There’s a Disney movie you may have heard of called Frozen. I am probably one of the few people in North America who has not seen it. I heard little snippets of it once when the kid had friends over who had brought the movie with them and they were all watching it in the other room while I made supper, but I have never sat down and watched it.
I can deduce though given the amount of references to the movie, the frequency of times I’ve been subjected to listen to “Let it Go” sung by my tone deaf daughter, and what I see in stores that this movie is a big deal, in particular to children of a certain age. In this case, given that I haven’t seen the movie, I guess you could say that I was inspired by the movie’s popularity to make a Frozen sensory bin.
For the base, I used salt, but you could also use sugar (which I don’t recommend because it may be too tempting for kids to eat it!) or epsom salt. I added reusable plastic ice cubes in purple and various shades of blue. I froze these to begin with to add another sensory element to the bin of having something cold.
I added fuzzy pompoms in blue and white, glass beads in blue and clear, a tiny Elsa figurine, and some larger Frozen characters, Olaf, Kristof, Anna, and Hans or Sven ( I don’t know which is which!).
This Frozen sensory bin is a simple one but it combines several textures and opens itself up to imaginative play with the addition of the characters.
For hundreds of other sensory bin ideas, you can also follow my Sensory Bins board on Pinterest.
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If you are looking for information on making sensory bins, you may be interested in my book. 
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Recipe for Maple Scented Playdough
I set the dough out with some play maple leaves and leaf shaped cookie cutters to encourage imaginative play. My kids really like playdough as part of their sensory play.
I warn you now. It’s messy. Sticky and messy. And yuck. But fun. So much fun!
Ghost hands are about as cheap and easy as family entertainment gets!
These pictures were taken before the kids got the idea to chase the adults around the yard, gooey hands outstretched, reaching for our hair! You can see Christie’s delight though in having taught my kids something that will surely be creating messes for me for years to come!
For the sensory bin, I used dried lemon, orange and lime slices, the dried limes, some dried mini mandarin oranges, 2 
For the base of the bin, I used dry white beans in one section, 
I used a large foil roasting pan as the bin because I thought the silver looked best with what I was planning. For the bin’s base, I used shredded snow. I bought a bag of it from the dollar store and when I examined it once I got home, what it looked like was shredded bubble wrap, so it would be easy enough to make your own.
My kids have been enjoying the bin.Dancing Queen gravitated towards exploring the sounds by listening to the jingle bells and the crinkle of the beads. Granola Girl was initially after a more tactile experience and found the texture of the clear snowflakes very appealing. She kept touching them to her face as well as running her fingers over the ridges.