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Our Best Sensory Bins

By Sharla Kostelyk

(This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosure policy.)

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Sensory bins are a wonderful tool for use not only with special needs children, but also with toddlers, preschoolers and school aged kids. They can be used at home, in daycares, preschools, camps, homeschools, and classrooms. They can even be created to be portable and taken on trips.

Sensory bins need not be expensive or time consuming to make. So much learning, discovery and excitement can take place as a result of allowing your child or student to explore them.

Sensory bins are a big part of things for us around here. I thought it might be helpful for you if I put all of our most successful sensory bins in one place so that it’s easy to access. I will continue to add the kids’ new favourites as we make them.

Our Best Sensory Bins

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.

You can click on any of the pictures or titles to go to each specific post and get details on what is in each bin and how I put them together.

Our Best Sensory Bins:

Seaside Sensory Bin using cut up pool noodles and a base of sand 

 

Dollar Store Sensory Bin and ideas for other inexpensive sensory items

dollar store sensory bin

Penguin Sensory Bin made especially for Granola Girl’s love of penguins

penguin sensory bin

Christ-centered Easter sensory bin featuring Resurrection Eggs

Christ-centered Easter sensory bin

The Calming Lavender Sensory Bin is simple and wonderful.Lavender Sensory Bin

Our Coffee Sensory Bin uses actual coffee ground and beans to create an olfactory experience. coffee sensory bin

Valentine’s sensory bin in red, white and pink

Valentine's sensory bin
Winter sensory bin with many textures

Winter sensory bin

Zoo sensory bin using dry chickpeas and lentils as a base

Zoo Sensory Bin

Thanksgiving sensory bin including scented candle

Thanksgiving sensory bin

Puzzle sensory bin for Autism Awareness Day

puzzle sensory bin

Birthday party sensory bin for our birthday theme unit

Rainbow sensory bin which was obviously colourful and was one of the kids’ all-time favourites!

rainbow sensory bin

Pirate sensory bin complete with eye patch

pirate sensory bin

Spring sensory bin with rice dyed green as a base

Spring sensory bin

Magnet sensory bin with worksheets

magnet sensory bin

St. Patrick’s Day sensory bin

St. Patrick's Day green sensory bin

Knights and kings sensory bin fit perfectly with our history studies at the time and with the letter “K” theme

knights and kings sensory bin

Ice Cream sensory bin – if I were to do this one again, I would add some pompoms to add some variety in texture, but the kids did have hours of fun with this bin

ice cream sensory bin

Horse sensory bin using hamster shavings

horse sensory bin

Gingerbread sensory table with scented gingerbread play dough

gingerbread sensory station

Fall (autumn) sensory bin made using popcorn seeds as the base

Fall sensory bin

Dinosaur sensory bin with triceratops bones for the kids to assemble

dinosaur sensory bin

Bugs sensory bin made a great introduction to learning about bugs and exploring outside

bugs sensory bin

Sensory bin for the letter “C” using things from around the house including chocolate chips just for fun

sensory bin for letter C

Frog sensory bin using dyed dry pasta as a base

frog sensory bin

I Spy sensory bin using dry black beans as a base with a corresponding list of items for the kids to find

I spy sensory bin

Garden Sensory Bin in a plastic pail

garden sensory bin in a pail

Summer Sensory Bin in a small inflatable boat

Summer Sensory Bin

Frozen Treasure Find made by layering items and water and freezing in batches in an ice cream pail

frozen treasure sensory findMonsters Sensory Bin using pompoms as a base

Colourful Monsters Sensory Bin

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.

Sensory Bins Cover 3D

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

Looking for more sensory bin ideas? You can find all of our sensory bins (we are constantly adding new ones) here:

More than 100 Sensory Bin ideas to inspire you from The Chaos and The Clutter

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Filed Under: Sensory, Sensory Bins Tagged With: sensory bin, sensory play

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Melanie Wilson @psychowith6 says

    April 19, 2013 at 3:52 pm

    Wow! These are SOOO creative. What blessed kiddos you have! Thanks so much for linking up with What’s Hot in Homeschooling This Week.

  2. Becky Marie says

    April 24, 2013 at 7:12 pm

    I love the puzzle sensory bin. I bet my oldest guy would love the challenge of sorting multiple puzzles. Thank you for all the great ideas. I’m glad you linked up with Tender Moments.

    • Sharla says

      April 26, 2013 at 8:20 pm

      Thanks Becky!

  3. Sarah says

    May 1, 2013 at 6:21 pm

    I love your collection of ideas. I have a son on the spectrum and we have found sensory bins to be a great tool for his special needs!

  4. Monica says

    March 3, 2014 at 8:07 pm

    I like the penguins and cotton balls – super cute! Pinned!
    Monica

Trackbacks

  1. Preschool Parade, April 20, 2013 | Following In His Footsteps says:
    April 20, 2013 at 7:50 pm

    […] has shared from her archives, Our Best Sensory Bins. She says, “This list of over 25 of our most successful sensory bins includes tubs with […]

  2. Creating a Sensory Rich Classroom says:
    June 7, 2013 at 3:06 am

    […] Every week, I create a different sensory bin for our classroom. They are so easy to create and the kids love them! On the weeks when we rotate stations, this is the most popular station by far. We have made many different themed sensory bins. […]

  3. Organizing for a Unit Study says:
    July 19, 2013 at 3:09 am

    […] board games, craft supplies, larger books, even toys or small objects that I may want to use in a sensory bin to go along with our […]

  4. Sensory Bin Resources for Beginners says:
    October 7, 2013 at 4:00 am

    […] Sharla’s ebook will help take the mystery out of sensory bins and encourage you to do what you can. She also has a large selection of sensory bins on her blog. Start with her round up post of their 25 favorite sensory bins. […]

  5. 5 actividades sensoriales para bebés día de san valentín 14 de febrero - Mamá y maestra says:
    January 16, 2014 at 8:07 am

    […] tercer actividad sensorial para bebés Día de San Valentín es del blog The chaos and the cuttler y es tiene como los demás variados objetos en forma de corazón sobre una base de papel de china […]

  6. Activité Montessori: le bac sensoriel sur le thème d’Halloween says:
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    […] pouvez trouver d’autres idées de bacs sensoriels sur le site thechaosandtheclutter ? […]

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