Sensory Tray

Several years ago Junior had a small sensory board which he enjoyed using.  It was very small and he outgrew it and I hadn't made a replacement. 
I noticed that now even when he is relaxing in the evenings he doesn't just want to sit there and watch tv.  He wants something in his hands.  He can't move his hands but likes to push with his arms to feel things and move his toys.
His birthday is coming up in September so I decided to make him a large sensory tray for his birthday.
I had seen the same type idea in special needs catalogs but the prices are way up there and I am certainly not going to pay what they are asking when I can make something for a fraction(a very small fraction) of the cost.
I am sure there are many ways this could be made but I will share how I made Junior's.  I started out with two pieces of foam board which I cut to the shape of his wheelchair tray.  You could use just one foam board but I was concerned when Junior pushed into it he might bend it.
I then wrapped the foam board in duck tape. 

I forgot to take a pic before I added the duck tape but here is the foam board after being wrapped in the tape.  I wanted to make it a bit more fun so also added stripes of Avengers Duck

 

 Here is a picture of the tray portion sitting on his wheelchair tray.

 I then got various items with different textures and used a hot glue gun to attach them.  The dollar store as well as the clearance racks at other stores are a perfect place to look for items.  Many of these items I also already had.  Junior loves the koosh balls but I knew they would be very difficult to attach.  The orange and green spikey things on the tray feel just like koosh balls but are gloves for swimming(walmart clearance) and were flat so attached easily to the tray.  I found that rubber items have a hard time staying attached with just the hot glue gun so I ran a piece of duck tape through them as well.  *Of course if your child will put items in their mouth then you will need to be cautious about what you attach just in case it comes loose*. 
If you are curious about what is on the board here is a list.  From the upper corner down is a piece of a foam puzzle, some large beads, swimming gloves, fake fur material, a micro fleece dusting sponge, tubing from one of Junior's machines, flaps of duct tape, a fingernail scrub brush, a sponge for dishes, rubbery frogs, some rubber non skid shelf cover, and foam packing material. 
   
The tray sitting on Junior's wheel chair. 

 I had to let him give it a test run before it got wrapped up for his bday.  He loved it and wasn't pleased when I put it away. 
 
My next project is to make a board with noisy items.  Still thinking on that but I am considering a cloth cover over foam board so loops can be attached to "noisy" items allowing them to move.