Sensory toys for a 3 year old. Help!

[SpikeWithoutASoul]

Local charity matched me with a child to buy Christmas presents for but I can’t really picture what sensory toys for a 3 year old would be. All my search results seem to show baby toys. Anyone able to point me in the right direction? Thanks.

I saw lots of sensory type activities and toys in The Works the other day. Poppet toys, squishy animals etc.

Water-activated light-up cubes went down well with my 4-yr-old niece last birthday.
Bath time the obvious attraction, but she also used them on a family camping trip as 'safe lanterns' in jam jars!

Annoying that batteries can't be replaced (which I hadn't realised at the time), but now used as regular toy stacking blocks so no waste.

You can probably find them cheaper elsewhere, but to give you an idea:
https://sensorytoolhouse.com/en-gb/products/glo-pals-4-pack

It depends on the cognitive development of that particular child. For a typical 3yo, sensory toys would include Kinetic Sand, play foam, disco light, giant piano mat etc….

Thanks all. Cubes look good and kinetic sand is a great idea. I think they’d appeal to any 3 year old regardless of developmental stage. Hard to choose for a child you don’t know anything about! It’s a very small charity trying to do the work of a much bigger one so I don’t want to bother them with any queries.

Playdough kits

Did the charity specify sensory or is it just your preference?

The above suggestions seem good. I work with 3 yr olds and we usually just make the sensory stuff with open ended objects. Little animals or people for example can be played in leaves or rice or pasta or cotton wool. Same with construction items like building blocks, connectors etc. They can be used for anything the child is into and adapted to the next phase or obsession.