Sensory Bins

I recently discovered this new play material called Pluffle. I haven’t decided yet if I think it’s cool or icky (it moves a bit like little worms – ewww!), but I can tell that I’m going to be using it in a lot of upcoming play activities! This Valentine’s Pluffle Sensory Bin is the first.

Pluffle is a play foam. I don’t know the science behind it, but it kind of moves on its own. It’s a bit creepy, but also very fun. Kids are pretty fascinated while they watch the movement as it expands.

Valentine’s Pluffle Sensory Bin:

Supplies needed:

• red Pluffle
• heart shaped erasers (from the Dollar Store)
• red jumbo kid tweezers
• pink heart shaped cookie cutters
• small pink heart shaped containers (from the Dollar Store)
• pink and red tic tac toe placeholders (from the Dollar Store)
• plastic bin

Directions:

1. Empty a container of Pluffle into a plastic container.
2. Drop in some heart shaped erasers, the cookie cutters, jumbo tweezers, and plastic heart containers.
3. Invite your child or students to play.

Sensory and Learning Opportunities:

Fine motor skills – Kids can use the heart containers to scoop and fill. They can use the tweezers to pick up the Pluffle or to pick up the erasers and move them.

Math – Students can arrange the cookie cutters from smallest to largest or use spacial concepts to fit hearts inside each other.

Vocabulary – Talking about patterns, colours, and what textures they are feeling can help kids improve their communication skills and encourage them to ask questions.

Sensory – This Valentine’s Sensory Bin provides visual and tactile sensory feedback along with a bit of proprioception. There are a lot of textures to explore with the soft pluffle and the squishy erasers and the hard tic tac toe tiles.

Check out some of our other Valentine’s sensory play activities:

Scented Valentine’s Sensory Bin

Valentine’s Calm Down Bottle

Valentine’s Sensory Bottle

When it comes to sensory activities for home or the classroom, it doesn’t have to be complicated. This simple scented Valentine’s sensory bin encourages hands-on play. Because of the scent, this activity is reminiscent of cinnamon hearts which are of course a Valentine’s Day staple.

Scented Valentine’s Sensory Bin:

Supplies needed:

• white rice
• white vinegar
• red food colouring
• cinnamon essential oil
• heart gems
• heart shaped container (can often be found at the Dollar Store) or sensory bin
• optional: scoops or spoons for play

Directions:

1. Add 2 cups of rice to a gallon sized resealable plastic bag.
2. Drop 2 tsp. of vinegar to the rice.
3. Add 20-30 drops of red food colouring. (more drops = deeper colour)
4. Put in 3-7 drops of cinnamon essential oil (depending on how strong you want the smell to be).
5. Seal the bag and shake. Mix well until the rice is evenly coloured.
6. Line a baking sheet with paper towel.
7. Pour the coloured rice onto paper towel, spread out evenly, and allow the rice to dry. (I usually leave mine overnight.)
8. Once dry, add one cup of white rice and mix. The mix will look red, white, and pink.
9. Pour the rice into a heart shaped tray.
10. Add hearts for sensory play.
11. When the bin is no longer being played with, you can store the rice and hearts in a clear glass or plastic jar or bottle as decoration.

Sensory and Learning Opportunities:

Kids playing in this Valentine’s sensory bin engage their olfactory (smell), tactile (touch), visual (sight), and proprioceptive sensory systems.

You can expand this activity by creating a seek and find in the rice with sight words related to Valentine’s or by having kids count the number of red or pink hearts and discuss which one there are more of.

Are you looking for other easy sensory play ideas for 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.

Some of our other Valentine’s sensory activities:

Valentine’s Playdough Station

Valentine’s Sensory Bottle

Kinetic sand is such a versatile sensory play material. I wanted to demonstrate just some of the many easy ways you can create a sensory bin using kinetic sand. Store bought kinetic sand can be expensive, so I usually make my own using this homemade kinetic sand recipe.

I wanted to show how easily you could create an interactive sensory experience using only kinetic sand and a few items that you may already have around your house. So for this, I used one package of purchased kinetic sand.

Kinetic Sand Sensory Bins:

The possibilities really are endless. You can reuse the same base over and over and create a new experience each time by changing what you fill it with. I also used a few different bin options including one with a lid so that it is a portable sensory bin. Plus if you have cats, the lid keeps them from thinking it’s a litter box!

Kinetic sand looks similar to regular sand but acts more like wet sand as it can be moulded and can hold shapes. Those properties make it an ideal tool for sensory play.

Bring the Beach Home Sensory Bin:

This one is especially appealing at the moment given the temperature outside! Create your own mini beach scene at home no matter how far you live from the beach.
Supplies needed:

• kinetic sand
• shells
• glass beads
• small wood slices
• rocks

Sandcastle Building Sensory Bin:

Recreate the feeling of playing in the sand while at home. Dig, build sandcastles, create moats.

Supplies needed:

• kinetic sand
• mini beach toys

Sea Turtle Sensory Bin:

Explore the life cycle of green sea turtles with this kinetic sand bin.

Supplies needed:

• kinetic sand
• rocks
• Sea Turtle Life Cycle pack

Cars Sensory Bin:

Use characters from the Cars movie or any toy cars you have on hand.

Supplies needed:

• kinetic sand
• toy cars

Rainforest Animals Sensory Bin:

Create an interactive learning station at home or in a classroom.

Supplies needed:

• kinetic sand
• Rainforest animals Toob
• optional: sticks or leaves

Construction Sensory Bin:

This theme is especially popular with boys! They can dig, scoop, move, build, and imagine.

Supplies needed:

• kinetic sand
• small construction vehicles
• construction mini erasers
• small wooden blocks

Dinosaur Sensory Bin:

This activity can be just for fun or to pair with a dinosaur learning unit.

Supplies needed:

• kinetic sand
• plastic dinosaurs
• optional: leaves or sticks or small toy trees

Alphabet Sensory Bin:

It’s amazing how much you can do with just a set of alphabet letters and kinetic sand!

Supplies needed:

• kinetic sand
• Alphabet letters

With this sensory activity, here are some things you can do to help kids work on their letter recognition, reading, and spelling:

• have kids spell out words of their choosing
• have them recreate words from a spelling list
• allow them to seek out and read words that you make in the sand
• have them match a letter with its imprint and say the name of the letter
• imprint the letters of the word and take the letters out of the bin and have your child find the corresponding letter that matches the imprint like a puzzle.

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

You might also want to read:

DIY Kinetic Sand Recipe

Kinetic Sand Activities

I love how this sensory play activity came together. I was at the Dollar Store (where I find a lot of my sensory inspiration) when I saw the cutest mini bath toys. It gave me an idea for a bath time themed sensory bin. I made the “water” out of gelatin that I dyed blue. When I added the bath toys, it looked good, but I felt like it was missing something. I wanted to create the look of bubbles in the “water” and I also wanted to add in another sensory dimension.

After considering a few ideas such as adding a layer of shaving cream to add another sensory element and to create the look of foam, I came up with a different plan. I decided to make round ice cubes and dye them blue. This would create the look of bubbles in the bath.

It would also add another sensory rich experience by adding cold and by allowing kids to explore different states of matter as the ice melted. I really love the way this sensory bin turned out!

Bath Time Sensory Bin:

Materials needed:

• plastic bin
• 4 packs of gelatin
• blue food colouring
• water
• round ice cube holders
• small bath toys
• optional: plastic knives, spoons, or scoops

Directions:

1. Make the gelatin according to the package directions, adding a few drops of blue food colouring to the water. Stir it directly in the bin. Allow to set. I put ours in the fridge to set.
2. Mix some blue food colouring in a pitcher of water and pour into the round ice cube mould. Freeze.
3. Add the bath toys to the bin on top of the gelatin once it has set.
4. After the ice balls are fully frozen, place them in the bin.
5. Let the play begin!

My kids enjoyed exploring in this bin. One of my daughters wanted to cut the shape of a fish out of the gelatin. She used a plastic knife and was easily able to cut out a jello fish. She later wanted to taste it. Since there’s no harm in that since it’s a taste safe sensory bin, she went ahead and took a bite. I hadn’t added any sugar to the gelatin, so she wasn’t a fan of the taste!

Sensory and Learning Opportunities:

The contrast of the moist, gummy gelatine and the cold, hard ice creates a really awesome sensory experience! This activity engages the visual, tactile, and gustatory (taste) sensory systems.

As kids explore through their senses, they learn about the world around them and about how to engage that world. They improve their communication by talking about what they are seeing, tasting, and feeling and by asking questions. Their vocabulary increases as they learn to describe certain textures, colours, or tastes.

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Here are some other toddler sensory activities you may be interested in:

Calming Bedtime Sensory Bottle

Condensed Milk Painting

Edible Shark Fluffy Slime