Inspire My Play Tray Activity Ideas with Compartments - Ocean Theme

6 compartment Play Tray Inspire My Play Ocean themed with blue wooden mandala pieces, yellow sand, resin sea creatures, shells, fabric ocean creatures, wooden boats and wooden treasure chest

Sensory Play Tray Ideas

One thing our daughter Floss has always loved ever since she was little is any type of sensory, small world play. This post will tell you how to set up a play tray using the Inspire My Play Tray and tips for developing play and independence.

Play trays have been one of our go to activities for so many occasions including playing together to develop language and narrative play. We’ve also used a play tray set up to encourage independent play.

It’s been so helpful when we’ve been trying to prepare dinner and needed a little freedom.

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Play tray invitations are ideal for playdates as each child can have their own space and resources to play independently alongside another or they can collaborate together.

Safety Note: Risk assess for your individual children in your home/ setting. What resources you use will depend upon your child’s age, development and unique needs.

Play Tray Play

Over my years of teaching and having my daughter I’ve made oodles of play tray set ups. When I was a teacher I got to observe first hand how many children interacted with this type of play and the benefits to learning development. There’s a few things that make this play successful both for those playing and those setting up and packing away! We’ll go through these below.

Play Tray Set Up

Over the years I’ve learnt the importance of having everything organised so that you can find items swiftly. I use these tubs on a bookcase and label them with chalk labels and chalk marker pens. These photos below are how we had them when my daughter was much younger. As she got older we’ve lowered these shelves down so that she can self select the items that she would like.

You want setting up to be easy. You can just put the tubs next to a tray or use wooden bowls, fabric bowls or compartments like you get in the Inspire My PlayTRAY.

Play Tray Compartments

Some children love to work from a blank canvas. Having resources available for them to select from to make up their own adventures. Others really need to have a starting point with additional items they can build on. Try different ways and see what your child/ren prefer. Having individual compartments are great to allow for this.

What Play Tray to Use?

I’ve tried lots of trays over the years. Check out this post to see some of the different types of trays we’ve used. Tuff trays are great for educational settings and outdoor play. They come in different sizes, colours, with stands and you can purchase covers so you don’t need to pack everything away at the end of a day.

I’ve picked up lots of interesting trays in a range of materials from wood to plastic to metal. One thing I’d recommend is not using a tray with holes in the side for handles – it just makes for more mess!

Inspire My Play Tray – Is it Worth it?

Only in the last couple of years have I discovered the Inspire My Play TRAY. I love the story of how Play TRAY came to life through the vision of one Mother of three. You can read about it here.

Yes, it’s a more expensive than other trays you can purchase but I believe it’s excellent value for money if you plan on using it frequently. One of my favourite features is the gloss coating that makes clearing away a dream. Having set up and put away a lot of invitations to play in the past, being able to quickly clean up is so valuable. This is especially important if you plan to use more ‘messy’ resources such as soil, sand, clay etc. It’s also made of food grade plastic.

Inspire My Play TRAY What You Get

You actually get two trays in one with an Inspire My Play TRAY. The lid doubles as a shallow tray. You then have a deep tray base. The lid fits securely on so it’s great for keeping a play set up happily in place ready for when you want it. Along with the base and lid you get six compartments that fit snuggly into the base. Check out the video below.

Buy Inspire My PlayTRAY

You can purchase the Inspire My PlayTRAY direct from various locations around the world – check out their website here. If you sign up to their newsletter you get 10% off your first order plus a free eBook of ideas. You can also buy from Amazon here.

Inspire My Play Website

Amazon

What’s in the Play Tray?

For the ocean play tray set up I made I’ve filled each of the six compartments with a different set of items. When I’m setting up I’m thinking about colours, textures, sizes and key elements that will bring the play tray to life. By thinking about these different elements you will have plenty of incidental learning opportunities to explore through observation and discussion.

Ocean Theme Play Tray

I wanted this play tray to have an ocean theme and therefore looked for items that could represent water, sand and other ocean items. You can check out the video below to see how I set up the play tray. You can set up a ‘Blank Canvas’ or a ‘Ready to Play’ set up. More details below.

Play Tray Resources

For water I chose blue wooden Grapat Mandala pieces, marbles and glass beads – feeling braver than me? – you could always use actual water!
Yellow sand
Resin ocean animals and scenery set – I’ve chosen two sets of ocean creatures. The resin feels very different to the fabric ones and they are different sizes
Shells with a range of types, textures, colours and sizes
Fabric ocean creatures including a couple of finger puppets
Two wooden boats and a treasure chest

Here’s an Amazon list to help get you started with some resources. Don’t forget that it’s not necessary to buy things, you can always make your own resources. Check out this post for some homemade resources.

If you are making purchases it’s worth thinking about how one resource may have multiple uses. For example yellow sand could be a desert, a beach or for construction work play and therefore a good purchase.

Blank Canvas Play Tray

Leave the items set up as below so that your child/ren can create their own play scene; a ‘Blank Canvas’.

Ready to Play Play Tray

If your child/ren prefer to have a visual set up ready then you’ll see a step by step of how to set up an ocean play tray below. Note that I don’t add all the elements. This allows children the freedom to make changes, adding and removing as their play happens.

Transitioning to Independent Play

Many children will be happy to play with this type of set up independently. However, don’t be surprised if your little one/s need a little scaffolding especially if this type of play is new to them.

In the beginning I used to play with or alongside my daughter with play trays. Then as she became more familiar with the resources and play I would play with her for a short 5-10 minutes and then go off to prepare dinner. We’d be in the same room so that I could still supervise and she knew I was close by.

Yoto Player and Toniebox

When she was playing independently I would usually leave our Toniebox or Yoto Player playing something in the background.

Adding sound to your play is a great addition and gives a gentle reassurance. Don’t worry if you don’t have an audio player like a Yoto Player or Toniebox – you could use a CD player or the radio.

We have a Yoto Player and Toniebox and find they are great to keep children entertained for longer with a play tray. Below you will find some recommendations for Tonie Characters and Yoto Cards to accompany an ocean themed play tray invitation.