Sensory Bins

You don’t have to wait for a birthday for the fun to begin. This birthday cake sensory bin allows for a party anytime! 

Birthday cake sensory bin:

• 1/2 cup of shampoo
•  2 Tablespoons of water
• 1 cup of flour
• sprinkles
• silicone cupcake molds, small cake pans, muffin tins, and small dishes for forming “cakes”
• washi tape
• small craft sticks (popsicle sticks)
• battery operated votive candle
• tissue paper in orange, yellow or red
• baking dish or a plastic bin with a lid
• optional: birthday cake scented candle or wax melt

1. Add one cup of flour, 2 Tbsp. of water and 1/2 cup of shampoo to a medium bowl.
2. Stir. As the ingredients start to bind together, finishing mixing with your hands.
3. If the dough feels sticky, you will add a little more flour, no more than 1/4 cup.
4. Test the dough for stickiness. If it is still sticky, add a little more flour and continue to mix until it doesn’t stick to your hands.

1. You will need a length of washi tape that can cover a craft stick on both sides.
2. Allow the tape to slightly overlap the craft stick and place small squares of tissue paper on the top of the stick. You can layer orange and yellow tissue paper to resemble a flame.
3. Fold the tape up to cover the other side of the craft stick and secure the tissue paper.
4. Trim the edges of the tape on the sides of the craft stick using scissors.
5. Cut the tissue paper to resemble a flame.
6. You can use the play candles for other activities as well.

1. Pour a bottle of sprinkles in the bottom of the dish or storage container you plan to use.
2. Add the birthday cake dough.
3. Place small dishes like play food dishes, silicone cupcake molds, and small baking dishes in the bin.
4. Add the fake candles and a battery operated votive candle.

Sensory play benefits of this bin:

This is imaginative play at its finest. Children will also benefit from the sensory experiences. The squeezing together of the dough provides proprioceptive feedback. They will also be receiving visual and tactile sensory input. If you add the optional scented candle or wax melt, they will also be engaging their olfactory sensory system. 

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Birthday Party Sensory Bin 

Cloud Dough Sensory Bin 

A bee life cycle sensory bin is a hands-on way to reinforce learning for kids on this topic. You can use this bin in a science unit or at a sensory station in your home or classroom.Walk kids through the transformation of a bee from egg to larva to pupa to a mature honey bee. You can either add everything to the bin all at once, or you can add them in after the amount of time they would happen in real life.

In that case, you would add the egg on the first day and it would “hatch” into the larva after 3 or 4 days, so you could add the larva on that day. The next stage takes between 6 and 11 days depending on whether the bee is a future queen or a worker bee.

Bee Life Cycle Sensory Bin:

Materials needed:

• plastic bin
• black and yellow water beads
• the life cycle of a honey bee pack
• optional: small jar of honey to touch, taste, and smell

Life Cycle of a Honey BeeYellow Water BeadsBlack Water Beads

1. Place the water beads in a plastic container. I used three packs of yellow beads and one pack of black water beads.
2. Add water.
3. Allow the water beads to expand fully (this will take several hours) before adding the items from the life cycle of a bee package.

Kids can use their hands to dig in the bin and touch each of the stages in the honey bee cycle. If you’ve included some honey, they will also be able to use their sense of taste and smell to enhance their learning.

This sensory bin engages the visual and tactile sensory systems and if honey is included, it also engages the olfactory (smell) and gustatory (taste) systems as well. This is hands-on learning at its best.

If you’re doing a learning unit on bees, here are some other great resources to check out:

Free Bee Life Cycle Printables from Homeschool Preschoool

How to Make a Bee Habitat from Natural Beach Living

Printable Life Cycle of a Bee Layer Book from Passionate Curiosity

Books that would go along well with this unit:

Are You a Bee?Book Plus Bee Life Cycle Foam ModelThe Life and Times of the HoneybeeThe Life Cycle of a HoneybeeThe Bee BookFive Bizzy Honey Bees

Check out some of our other science related sensory bins:

Solar System Sensory Bin 

Insect Sensory Bin 

This snowflake sensory bin is very simple. It has a clean look to it. It is a very inviting sensory play activity for kids. And it’s so pretty!You can use this in a preschool classroom or at home. It encourages scooping and pouring and hands-on discovery.

Materials needed:

• plastic tub
• light blue or light green glitter gravel*
• snowflake confetti
• plastic snowflakes
• silver fabric snowflakes
• clear plastic spoon
• small clear container

*I buy my glitter gravel at the Dollar Store. I like it as a sensory play material. It provides a different texture and you can purchase it in a variety of colours. And it’s extremely cheap!

This bin is a cute way to bring a bit of winter indoors.

You can also use this activity as a way to talk about snowflakes and how they are all unique. Kids can research how snowflake are formed as a science project and use this hands-on activity as a way to reinforce their learning.

The snowflake sensory bin gives tactile, visual, auditory, and proprioceptive feedback. The spoon and the scoop provide opportunities for fine motor practise. My kids really liked the sound the glitter gravel made when they scooped it. They also loved the soothing colours.

Please note that this sensory tub contains small pieces that are a choking hazard. Adult supervision should be used with this or any other sensory play activity.

Other great winter themed sensory bins:

Frozen Sensory Bin 

Penguin Sensory Bin (my kids REALLY loved that one!)

Winter Sensory Tray