sensory play

Pretend Play Sensory Activity

This project is so simple that I hesitate to add it to this week’s Summer Sensory Activities but sometimes, the easiest projects are the best!

All that is needed for this activity is water and paint brushes and/or rollers. We used old paintbrushes that we already had and a pack of two foam rollers that I picked up at the dollar store. This activity is perfect to be used after the Cotton Ball Throw! Have the kids “paint” away the paint residue left on your fence or in our case, the playhouse.

The key to this activity is to make it fun and not a chore or consequence. Kids love pretending they’re painting and having the added bonus of being able to see results when they are able to “paint” away the colour makes this even more fun!

I’m joining in the Summer Hopscotch with the lovely ladies of iHomeschool Network.

Summer Sensory Bin

By Sharla Kostelyk

This summer sensory bin is one of my favourites of all time. It was perfect for outdoor play. As an added bonus, I didn’t have to worry about glitter being all over the house because any excess glitter stayed outside!I bought a small blow-up boat for just one dollar to house this sensory bin. I started by laying in some plastic fish (also from the dollar store) and some leaves and a flower that I cut from a bouquet of silk flowers also purchased from the dollar store.

I then added water. I sprinkled a fair bit of glitter in the water because glitter always makes things more fun! I brought the boat outside. It’s been my experience that sensory bins that involve a lot of liquid do better outside because then I am less stressed about the potential for mess!

I gave the kids a small net and watering can to use with the bin and they just had a great time exploring, scooping fish into the net, watering the flower, even adding real grass.

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

This activity is one that I am sharing as part of this week’s series of Summer Sensory Activities. I will be posting two new ideas a day all week.

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

Cotton Ball Painting

By Sharla Kostelyk

This cotton ball painting activity was fairly easy to set up and was very popular. All of my kids loved it and the neighbour’s two kids who were over at the time also thought it was pretty awesome, so this will be one that we will do again!

Cotton Ball Painting Instructions:

Materials needed:

large sheets of paper
tape (I used clear packing tape)
cotton balls
paint
paper plates or pie plates

I taped pieces of white paper onto our playhouse. Taping the paper onto a fence would work really well and that is what I would have done if we had a fence!

I mixed paint with water (about equal parts of each) in tin pie plates. Be sure to use washable tempera paint because unless your kids have great aim, the fence is likely to get some paint on it. A rainfall should get rid of any paint residue.

All the kids had to do was to dip a cotton ball in paint and throw the cotton ball at the paper. This activity combined all kinds of sensory between the softness of the cotton balls and squishiness of them once they get dipped in paint and the large flinging motion the kids get to experience when they throw them and the sound of them hitting the paper.

It also has elements of fine motor (pinching) and gross motor (throwing), making it a great game for preschoolers or older kids.

Some of the paint got onto the playhouse, so the next day, we did a pretend play sensory activity where basically the kids “painted” the playhouse with water to wash off the extra paint.

Both activities are ones that I am sharing as part of this week’s fun series of Summer Sensory Activities. I will be sharing two activities a day all week.

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

Garden Sensory Bin

By Sharla Kostelyk

The kids are interested in learning about gardening right now because we are reading The Secret Garden and they are fascinated by it. Their current interest has been further peaked by Snuggle Puppy’s science fair project on plants. Given this, I thought this would be a good week to make a Garden Sensory Bin.

I used only what I had around the house although I had so many ideas of what could have gone into this (gardening gloves, seed packets, mini watering can, etc.). What I ended up using was a pail filled with dry black beans to look like dirt, a few small utensils for scooping and digging, and some felt and plastic vegetables. A little tip: because the pail was deep, I wadded up a few paper towels and put them at the bottom so that I wouldn’t have to use so many black beans.

The reason I chose to make this bin in a bucket is that I thought it would be fun for the kids to be able to bring it out on the deck on warmer days to play with it out there. The kids are excited to dig in!

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

Our Best Sensory Bins

By Sharla Kostelyk

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.

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

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

Christ-centered Easter sensory bin featuring Resurrection Eggs

The Calming Lavender Sensory Bin is simple and wonderful.

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

Valentine’s sensory bin in red, white and pink

Winter sensory bin with many textures

Zoo sensory bin using dry chickpeas and lentils as a base

Thanksgiving sensory bin including scented candle

Puzzle sensory bin for Autism Awareness Day

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!

Pirate sensory bin complete with eye patch

Spring sensory bin with rice dyed green as a base

Magnet sensory bin with worksheets

St. Patrick’s Day sensory bin

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

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

Horse sensory bin using hamster shavings

Gingerbread sensory table with scented gingerbread play dough

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

Dinosaur sensory bin with triceratops bones for the kids to assemble

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

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

Frog sensory bin using dyed dry pasta as a base

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

Garden Sensory Bin in a plastic pail

Summer Sensory Bin in a small inflatable boat

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

Monsters Sensory Bin using pompoms as a base

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:

Christ-Centered Easter Sensory Bin

By Sharla Kostelyk

This was a very simple sensory bin to make. I used four colours of Easter grass as the base and added a cross shaped cookie cutter, a wooden cross the kids had painted gold, and a stained “glass” cross. I am also adding Resurrection Eggs as we complete them. We use Resurrection Eggs every year, but this is a new way to use them.

After we discuss the item in each egg and how it relates to the Easter story, I add that egg and its item to the sensory bin and the kids can then play with them when they play in the sensory bin and reinforce their learning.

Check out my book of sensory activities!

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