How to Make a Sensory Hula Hoop

I wish I would have crafted this DIY sensory hula hoop years ago for my own babies. I saw this photo on facebook about a year ago, and couldn’t get it out of my brain. Tummy time is so important, but not all babies love laying on their belly. My hope is that this sensory hula hoop allows baby to enjoy tummy time more, and possibly keeps the little nugget busy for a few extra seconds to give you time to flip through that magazine you’ve been dying to read.

As always, I recommend supervising your baby while playing with the hula hoop activity center and make sure that there are no small items that could be a chocking hazard.

I borrowed the cutie in all of the photos because my baby just turned two! I can say that this sweet little nugget loved the sensory hula hoop so much, I gave it to her after her big photoshoot. Mama claims she is still loving tummyy time in her sensory hula hoop.

Why Is Tummy Time So Important

Tummy time allows babies the opportunity to lift their head and begin to put weight on their arms and legs. This physical development is crucial to ensure that baby strengthens her muscles to prepare her body to learn to crawl and eventually walk.

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Supplies To Make a DIY Sensory Hula Hoop

• A hula hoop (I got mine at the Dollar Store.)
• 1 Skein of Yarn (This multi color would be really fun.)
• Ribbon scraps (If you don’t have ribbon scraps, this is a great deal on Amazon!)
• Pom pom fringe (This lot from Amazon would be perfect and is a great price.)
• Eyelash yarn (Here’s what I used.)
• Feather boa
• Sponge
• Duster (When I make another, I will use one of these.)
• Plush toys
• Bells
• Pipe cleaners
• Pool noodle
• Textured fabric
• Loofa

It’s not necessary to go out and buy everything on the list above. In my experience, the more texture, color, and dangly things, the better chance you have that your sweet little nugget will enjoy tummy time. This is a great project to whip out all of those yarn and ribbon scraps that you have been saving.

How to Make a Sensory Hula Hoop

I did a facebook live when I made the hula hoop back in September of 2017. My 3 year old is playing in the room next to me while I made the sensory hula hoop so there is a lot of  3 year old cuteness involved in this video. If you’re here for the hula hoop only, I’d recommend skipping to 4:05 in the video. The first 4 minutes is silliness and me trying to get the camera in the best lighting.

To start the sensory hula hoop I simply knotted the green yarn around the hula hoop a few times. Then, I started wrapping the yarn around the hula hoop. I continued knotting the yarn and ribbon together to make it a continous strand. To get a better look at exactly how I did it, I recommend watching the video above.

The good news is there is no wrong way to make a sensory hula hoop! You can always add or take things away after the the activity center is made. I love the look of the green and blue multi color yarn. For all of the dangles, I either tied them to the yarn or taped them to the hula hoop first and then wrapped yarn over the tape. For extra security, you could consider hot gluing all of the dangles to the hula hoop first and then wrapping over them with yarn. I did not use any hot glue on the hula hoop I made.

I made a few yarn pom poms to add to the hula hoop. I also tied the turquoise ribbon onto the hula hoop at the very end. Another major plus of this DIY baby toy is that it’s so pretty it can simply hang on a door knob for display.

I found this sensory hula hoop on instagram at @beckys_treasure_baskets, and I love that she added a duster, extra large bow, tin foil, bells and bubble wrap. Genius! I love that you can add things and take things away as your baby grows and is looking to explore new things. For more sensory hula hoop ideas, check out my board on Pinterest.

I’ll leave with one last picture of this beautiful baby enjoying her new sensory hula hoop!