Sensory Bin Ideas

Jan 17

Benefits of sensory bin play include:

Working on fine and gross motor skills
Experimental play
Problem solving
Cause and effect
Cognitive development
Sensory play engages a child’s senses!

I just want to share a few fun sensory bin ideas that I have adopted to help fill in some gaps in the day with my toddler! The attention span of a toddler is not long so these are great if you feel like you need a buffer or something out of the norm during the week!

Cocoa Sensory Bin

You will need:

Bowl or plastic bin
Scoop or spoon
Cups
Cocoa puffs or cocoa pebbles
Marshmallows (any size)

There are many ways to do this and make it your own! I did cocoa pebbles for my toddler because they are smaller but cocoa puffs would be fun since they are shaped like little balls. You can do as much or as little as you like. I didn’t have a bin and wanted to use what I had so I got a bowl out of the cabinet and worked just fine for us! I do wish I had gotten the small marshmallows but I used what I had. My son has a couple plastic mugs with his name on them so that’s what he used but you could do any cup! Let me know if you give it a try!

Snow Day Sensory Bin

You will need:

Fresh Snow!
Bowls and cups
Any utensil
Cookie cutters
Plastic ice cream scoop

This was so much fun! It snowed this week, but it was below zero with the wind chill, so I wanted my toddler to play with the snow without him and his momma freezing! There are so many things you can do with snow inside for this sensory bin! He likes scooping it into bowls and cups, using his digger truck to scoop it, or just sitting and eating it. We even built a snowman and used some cereal to put eyes and buttons on the snowman. This one is so simple but so fun to keep them entertained for a while. There are recipes out there for homemade snow that you could also use. This one is just one that we use on snow days in the winter.

Animal/Dino Sensory Bin

You will need:

Bin or tray
Rice or dry beans
Small cereal
Straw or strand confetti
Plastic animals

There are so many things you can do with this bin! My toddler has more plastic dinosaurs than he has any other plastic animals, so we use a variety or both and our imagination. Rice, dry beans, cereal like cocoa pebbles or rice krispies, even strand confetti can be used in the bottom of the bin. Rice is good for a sandy texture, cocoa pebbles would be good for dirt, and the strand confetti would be good for a straw look if you have farm animals. Beans are good because there are different sizes and kinds of dry beans to offer different color options. What I love about this sensory bin is they get to use their imagination to play with the animals!

Construction Sensory Bin

You will need:

Bin
Construction vehicles
Dry black beans
Rocks or small stones
Cocoa pebbles or cocoa puffs

This is a great one for little boys with some toy construction vehicles. You can mix ground textures or just choose one and let them use the vehicles to dig, scoop, push, and lift! They make plastic trees and things that you could buy to add to this sensory bin. Like any sensory bin, you can make it your own and do what you can with what you’ve got!

There is no such thing as a perfect sensory bin. You can’t use the wrong thing or the perfect thing. Some bins you can create and put a lid on them to have ready to be used again and again. Just remember you don’t have to spend a bunch of money to create a bin for your child. Look around at what you have and create something they will love! You can even create sensory bins with playdough, water, or dirt. Go through their toys. Go through your pantry. You can use dry ingredients out of your pantry and find toys or utensils that can be used to play in that dry ingredient, and it will keep them busy while engaging their senses. Below I will link some great things if you are wanting to make some sensory bins to store and have ready to pull out at any time. As an Amazon associate I earn from purchases through my links.