting it slip through their fingers. Ages 5+

For a building toy that provides some extra texture, Bristle Blocks come with interlocking pieces made of soft, rubbery spikes. The big bucket of pieces also encourages open-ended and imaginative play. Ages 2+

There are multiple ways to explore music with this toy: Kids can use the mallet to tap the balls through the holes, then listen as they roll down the xylophone keys. Or, they can slide out the xylophone and make their own tunes with the mallet. Ages 1+

Playfoam on its own is a great sensory toy: The beady, moldable foam offers textures to explore, and it doesn't dry out so you can use it over and over. Playfoam comes in many forms, but this one includes lots of treats to dig out of the foam, including four collectible alien figures and glow-in-the-dark cores. Ages 3+

This one earned a Good Housekeeping Parenting Award for the way it turns bath time into a multisensory experience: The cube lights up in water, and is also a character that can be used for imaginative play. The characters come in different colors, too, so you can turn the bath into a light-up rainbow. Ages 3+

For babies who need extra oral stimulation, this teether provides soothing vibrations when those little mouths bite down on the corn cob. It helps soothe sore gums when your baby is teething, but sensory seekers might enjoy the stimulation even when they're not. Ages 6 months+

These bendable, waxy craft sticks are compact, so they're great to stash in the car for long trips or keep in a backpack to pull out while you're waiting at a doctor's office or for your food at a restaurant. This kit also comes with a booklet of ideas for a craft projects. Ages 3+

This set of four balls come covered in nubs for a tactile sensation that babies don't get from smooth ones. As they get older, they can also roll and track them, working on both gross and fine motor coordination. They come in lots of colors, including a see-through version and a set in a neutral palette. "The texture on the balls helped my 2-year-old's hands grip them, so I really loved that feature," one parent tester said. Ages 6 months+

A wobble board is meant to give them a physical sensation, and kids can use it in lots of different ways: They can position it like U and try to balance as it rocks, flip it like a rainbow and balance as they walk over it, they can even put it on the edge of the couch and use it like a slide. Bunny Hopkins's wobble board comes in different colors, from natural wood to linen white to a multi-color rainbow. Ages 18 months+

Stacking toys are simple: Babies and toddlers are challenged to put a series of rings on a peg, letting them practice their fine-motor coordination and size/shape recognition. But this one comes with so much more in terms of sensory stimulation. Not only does it have an adorable face, the pineapple pieces all do something extra as well: the base rattles, one ring is soft and squeezable, another crinkles, there's a plastic textured ring in the middle and the leaves on top also crinkle. Ages 6 months+

Kid testers loved everything about this Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award-Winning modeling dough, from the smell to the way it felt in their hands. Parents also appreciated that Land of Dough is thoughtful about everything, from the ingredients it uses to the sustainability of its packaging. Ages 3+

Babies get more out of this toy as they develop: First, they'll appreciate the high-contrast black-and-white patterns on its wings. Then they can use the fact that it flaps its wings and plays music (for up to ten minutes!) as tummy-time entertainment. Finally, when they can sit, they can bat at it and watch it wobble back and forth. "I loved the soothing music," on parent tester said. Ages 0+