First.... a shot of my messy boy!
Various slimes/goops/dough is great for experencing the sense of touch.
Gluten Free Playdough:
1/2 cup rice flour (you can use regular flour instead)
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup salt
2tsp cream of tarter
1 TBS oil
1 cup of water
Cook in a saucepan on medium until it forms a ball, let cool and kneed
Another dough:
1 cup cornstarch
2 cups baking soda
1.5 cups water
cook until it looks like mashed potatoes, let cool, kneed. This can also be rolled thin and baked in a cool oven for an hour or so to make things like ornaments. Has a different texture than most playdough.
Gak (pictured)
8oz of elmers glue
1/2 cup water
1tsp of borax
Mix water and borax, add glue and stir/kneed well. pour off extra liquid.
Oobleck
cornstarch
water
start with a bunch of cornstarch, slowly add water stirring as you go (it will end up about 1/2 water, 1/2 cornstarch), when you stirr slow it will feel like liquid, but if you move fast, its like a solid!
Here is Landis and Levi fingerpainting! Great for both touch and sight (and a mess)
Finger paint:
3 cups water
1 cup cornstarch
Put in a saucepan on medium heat, bring to a simmer and cook until thickened (it will thicken more as it cools, add water as nessisary and stir often while it cools), color as disired (food coloring, kool-aid packet, add a little bit of kid friendly paint...)
Sensory box ideas:
- shredded paper (Levi likes this one!)
- sand
- moon sand
- lentils
- beans
- coffee grounds
- dirt/mud
- ice
- water
- packing peanuts (use the cornstarch ones only, not the styrafoam)
- buttons
- leaves
- rice (you can color it if you want)
- pasta
- shaving cream
- straws cut into small lengths
- bird seed
- polymer crystals and water (from the garden store)
This was a GIANT mess but Levi had fun! 
