Sensory Bins

Ladybug Life Cycle Sensory Bin and Activities

This adorable ladybug life cycle sensory bin is a great addition to an insect study, ladybug study, or preschool classroom. You can set it up for your child at home or students in the classroom and invite them to explore. Whenever you can add a sensory activity into learning, it increases the amount of information children can retain. Sensory bins are a simple way to do this and as kids discover through their senses, they can ask questions which will increase their learning.

Ladybug Life Cycle Sensory Bin:

Supplies needed:

- plastic bin
- rice dyed green >> read how to dye rice for sensory play
- ladybug life cycle pack
- rocks
- sticks
- plastic leaves
- magnifying glass

Instructions:

Dye the rice (read the full instructions here) and let it dry overnight.
Pour the green rice into a plastic bin.
Place the other items into the bin.
Invite your child or students to play and discover.

This sensory bin contains small parts. Adult supervision should always be used when kids play.

Life Stages of a Ladybug:

egg
larva
pupa
adult ladybug

Activities to Expand on Your Ladybug Study:

Observe ladybugs in nature.
Download and print off this ladybug life cycle printable.
Set out books about ladybugs and other insects.
Make and hang suncatcher decorations to go along with your theme.
Create a craft out of a paper plate.
Use these life cycle sequencing cards.
Print and colour these ladybug life cycle pages.

Kids will engage their visual, tactile, and proprioceptive sensory systems by playing in this sensory bin. You can also add something for the olfactory (smell) system by scenting the rice using essential oil.

Resources for Learning About Ladybugs:

Ladybug Life Cycle Pack Ladybug Life Cycle Reversible Hand Puppet Ladybug Land with Live Larvae The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle Life Story of a Ladybug Color the Life Cycle of a Ladybug, Cricket, Butterfly, Honey Bee, and a Frog Ladybugs

You might also want to check out our other life cycle sensory bins:

Sensory Bin Starter Kit

By Sharla Kostelyk

Sensory bins are simple to put together but provide a big “punch” in terms of benefits. Improved fine motor skills, sensory input (tactile, visual, proprioception, and sometimes auditory and/or gustatory), communication skills, and hands-on learning are just some of the opportunities that are presented to a child with sensory bin play.

If you’re new to creating sensory bins for your child or classroom, I’ve put together a Sensory Bin Starter Kit guide for you.

And the best news? I’m giving away this entire kit to one lucky winner. This is part of my 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways. Enter below for your chance to win one of everything listed here.

Note: Today’s giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the United States only.

Sensory Bins eBook

The Sensory Bins book includes idea lists, storage tips, money saving hints, information on sensory processing in how it pertains to sensory bins, and sensory play recipes. It’s a great place to start.

Pluffle

This stuff is so fun! It kind of moves which is just super neat. I discovered it just last year. It makes a great sensory bin filler and is so versatile. You can see a video below of the pluffle in action.

Learning Resources Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set

Sensory bins are a wonderful way to improve fine motor skills. This tool set includes large Gator Grabber tweezers, a Handy Scooper, Twisty Dropper, and Squeezy Tweezers. These are all designed for fine motor skill development.

Adding one or more of these into a sensory bin will offer more ways to play and explore. I especially like the Handy Scooper for water bead sensory bins.

For similar effects, you can also add kitchen tools such as measuring cups, measuring spoons, tongs, scoops, ladles, strainers, small bowls, and spatulas. These are great for scooping, pouring, measuring, moving, pinching, and grabbing.

Water Beads

Water beads are such a versatile sensory item. They make an easy sensory bin filler. I’ve used them in so many of our sensory bins.

Small Toys or Items for Play

One of the things I use most in my sensory bins are little toys found in these things called Toobs. I’ve used the space set, human organs, ocean animals, in the sky, arctic, insects, fruits and vegetables, penguins, dinosaur skulls, and many others.

Small toy cars, miniature trees, pompoms, and mini figures are other common items we often use in our bins. If you have all of these basic components and add them to a bin, you can create all kinds of wonderful sensory bins for your child to explore!

As with all sensory play, adult supervision should be used at all times.

Other Sensory Bin Resources:

Enter the giveaway for the Sensory Bins eBook, Pluffle, water beads, Learning Resources fine motor tool kit, and one Toob below.

Note: Today’s giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the United States only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out all 12 Giveaways. You can enter them all!

Frog Life Cycle Sensory Bin and Activities

By Sharla Kostelyk

A frog life cycle sensory bin is a great addition to your child or students’ science studies. Kids can explore and discover using their sense of touch and sight.

When you can add a hands-on component to any unit study, it increases retention of the information and interest in the topic.

Frog Life Cycle Sensory Bin:

Supplies needed:

plastic container
blue and green water beads
frog life cycle pack
frog figurines
rocks
plastic lily pads
plastic leaves

Directions:

Place the water beads in a plastic container.
Add water.
Allow time for the water beads to expand.
Make an area in a corner of the bin by pushing away some of the water beads and set out the rocks. This will be the land where frogs can sit.
Add in the frogs, lily pads, and leaves.
Invite kids to explore.

Life Stages of the Frog:

A frog lays eggs. It takes one to three weeks for the eggs to hatch.
A tadpole hatches from each egg. Tadpoles live exclusively in water. They use gills to breathe. This stage lasts 9-12 weeks.
The tadpole then grows into a froglet that looks more like a frog but has a tail. It has legs and lungs, so it is able to walk and hop on land.
12-16 weeks after the egg first hatched, the frog is fully formed and is an adult.

Ideas to Expand Your Frog Life Cycle Unit Study:

Set out a variety of books on frogs.
Go on a nature hike to a pond and observe frogs or tadpoles in person. Draw what you see in a notebook. Watching frogs in real life is the most effective way to learn about them.
Download and print the Frog Life Cycle Hat. Students can colour it, cut it out, and even wear it while they play in the sensory bin!
Use the Frog Emotions Printable Pack.
Learn this cute song about metamorphosis.
Watch a video about frogs.
Fill out a worksheet to help remember the stages.

Resources for Learning about Frogs:

Insect Lore Frog Life Cycle Stages Tadpole to Frog Growing Kit with 2 Live Tadpoles Frog Emotions Printable PackBUY NOW Life Cycle of a Frog Montessori Puzzle Life Cycle of a Frog Learning Chart Frog Life Cycle Hand Puppet And the Bullfrogs Sing: A Life Cycle Begins From Tadpole to Frog National Geographic Readers: Tadpole to Frog

This sensory bin contains small parts and water beads. Adult supervision should be used at all times when kids are participating in sensory play.

Download your free printable Frog Life Cycle Hat. You’ll also be entered in our email series 5 Days to Better Family Connection.

Check out our other life cycle sensory bins:

Bee Life Cycle Sensory Bin

Praying Mantis Life Cycle Sensory Bin

Chicken Life Cycle Sensory Bin

Peter Rabbit Sensory Bin

By Sharla Kostelyk

I’ve long been a fan of the Peter Rabbit books. Then they came out with a pretty cute movie and a sequel. Now the world has met these cute bunny characters. This Peter Rabbit Sensory Bin is a cute way to expand the books or the movie. Preschoolers can engage in imaginative play with some of the most beloved characters in this adorable Peter Rabbit Sensory Bin. We later used some of these same items in our Peter Rabbit Invitation to Play.

Peter Rabbit Sensory Bin:

Supplies needed:

plastic tub
rice dyed green (get full instructions on how to easily colour rice yourself)
dry beans
Peter Rabbit figurines
fruits and vegetables Toob
carrot cookie cutter
scoops and tongs

Directions:

Dye rice green using these instructions.
Once it is dry, place it at the bottom of a plastic bin to cover about half.
Place dry beans in the other half.
Put the figurines and the other items in the bin.
Invite your child to play.

The Peter Rabbit Classic Collection Peter Rabbit Movie GUND Classic Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit Stuffed Animal Peter Rabbit Figures A Rabbit’s Tale Felt Figures for Flannelboard Stories Fruits & Vegetables Toob Set of Carrot, Bunny & Bird Cookie Cutters

This hands-on sensory bin provides the opportunity for kids to engage their visual, tactile, and proprioceptive sensory systems.

Because of the bunnies, this sensory bin could also be set out at Easter time. Or it could correlate with a literature study or nutrition unit.

Ways to expand this activity:

Read one of the Peter Rabbit books aloud to your child while they are playing in the bin.
Watch one of the movies together.
Create a Peter Rabbit Playdough Invitation to Play.
Set out real fruits and vegetables for your child to snack on while they play.
Suggest that your child recreate a scene from the books or movies in their play.
For older kids, you can create an entire Peter Rabbit unit study and use these free printable worksheets to go along with it.
Play a Peter Rabbit I Spy game.

Some other sensory activities that may interest you:

Peter Rabbit Playdough Center

Bath Time Theme Sensory Bin

Stretchy Butterfly Slime

Alphabet Sensory Bin for Preschool Letter Recognition

By Sharla Kostelyk

Provide a fun hands-on way for your child or student to learn letter sounds with this Alphabet Sensory Bin. Learning the letters of the alphabet is an important early childhood skill. It is a precursor for both reading and writing. By giving children the opportunity to feel the shape of the letters and explore through their senses, you can help cement this skill for them in a fun and engaging way.

Setting up a sensory bin for this purpose is a great hands-on addition to your home or preschool or Kindergarten classroom. It’s easy to set up sensory bins that kids will love. They provide visual, tactile, and proprioceptive sensory input. In addition, they increase a child’s interest and curiosity in learning.

Alphabet Sensory Bin:

Supplies needed:

plastic bin
coloured rice
letters (we used alphabet cookie cutters, wooden ABCs, small alphabet beads, and foil die cut letters)
optional: scoops or funnels

Directions:

Dye rice in an assortment of colours. Read our full instructions on how to easily dye rice. You can also used coloured rice left over from other sensory play.
Toss the rice in a plastic bin.
Add letters. You can use anything shaped as letters. Suggestions include magnetic letters, cookie cutters, wooden letters, foam stickers with the backing left on, Scrabble tiles, foam bath letters, or alphabet beads.
Invite your child to play.

A note about adding multiple types of letters: if your child struggles with the alphabet, it can be best to only include one set of letters to reduce sensory overload and simplify things.

Ways to expand this alphabet learning activity:

Play a version of seek and find. Call out the names of letters and have your child find that letter in the rice. A more advanced variation on this is to display or write the lower case version of a letter and have the child find and identify the upper case match to it in the sensory bin.
When the child pulls out a letter, have them name something that starts with that letter to help them learn about beginning sounds.
Put a paper and crayons nearby so that kids can trace the letters or copy their shape on the paper.
Use alphabet playdough mats to provide another rich tactile sensory activity opportunity.
Set out alphabet books such as Chicka Chicka Boom Boom for kids to explore and compare the letters in the bin to.

Books to correspond with your ABC Sensory Bin:

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Dr. Seuss’s ABC Animalia (MY PERSONAL FAVOURITE!)Touch and Trace ABC Board Book A is for Apple (Kids Trace-and-Flip)The Handmade Alphabet Eating the Alphabet M Is For Maple: A Canadian Alphabet

Looking for more easy sensory play ideas for hands-on learning? Join us for a free five day email series on Sensory Activities and Solutions and get a free sample of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.

Sensory Play Resources:

How to Dye Rice for Sensory Play

Huge List of Sensory Bin Fillers and Tools

Over 100 Sensory Bin Themes

What’s the Point of Sensory Bins, Bottles, and Bags?

How to Dye Rice for Sensory Play

By Sharla Kostelyk

You can easily make your own colourful rice for sensory play at home or in your preschool or classroom. This recipe for dying rice doesn’t use rubbing alcohol, making it safer in case you have kids who put things in their mouth. Simply follow our instructions for how to dye rice. Rice is one of my favourite sensory bin fillers. I always make extra of the green because I find that it looks like grass which makes it versatile for all kinds of sensory bins, bottles, and bags.

How to Dye Rice:

Supplies needed:

1 cup white rice per colour
1/2 tsp. vinegar per colour
coloured food gel or food colouring
optional: essential oils*

Wilton Food Gel White Vinegar White Rice

Directions:

Put 1 cup of rice in a resealable plastic bag.
Add 1/2 tsp. of vinegar and a bit of the icing gel or food colouring. You won’t get colours that are as vibrant if you use food colouring as opposed to the gel. If you want to add essential oil, add a few drops at this point.
Seal the bag and shake well.
Spread the coloured rice out on a baking tray to dry overnight.
Repeat with other colours.
Use in sensory play.

*A note about the essential oils:

Adding essential oil to the rice will create an extra sensory element as it creates olfactory (scent) input. There are some scents that are calming such as lavender, jasmine, or rose. Other scents are alerting such as lemon, peppermint, or cinnamon.

You will want to choose the essential oil based on what you are trying to achieve. In a setting where you want your child to be learning, you may want to choose an alerting scent. If you are wanting to create more calming sensory play opportunities, then you’ll want to choose a calming scent for the rice. When not in use, be sure to store your coloured rice in a sealed plastic bag or an airtight container. You can reuse it over and over again as long as it’s properly stored.

Ways to use coloured rice in sensory play:

Coloured rice can be used in a variety of sensory play activities. If you use more than one colour at a time, the colours will obviously combine through play and create a different look altogether. That’s not a bad thing, but if you have a child prone to getting upset by things not looking the way they think they should, this is something you should warn them about before they begin to engage with their sensory play.

Here are some ideas:

Use coloured rice in a sensory bottle along with some small buttons or toys to create a Seek and Find Discovery Bottle.
Create a rainbow effect by lining up different colours in a sensory tub. Add some scoops and funnels for kids to explore and work on their fine motor skills by scooping and pouring.
Use green rice to look like grass for insect, butterfly, Spring, or other outdoor themed sensory bins.
Fill a resealable bag about halfway full with coloured rice and then add some small toys or alphabet letters to create an I-Spy type sensory bag.
Layer different colours in a jar or bottle.
Fill a plastic bottle with some of the rice and leave some space at the top to create a music shaker.

Other helpful information about sensory play:

Looking for more easy sensory play recipes to use with your kids? Join us for a free five day email series on Sensory Activities and Solutions and get a free sample of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.