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Home » 1 Hour C.R.A.F.T.'s » How to Make a Sensory Hula Hoop

How to Make a Sensory Hula Hoop

July 27, 2021 By Jamie Dorobek 7 Comments

I wish I would have crafted this DIY sensory hula hoop for my own babies years ago. I recently saw this photo on facebook, 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 mom or dad 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.

How to make a sensory hula hoop for baby
Photos by Sarah Schiffman

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 tummy 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.

*This post contains affilate links.

Supplies To Make a DIY Sensory Hula Hoop

  • A hula hoop (I got mine at the Dollar Store.)
  • 1 Skein of Yarn
  • 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.)
  • Textured yarn (Here’s what I used.)
  • Feather boa
  • Sponge
  • Duster (This works great!)
  • Baby toys and teethes
  • 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 baby will enjoy tummy time. This is a great project to whip out all of those yarn and ribbon scraps that you have been saving.

What you need to make a DIY hula hoop baby toy

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.

Step 1- Secure yarn

To start the sensory hula hoop I simply knotted the green yarn around the hula hoop a few times.

Step 2- Wrap yarn

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.

DIY Hula Hoop sensory toy

Step 3- Add attachments

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.

DIY Baby sensory hula hoop

I made a few large 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.

DIY Hula hoop Activity Center for Baby

Hula hoop baby activity center

I found this sensory hula hoop on instagram at @beckys_treasure_baskets, and she added a bunch of fun attachments including:

  • A duster
  • Extra large bow
  • Tin foil
  • Bells
  • Bubble wrap.

I love that you can add things and take things away as baby grows and is looking to explore new things. For more sensory hula hoop ideas, check out my board on Pinterest.

Sensory Hula hoop for baby

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

DIY Hula hoop activity center

Did your baby enjoy tummy time? Have you ever made sensory toys? I’d love to hear…

Filed Under: 1 Hour C.R.A.F.T.'s

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Comments

  1. Maile says

    June 26, 2020 at 4:33 pm

    What age is this for?

    Reply
  2. LIGIA says

    August 2, 2019 at 10:28 am

    GREAT IDEA!

    Reply
  3. Svea says

    April 23, 2019 at 7:20 pm

    For what age do you recommend this? Thanks so much… This is awesome!

    Reply
  4. Amber Bailey says

    March 19, 2018 at 10:03 am

    This is super cute idea, I really want to try this out!

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      March 19, 2018 at 1:57 pm

      Thanks! It’s fun, useful, and easy to make… My fave kind of craft 😉

      Reply
      • marigny says

        March 4, 2020 at 6:26 pm

        I am doing a girl scouts project, and this is definately the info I needed! We are helping the special needs children for our project, at our church. So thank you for all the help!

        Reply
  5. cotton wax cord Manufacturer says

    March 10, 2018 at 2:18 am

    oh wow! this sensory hula hoop look so cute I love your creativity, Great tutorial! This is adorable. Has to be the easiest directions to follow and understand. Thanks for sharing with us.

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Jamie!
I Create Really Awesome Free Things for your home, wardrobe, kitchen, and kids in Austin, TX with the sometimes help of Andy!
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