sensory play

Eggs and Carrots Easter Sensory Bin

I am so in love with the bright and cheery colours in this Eggs and Carrots Easter Sensory Bin! It’s very inviting for kids. This bin also engages them in filling and dumping and pouring and creating which are especially good skills for preschoolers to practise.

One of the nicest things about sensory bins is that they don’t have to be exact. While I will share with you what we used for our Easter sensory bin and you can get ideas and inspiration from that, you don’t have to have all the same supplies to make one of your own. You can add items you already have that are Easter themed or Spring colours to create your Easter sensory tub.

Eggs and Carrots Easter Sensory Bin:

Supplies needed:

pink, yellow, purple, and green coloured dry rice
Easter shaped cookie cutters (we used bunny, carrot, and egg cookie cutters)
stretchy bunnies
mini glitter foam eggs
hollow plastic carrot container
foam carrot decorations
handy scooper or something to scoop and pour with
plastic bin

Directions:

Dye the rice. You can do this by adding food colouring or paste and 1/2 tsp. vinegar into a bag and shaking. Then lay the coloured rice on a tray to dry overnight.
Place the coloured rice in a plastic bin.
Add all the other items. Again, if you don’t have exactly these items, you can use any Spring or Easter related toys or kitchen items.
Invite your child to play.

There are so many possibilities with this Easter sensory bin. Kids can use the empty carrot as a scoop or to fill with rice or eggs. They can also fill the cookie cutters with rice. Once they begin playing with the bin, the different colours of rice will inevitably mix and that’s ok. If you have a child who gets upset by things like this, explain ahead of time that the colours will mix and that it’s all part of the fun. Once the colours mix together, it’s also quite pretty.

Check out some of these other Easter sensory activities:

Easter Fluffy Slime

Peter Rabbit Playdough

Christ Centered Easter Sensory Bin

Easter Fluffy Slime

By Sharla Kostelyk

Bring on Spring with this feathery Easter fluffy slime. Its texture is so soft, making it perfect for celebrating this Spring holiday. I am wanting anything that makes that feel closer. Full disclosure: I’m dreaming of Spring right now because where I live, it is still below freezing and snow blankets the ground a week into April. So I am all about thinking about baby chicks, green grass, and colourful flowers right now! And of course Easter.

This Easter fluffy slime is soft and downy-like in its texture which reminds me of those Spring things. Watch the video below to see just how easy it is to make your own Easter fluffy slime.

Easter Fluffy Slime:

Ingredients:

2/3 cup of Elmer’s white School Glue
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 cups shaving cream
1 1/2 Tbsp. contact lens solution
blue or purple glitter
mini glitter foam eggs (I found mine at the Dollar Store)

Directions:

1. Add glue to a bowl.
2. Mix in water and baking soda.
3. Add shaving cream and mix.
4. Stir in food colour.
5. Slowly add contact solution. Mix.
6. Add the glitter.
7. Knead.
8. If it’s still too sticky, add a drop more of contact solution and knead some more.
9. Fold in the mini glitter foam eggs. Continue to knead.
10. Store in an airtight glass or plastic container.

Fluffy Slime Troubleshooting Tips:

You need an activator in order to create the slime’s texture. In this recipe, we used contact solution as the activator. Without that, the glue and shaving cream would just be a bowl of gunk.

Fold in extra shaving cream if you want your slime to be fluffier.

If the slime isn’t stretchy after days of play, try to add a bit of hot tap water or a small amount of lotion.

If you find that the slime is too sticky, add a drop or two more of the contact solution or a small amount of baby oil and knead. The real key here is the kneading.

These tips will help you to get the right consistency with your slime.

Looking for more easy sensory play recipes to inspire creativity year-round? Join me for a free five day email series on Sensory Activities and Solutions and get a complimentary sample of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.

Check out some of our other Easter sensory activities:

Easter Egg and Bunny Sensory Bin

Bubble Wrap Easter Egg Painting

Christ Centered Easter Sensory Bin

Baseball Mini Sensory Bottle

By Sharla Kostelyk

Lately, we’ve been changing it up a bit with our sensory bottles by making some of them in tiny test tubes. This Baseball Mini Sensory Bottle is one of those.

You can customize the colours of this baseball sensory bottle to show your support for your favourite team! Whether it’s a professional team, collage, or school team, show your team pride. You could even take it with you to cheer on your team at their games.

Baseball Mini Sensory Bottle:

Supplies needed:

mini bottle (we used these plastic test tube treat containers)
clear dish soap
mini baseball beads
red and white tri beads (or choose a colour for your favourite team)
red glitter (or choose the colours of your favourite team!)
black mini elastics (like the Rainbow Loom ones)
optional: hot glue

Directions:

Pour clear dish soap into a mini bottle until it’s about half full.
Drop in some mini baseball beads.
Add in the beads and glitter. Drop in the small elastics.
If there’s any room left in the bottle, fill the the top with water.
Replace the lid. If using with small children, you can secure the lid with hot glue.

With this or any other sensory play activity, adult supervision is recommended. Even with the lid secured, it can be opened by determined kids or when the glue gets old and the bottle contains small parts that could be a choking hazard.

With its tiny size, this mini calm down bottle can be brought anywhere. You can tuck it into the seat pocket of the vehicle, place it inside your child’s backpack, or you can include it in their calm down kit. This adorable mini bottle incorporates both the visual and tactile sensory systems. Because the glitter and beads stay suspended in the dish soap and fall slowly as it is turned or flipped over, this can also serve as a calm down bottle. Children can watch the glitter slowly fall as they focus on regulating their breathing. Are you looking for more easy sensory play ideas to use with kids? Join us for a five day email series on Sensory Activities and Solutions and get a free sample of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.

You may also be interested in these mini sensory bottles:

Football Mini Sensory Bottle

Zoo Animals Mini Sensory Bottle

Life Cycle of a Chicken Sensory Bin

By Sharla Kostelyk

Hands-on learning is the best kind of learning. Let kids explore farm animal science in this Life Cycle of a Chicken Sensory Bin. This lesson can be used with preschoolers and students in early elementary.

You can set up this sensory bin as part of a Farm unit. It’s a cute way to introduce the farm unit or set up a sensory station in your home or classroom. This is also a super cute activity to do in the springtime.

Life Cycle of a Chicken Sensory Bin:

Supplies needed:

plastic bin
popcorn seeds
dry noodles (like the kind you use in chicken noodle soup ironically!)*
life cycle of a chicken pack
optional: scoops or spoons

Note: *I found my dry noodles at the bulk foods store.

Directions:

Place the popcorn kernels and dry noodles in a plastic bin.
Add the figures from the life cycle of a chicken pack.
Invite your child to explore and play.

Ways to expand this activity:

Set out books about farm animals and/or chickens nearby to expand on this activity.
Talk about the sounds chickens make and have your child imitate the noise.
Discuss what kinds of things we use eggs for.
Make a recipe that uses eggs together.
Learn more about chickens and raising chickens using the resources listed below.
Visit a local farm.
Raise chicks.
Print off this puzzle. Cut out the pieces for kids to assemble.

The stages of development of a chicken are:

egg development
hatchling
chick
pullet (adolescent)
chicken

If your kids want to learn more about chickens, here are some resources to help you expand their knowledge:

Life Cycle of a Chicken Puzzle (free printable)

Life Cycle of a Chicken Printable Cards

Chick to Hen Life Cycle Craft

Learn the 4 key stages of the chicken life cycle.

How to Collect and Clean Chicken Eggs

Chicken Farm Animals: Baby to Grown

All About Chickens for Kids and Teachers

Check out some of our other Life Cycle Sensory Bins:

Sea Turtle Life Cycle Sensory Bin Bee Life Cycle Sensory Bin

Praying Mantis Life Cycle Sensory Bin

Bug Action Cards for Kids

By Sharla Kostelyk

Help kids get their wiggles out using these bug action cards with prompts for fun gross motor play. Kids can use these inside or outside. This is such an easy activity for parents to set up. You can easily add some exercise into your child’s day in a fun way.

With prompts for climbing, marching, hopping, and more, kids can get some all important sensory input. These actions engage the visual, auditory, tactile, vestibular, and proprioceptive sensory systems.

Bug Action Cards:

Supplies needed:

printer
paper
Bug Action Cards (you can download those here)
scissors

Directions:

Download the action cards.
Print them.
Cut them apart.
Create a small stack with them. Each child can pull one from the pile and act out the instructions on the card.

These action cards make a fantastic brain break. You can use them right in the middle of schoolwork to have a five minute break before they get back to their task. This will help them refocus and have better concentration.

Get the whole body moving in a fun way. Help kids burn off some of that extra energy they have from being stuck inside or from sitting for too long. These action cards are also a cute activity to add in to a unit on insects. Kids can take the learning a step further by reading up on each of the bugs on the cards.

Another great way to expand on this activity is to have kids create their own cards with ideas they come up with. You can have them stick with the bug theme or choose something else.

Type your email in the box below to get your bug action cards so that the learning and fun can begin!

Check out these other gross motor activities for kids:

Dinosaur Action Cube

5 Trampoline Games

Outdoor Sensory Scavenger Hunt

Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Sensory Bottle

By Sharla Kostelyk

In case, my matching Minnie purse and wallet weren’t evidence enough, I’m a big Disney fan. I’m especially partial to Mr. and Mrs. Mouse! That is the inspiration behind this Mickey and Minnie Sensory Bottle.

If you’re also a Disney fan, you’re going to love this adorable sensory tool. It’s easy to make yourself. In the same spirit as our Minnie Mouse Slime, you can bring a bit of that Disney magic right into your own home.

If you’re hosting a Mickey Mouse themed birthday party, these would make adorable party favours for your guests to make and then take home.

Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Sensory Bottle:

Supplies needed:

empty water bottle (I prefer the look of Voss bottles or craft store sensory bottles)
clear dish soap (Dawn or LemiShine are good because they are thicker)
Mickey Mouse buttons
Minnie Mouse buttons
white tri beads
black tiny elastics (the Rainbow Loom type)
gold glitter
optional: Superglue or hot glue to seal the bottle cap

Directions:

Pour clear dish soap into the container until it’s 2/3 full.
Add the glitter, beads, mini elastics, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse buttons.
Fill the remaining space with water.
Replace the lid. If you’re going to be using this jar with younger kids, then I highly recommend that you Superglue the lid in place and allow the glue to dry before giving it to your child to play with. You can instead secure it with hot glue.

As with all sensory activities, adult supervision should be used at all times. Even if you have glued the lid in place, it can come undone and the small parts inside are potential choking hazards.

Sensory and Learning Opportunities:

While the main sensory system targeted with sensory bottles is the Visual system, children also engage their tactile and proprioceptive sensory systems when interacting with this activity.

This activity presents many math opportunities. Kids can compare if there are more Mickeys than Minnies or vice versa or if there are an equal amount. They can count the number of characters inside or the number of one specific character. They can also guess how many white beads there are by counting them in one section and then multiplying that by the number of same size sections there are.

Thanks to the slow falling movement, this can also serve as a calm down jar, helping kids regulate their breathing and behaviour.

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

Check out some of other sensory bottles:

Insect Sensory Bottle