Sensory Bins

Nutrition Sensory Bin

This may just be the simplest sensory bin I’ve ever thrown together. I wanted something that could help reinforce some of what we are learning about nutrition and that wouldn’t be messy so I chose not to use real food (other than the dried beans).

Nutrition Sensory Bin When we were vacationing on Vancouver Island last summer, I picked up a lot of these fruits and vegetables at this cute store that has live goats on the roof! I knew that they would come in handy for play and have been wanting to use them in a sensory bin.

For the sensory bin, I used dried beans as the base and added some of our play food including the very life-like food that I bought last summer. I used some felt food like the cheese and bread and tomato slice to add different textures.

The food includes squash, onion, peppers, eggplant, cheese, avocado, bread, tomatoes, cucumber, grapes, and lettuce. I didn’t have any play meat. I guess it’s more of a vegetarian sensory bin!

You can create a similar sensory bin using whatever play food you have and use it to spur on a discussion about what foods are healthy.

I also have some play ice cream and cookies and donuts so I will be adding those to the bin on another day and asking the kids to separate the foods into healthy eat whenever foods versus treats and only eat occasionally foods.

I’m thinking that I will add a real banana and real green pepper since I have some and I want to see how quickly the kids notice!

If you are looking for more sensory bin ideas or information, you may be interested in my book and following my Sensory Bins board on Pinterest.

Sensory Bin Cleanup

By Sharla Kostelyk

Since I wrote my book on Sensory Bins, one of the most common questions I get is about the cleanup. Although I do address both how to prevent or cut down on messes and how to clean them up in the book, I have a few additional suggestions and I’d love to hear your suggestions as well.

Hate the messiness of sensory play? Here are some tips. Image credit: MatHayward / 123RF Stock Photo

One of the easiest ways to clean up of course is to avoid the mess in the first place or to control where the mess happens. Sensory sinks are a great way to contain the mess of a sensory bin in an easy to clean area. Here’s an example of a sensory sink from Teaching Mama.

The bathtub is another great location for a sensory bin. The deck or backyard are other great areas to house your sensory play when the weather allows it. Controlling where the mess happens will help you with clean up later.

Another tip is to place your sensory bin inside a larger, deeper container such as a Rubbermaid storage tub. This way, any spilling over of the materials will go into the tub instead of all over your floor. This works especially well with little ones as they then have to bend way over to access the sensory bin and don’t quite have the leverage to throw its contents all over the floor!

I suggest that you never have sensory bin play on a carpet as carpet are harder to clean. Many sensory bin bases can easily be swept up after play as long as they are dry bases.

Dry sensory bin bases are easy to clean up as long as they don’t get wet. Try to teach your kids to keep water or other liquids away from those sensory bins. My kids are a bit older and are very good about this but when we have little ones come over, which is fairly often, water does get mixed into a dry bin from time to time. Water and dyed purple rice for example was a bit more unpleasant to clean up. It also meant that I couldn’t re-use that purple rice in a subsequent bin as it had to be thrown out. Water and black beans or dry lentils are also some of the mishaps we’ve had around here.

At the dollar store, you can buy shower curtain liners. They often come in clear but you can get them in pretty much every colour under the sun if you want to create a more cheerful look to accompany the play. These are great for placing underneath a sensory bin, particularly a bin with a messy base such as this one from Fun at Home with Kids.

You can use all kinds of things for a drop cloth underneath your sensory bins including old blankets, an actual painter’s canvas drop cloth, or plastic disposable tablecloths (these can also be found at the dollar store). If you are using something such as the shower curtain liner or the plastic tablecloth and things really get out of hand, then you can always bundle up the mess afterwards and throw the whole thing away and only have spent $1.

Of course no matter how well you plan and prepare, sensory bins are probably going to lead to messes. A few months ago, one of the younger kids who was over visiting dumped two of our sensory bins together. One was our desert sensory bin and the other was a construction sensory bin. I had been planning to make other bins using the sand base of the desert bin and sand is not the cheapest base out there, so I decided I was going to have to find a way to salvage it.

I removed all the larger items and then used a colander placed above a large Ziploc bag to sift out the sand from the Kidfetti (also one of the more expensive sensory bin fillers) so that I would be able to re-use both bases. It was a bit of a tedious task but it worked!

separating sensory bin bases

The best rule of thumb really is not to create sensory bins that have a potential mess factor that you aren’t willing to live with!

Now if cleaning up sensory bins just isn’t your thing but you still want your kids to be able to enjoy some sensory play, you can always fill a sink full of water and bubbles and have them clean their toy cars or dishes. You can even have them clean some real dishes while they’re at it!

For instructions on how to create a sensory bin, information about why they are so beneficial for children, relevant recipes, printable idea lists and more, get your copy of my ebook Sensory Bins: the What, the How & the Why.

What tips have you found for cleaning up sensory bins?

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

Create Your Own Sensory Bin

By Sharla Kostelyk

Sensory bins have always been something that I have created for the kids with very little input from them. Once I create them, the kids play with them, but the process of making them has always been something that is mine. Normally, I choose a theme, plan out what I’m going to include, make a list or take notes, go shopping for supplies if I need to, and then assemble the sensory bin. Sometimes in a pinch, I will go over to my sensory supplies cupboards and throw something together but usually, I have a plan.

Create your own Sensory Bin...a creative challenge for kids

Sarah from Little Bins for Little Hands put out a challenge to set out a bin with white rice and allow our kids to create their own sensory bin without any instruction from us. It sounded like fun and I was really interested to see what my kids would come up with so I took her up on it!

I set out five bins on the table, each filled with a layer of plain white rice. I did give one instruction to the kids which was that they should steer clear of adding anything wet to the bins (we have experienced several times what happens when liquid is added to a sensory bin that has rice as a base and it’s not pretty!).

It was so neat to see not only the kids’ personalities represented in their finished bins, but also to see their sensory preferences. Our older kids who weren’t home at the time the five younger kids made their bins were actually able to later guess whose was whose just based on personality!

The kids know where I keep the sensory supplies and they have been itching to get their hands on the stuff in those drawers! One of the first questions they asked me was if they were allowed to use those items. I say “yes”. The second question they asked was if they were allowed to add food or things they found in the kitchen. I say “yes” to that as well.

They tore off in search of items to add to their bins. It was clear from the beginning that some had a clear plan while others were just adding what felt good to them or what they saw their siblings add to theirs!

creating their own sensory bins I have to be 100% honest and say that it was painful for me to watch some of this process. It was painful to watch certain things get mixed together when I knew there would be no hope of separating them again and it was painful sometimes not to offer instruction or give suggestions. I was sometimes cringing when I saw what they were adding, so this was as much a learning exercise for me as it is for them.

Here are the kids and their completed sensory bins:

Miss Optimism sensory bin Miss Optimism chose to add Kidfetti to the rice as a base. It’s interesting because the Kidfetti has a very similar feel to the rice. It’s smooth and soft. She initially added some glass stones and sea shells to create a beach scene, but in the end, she ended up taking all of those out because she preferred the feel of her bin without them. Later that day, she hid a coin in the bin and made a game out of having the other kids retrieve it.

Einstein sensory bin Einstein added anything he could get his hands on and just loved the feel of all the different textures. MORE is MORE apparently for Einstein! He added Kidfetti, dried lentils, dried chickpeas, birdseed, dried beans, mini marshmallows, dyed pasta shells and macaroni, pompoms, jingle bells, cotton balls, shells, Easter grass, and ribbon. He pretty much used every sensory bin filler that I had!

Snuggle Puppy sensory bin Snuggle Puppy headed straight outside to gather items for his bin. He had a plan from the beginning and his bin was less about sensory and more about story. He told me to tell my “people that read your blog” that the title of this is “Mommy’s first time camping”. He is obviously excited that I am going to be coming camping for the first time in his life this upcoming summer. He used sticks, twigs, shredded paper, and rocks to create a campfire scene.

Granola Girl sensory bin Granola Girl started with a very organized bin that can best be described as minimalist but as the time passed, she began to be influenced by her siblings and add some of the things they were adding. She used Kidfetti, an origami box, silk flower petals, seashells, shaped ice cubes, feathers, Easter grass, dyed pasta shells, a ball, a stretchy frog, and a squishy snake.

Dancing Queen sensory bin Dancing Queen’s sensory bin had a distinctive theme of food. She used both real and pretend food. She added corn flakes, mini marshmallows, glass beads, feathers, shells, a wooden heart, flower petals, her pill bottles, and a pretend mango (her favourite fruit), bananas and grapes. She also threw in some red dyed pasta.

If you are interested to see how other kids reacted to this sensory bin challenge, there are a number of blogs who are sharing their experiences with this.

rice sensory bin challenge

Little Bins For Little Hands

A Mommy’s Adventures

Craftulate

Creative World of Varya

Life with Moore Babies

Minne-Mama

P is for Preschooler

Preschool Inspirations

School Time Snippets

Squiggles and Bubbles

If you are looking for other sensory play activities, you may be interested in following my Sensory Bins Board on Pinterest.

Check out my book on Sensory Bins! It is fantastic!

Spring Sensory Bins

By Sharla Kostelyk

Spring is coming! I know I’ve been saying that every week for about a month now, but one of these weeks, it’s going to be true! It snowed here yesterday but next week, it is supposed to start warming up. These Spring Sensory Bins will help bring Spring into your home even if you don’t yet see it outside.

Spring Sensory Bins

Simple Spring Sensory Bin from here on The Chaos and The Clutter (pictured)

Spring Themed Sensory Bin from Buggy and Buddy (pictured)

G is for Garden Sensory Bin from Simple Fun for Kids

Spring Sensory Bin from Teaching Mama (pictured)

Spring Robin Sensory Bin from Sugar Aunts

Bug Sensory Bin by Living Life and Learning

Easy Easter Sensory Bin from There’s Just One Mommy

Bug Sensory Bin from Learning 2 Walk (pictured)

Garden Sensory Pail from here on The Chaos and The Clutter

Spring Garden Sensory Play from ABC Creative Learning

Colored Hay Sensory Bin from Crayon Box Chronicles (pictured)

Fun with Easter Eggs! {Sensory Play Activity and egg decorating} from Artsy Momma

Frog Sensory Bin from The Chaos and The Clutter

Goopy Grass Sensory Play from Living Life and Learning

Spring Color Sorting Sensory Bin from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds (pictured)

Silk Flowers Sensory Bin from The Chaos and The Clutter (pictured)

Spring Flower Garden from Learning 2 Walk

Full Body Easter Sensory Bin for Babies from Simple Fun for Kids

Flower Sensory Soup from Living Life and Learning

Spring Sensory Bin from Mama Miss (pictured)

Water, Beads and Flowers Spring Sensory Bin from Where Imagination Grows

Spring Sensory Bin from Cutting Tiny Bites (pictured)

Springtime Easter Sensory Bin from Teach Mama

Easter Sensory Tub from Simple Fun for Kids

Easter Egg and Bunny Sensory Bin

By Sharla Kostelyk

I like to keep a stash of coloured rice on hand for things just such as this. Since I had already dyed the rice, I was able to throw this sensory bin together really quickly.

Easter Egg and Bunny Sensory Bin To make this Easter sensory bin, I used blue and pink rice, egg shakers (a really great sensory tool!), glittered foam eggs, styrofoam eggs, fuzzy chicks, a bunny cookie cutter, and cookie cutters to spell out the word “HOP”.

The kids enjoyed this bin but it was Granola Girl who took the biggest liking to it. She especially seemed to like to group things by colour. She also liked to keep the blue and pink rice on their respective sides. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture after any of her sessions with the bin. I did manage to get this picture of the bin after Snuggle Puppy finished playing with it. He obviously had no issues with mixing the different colours of rice!

Hop Easter Sensory Bin

You may also want to check out our Christ-centered Easter sensory bin from last year. If you are looking for more sensory bin ideas or information, you may be interested in my book and by following my Sensory Bins board on Pinterest.

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

Silk Flowers Sensory Bins

By Sharla Kostelyk

These silk flowers sensory bins were made easily using silk flowers and flower petals. These are a very easy sensory bin filler. I find most of mine at the dollar store.

Spring is coming! After a winter that seemed longer (or maybe just colder) than most, I am very ready to welcome it. As part of my plan to welcome spring a bit early, I made two Spring themed sensory bins. The first one I made very simply with two colours of silk flower petals, soap flower petals (I knew that my sensory sensitive kids would NOT be fans of the smell of the regular rose scented ones so I bought softer grapefruit smelling ones), and little chicks. It was a very simple bin but had a good contrast of textures between the coarser soap petals and the silk petals and then the fuzzy chicks. With the presence of the little chicks, this bin could also double as an Easter sensory experience.

The other bin is one that I love because it is full of bright and cheerful colours! For me, Spring is all about colour. This bin was so pretty.

For this sensory bin, I used a purple silk flower lei, many different silk flowers in an assortment of colours, silk leaves, a large daisy hairclip, and really bright pompoms. The kids really enjoyed this bin. Granola Girl enjoyed grouping the flowers and pompoms according to colour while some of the other kids just wanted to dig their hands in and play in a more random way.

Silk flowers and flower petals are a very easy bin filler because they add colour, a nice soft texture and they hold up well to play and even do well if they get wet. You can easily float them in water.

If you have any sensory bins that you silk flowers or flower petals, please link them up so that others can find more ideas for incorporating this easy sensory bin filler into their sensory play as well.

If you are looking for information on making sensory bins, you may be interested in my book.