Sensory Bins: A Fun Way for Kids to Learn

 Sensory bins are a fantastic way to engage young learners in open-ended, creative play. These bins, filled with interesting textures and materials, provide a stimulating environment for children to explore their senses of sight, touch, and smell. But sensory bins are more than just fun – they offer a wealth of developmental benefits for children of all ages.

Why Sensory Play is Important

Sensory play allows children to learn about the world around them through their senses. As they explore the textures, sounds, and smells of the materials in a sensory bin, they are developing important cognitive skills, such as problem-solving and critical thinking. Sensory play also helps to refine fine motor skills, those needed for tasks like grasping, pinching, and pouring.

In addition, sensory bins can be a calming and therapeutic for children. The repetitive motions of scooping, pouring, and sorting can be very soothing, and the focus required can help to improve concentration. Sensory bins can also be a great tool for promoting social interaction as children take turns playing and exploring the materials together.

Getting Started with Sensory Bins

Creating a sensory bin is easy and affordable. All you need is a bin or container, a filler material, and some objects to add variety. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Filler Materials: Dry rice, beans, pasta, crinkled paper, play dough, sand, water beads
• Objects: Scoops, cups, spoons, tongs, toy cars, figurines, buttons, pom poms

Once you have assembled your bin, let your child take the lead in exploring it. There are no right or wrong ways to play with a sensory bin. The important thing is that your child is having fun and engaging their senses.

Sensory Play Ideas

Here are a few sensory bin themes to inspire you:

• Rainbow Disc Sensory Bags: These rainbow bags are easy to make and offer a colorful yet mess free sensory play option.
• Garden: Fill the bin with crinkled paper grass and add plastic flowers, ladybugs, and gardening tools for a one of a kind, kid friendly garden sensory bin.
• Pot of Gold Sensory Bin: Make this easy sensory bin for Saint Patrick's day to offer a hands on play experience.

Sensory bins are a fun and educational way to keep your child entertained. So next time you're looking for a creative activity, consider putting together a sensory bin and letting your child's imagination run wild!

You can find more of my sensory play ideas here:

Starry Night Sensory Bags

Easy Dyed Rice

Lemonade Sensory Bin

Veggie Garden Sensory Bin

Rainbow Sorting Bin

Stars and Stripes Bin

Unicorn Fine Motor Bin

Egypt Sensory Bin

Feeding Frenzy Sensory Bags

Glow in the Dark Sky Bin

Homemade Play Dough Recipes: A Fun and Easy Way to Keep Kids Entertained

 Play Dough Recipes: A Fun and Easy Way to Keep Kids Entertained

Play dough is a great way to keep kids entertained for hours on end. It's also a great way to help them develop their fine motor skills and creativity. And best of all, it's easy to make at home with just a few simple ingredients.

Here are a few of our favorite play dough recipes:

Ice Cream Playdough by Bitz n Giggles

This playdough idea is perfect for a mess free ice cream play session with the kids.

Thanksgiving Playdough by Making Frugal Fun

Make this for the family feast, and give the kids something to do while they wait to have dinner!

Shimmer Makeup Playdoh by In the Playroom

Who knew you could make playdough with make up?! This is a fun idea for girls who love all things glam.

Cornstarch and Lotion Playdough by The DIY Nuts

This recipe makes for the softest playdough ever. You are going to want to squish this a few times before letting the kids have it.

Pumpkin Spice Playdough by Suburbia Unwrapped

Playdough is always fun, but when it smells of pumpkin spice, the experience is twice as nice.

Super Soft Fairy Dough by Little Bins for Little Hands

This recipe for fairy dough is so soft it feels nothing short of magical!

Glittery Pumpkin Pie Playdough by Retro Potluck

A pinch of glitter takes this pumpkin pie play dough experience to the next level.

Glow in the Dark Playdough by Our Wabi Sabi Life

This playdough glows in the dark for an incredibly fun experience for kids.

Kool Aid Playdough  by The Best Ideas for Kids

This playdough is made with kool aid for such a vibrant color!

Chocolate Play Doh by Rainy Day Mum

Make a batch of chocolate play doh for kids to play with!

5 Minute Playdough by Made in a Pinch

This recipe only takes 5 minutes to make and is just the thing for a rainy day activity!

Color Changing Playdough by STEAM Powered Family

This recipe makes for a magical color changing dough that kids are going to love to play with.

Extract Scented Play Doh by The Typical Mom

This dough is scented with extracts for a sensory experience that kids are going to love.

Glittery Blue Playdough by Tikkido

This glittery blue play doh is perfect for a Frozen themed play session.

Conditioner Playdough by Sweet Silly Sara

Make this recipe with conditioner for a really soft playdoh to share with the kids.

Play Dough Variations There are endless possibilities when it comes to play dough variations. Here are a few ideas: Add glitter or confetti for a festive touch. Add essential oils for a calming aroma. Add herbs or spices for a sensory experience. Add different types of flour for different textures. Add salt dough to make ornaments or other crafts. With a little creativity, you can make play dough that's perfect for your kids. So get started and have fun!

Find more play doh ideas here:
Play Doh Food Puzzles
Play Doh Pie Counting

Pot of Gold Sensory Bin

Saint Patrick's Day is right around the corner and I have the perfect sensory bin to share with you for the occasion. This Pot of Gold Bin is easy to set up, is loads of fun to play with, and will get kids excited for the holiday!

Sensory bins are so much fun for kids. They combine fine motor work, the engagement of the senses, and imagination into one awesome invitation to play. This Pot of Gold St. Patrick's Day Bin was so easy to set up, and I got everything I needed at the dollar store. This sensory bin is easy to set up, and the kids will want to play with it many times. 

Supplies:

1. A plastic storage bin with a lid.
2. St. Patrick's Day Foam Scatter
3. 4 Leaf Clover Confetti
4. Buttons in assorted colors
5. Small black cauldrons from the party favor section of Dollar Tree

Instructions:

1. Dump the confetti, foam scatter and buttons into the storage bin.
2. Add a few of the cauldrons to the bin.
3. Offer your child tweezers, spoons, or any other tool you like for scooping.
4. Allow your child to fill the buckets with a rainbow of colors (beads) and the gold foam coins.

I encouraged my daughter to tell me what colors she would find in a rainbow and place one bead from each color in the bucket.

We also used this as a counting exercise; how many gold coins could she find? How many big clovers? And so on.

Harper also had fun just digging in the scatter and confetti. She brought a few little action figures into the mix and had a fun small world session later. 

I like to make these bins in shoe box sized plastic containers so we can snap a lid on it and revisit the activity later. The kids always want to play with the bin again!

If you like this idea you can find all of my sensory bins and bags here.
Reader favorites include:
Sensory Party in a Bag
Birthday Cake Sensory Bin
Grab some FREE St. Patick's Day Coloring Pages here
Check out these End of the Rainbow Snacks
Check out these easy 3d Shamrocks

Flying High In the Sky

This easy to set up sensory bin is perfect for little hands. It is fun to sort thru and play in, and it has a really fun feature for night time play; this Flying High in The Sky Sensory Bin Glows in the DARK!

We have been making sensory bins for about 8 years now.Even though Rolf is a tween and is generally too cool for my projects, even he wanted to get his hands into this one. I used things we had in our craft supplies, but for your convenience I added affiliate links to help you find some of these items that you may not have.

Supplies:

A Storage Bin with a lid

Neon Blue Food Color

Glow in the Dark Paint

A zipper seal baggie

White Rice, Uncooked (2 cups)

Rainbow Ribbon

Toobs - In the sky

Tongs

Glow in the Dark Stars

Cotton Balls

To dye the rice

Place 2 cups of white rice into a zipper seal baggie.

Add 2 tablespoons of non toxic glow in the dark paint (I used art deco brand) and 10 drops of neon blue food color to the baggie.

Seal and shake well.

Pour the rice on a paper towel, paper plate, or something like an old cookie sheet and allow to dry for about 4 hours. You may need to stir halfway through the drying time.

To assemble the bin:

Cut several sections of rainbow ribbon in various lengths from 1 to 3 inches.

Gently "fluff" several cotton balls to resemble clouds.

Pour the dry, dyed rice into the storage bin.

Bury several sections of rainbow ribbon in the rice bin.

Place the remaining rainbow ribbon on the top of the bin.

Bury several plastic glow in the dark stars in the rice bin.

Sprinkle the remaining stars on top of the bin. 

Add fluffy cotton clouds to the bin.

Add the planes and helicopters from the tube of Toobs 

Add a pair of tongs to the bin and invite your child to explore.

The tongs add a challenge to the bin, which is excellent for practicing fine motor skills.

I like to make sensory bins in a container with a lid,so we can snap the lid on it when play time is over and revisit the activity later.  For bins like this that are fun to play with anytime, that comes in handy because my kids want to dig around in this one all the time!

Here is the bin after dark. We LOVE glow in the dark activities! 

Some of our favorite glow in the dark activities include:

No Electric Night Lights

Galaxy Glow in the Dark Slime

Find more sensory ideas here:

Sensory Play

Rainbow Disc Sensory Bag

Give kids a fun way to sort colors while getting a little sensory play in with this rainbow disc sensory bag.

We love sensory play. From bins to bags, and even bottles; anyway you present sensory play we are in!

With the kids being out of school for so long I have been really busy coming up with activities to engage them, challenge them, and keep them entertained. We made this easy sensory bag to practice our color sorting and pattern making skills. It is perfect for adding some color to the day.

Supplies:

Hand Sanitizer or Hair Gel

Rainbow Counting Chips

Zipper Seal Bag

Sharpies

Directions:

Draw a rainbow on a zipper seal sandwich bag with Sharpies.

Add several squirts of hand sanitizer or hair gel (about a tablespoon or two of gel is ideal).

Drop transparent colored counting chips (or bingo markers) in the colors of the rainbow into the bag.

Seal well. If your child has 'rough hands' you might want to reinforce the sides with tape to prevent the sides from busting. (This is a good idea for toddlers, but can be skipped for older kids!)

If your child has 'gentle hands' you can skip the reinforcement with tape.

Invite your child to glide the discs thru the gel and place them on the color they match.

When finished, check the seal to be sure it is closed and store for another day when a quiet activity is needed.

You can find all of my sensory play ideas here:

Reader favorites include:

Sensory party in a bag

Birthday Cake Sensory Bin

Bed Time Sensory Bag

This easy bedtime sensory bag is perfect for squishing and unwinding before bed for little ones. 

We are big fans of all things sensory. As the kids have grown they have maintained their love of sensory bins and hands on play. They have also not outgrown the bedtime struggle. They need a drink, a snack, a story and a million other little things to delay the inevitable. 

So,I made this super easy and fun to squish bag for them. Giving them a few minutes to squish and squeeze has made a slight difference in the bed time battles. I used what I had and came up with something simple and cute.

Supplies:

Lavender scented baby oil gel

Gold and silver confetti stars

A zipper seal bag.

Squirt about 2 tablespoons worth of baby oil gel in a zipper seal bag.

Add stars.

Hand it over to eager little hands! To squish, squeeze and play!

While lavender scented baby oil isn't necessary, you can use anything from baby oil gel to hair gel, I liked the light purple color in contrast with the shiny stars.

We always have the most fun with the most basic of supplies, this bedtime sensory bag is no exception!
Find all of our easy ideas for sensory play here.
Reader favorites include:
Sensory Party in a Bag
Button Sensory Bags

Cat in the Hat Pattern Making Sensory Bin

This year in honor of Dr.  Seuss's birthday we made this easy and fun Cat in the Hat Pattern Making sensory bin. This is a fun way to put your puffle to good use and work on pattern making skills which later help kids grasp math concepts.

This post contains affiliate links. 

We love sensory bins, bags and play! Both of my kids still get excited when they see I have a new bin ready to explore. This one was a huge hit because they had been itching to get their hands into pluffle. This is such a fun squishy foam! It is a must have for sensory play!

Supplies:

Pluffel

Assorted red and white items.We used cotton balls, feathers, legos, mini clothespins and glittery Christmas scatter

Measuring spoons, tongs and other fun items to pick up the items in the bin with.

A large tray or a plastic storage bin.

Directions:

Pour pluffle on to a tray or into a storage bin.

Make sure you take a moment to squeeze, form and otherwise take in the pluffle; it is a great sensory play option and adults will enjoy the texture too.

Next, offer your child an assortment of red and white items.

We used tiny clothespins, legos in red and white, feathers, cotton balls, and Christmas scatter that was glittery and red.

Encourage your child to recreate the stripes of the Cat in the Hat's hat.

This is a great opportunity to use fine motor skills with the spoons and tongs. Encourage your child to try placing the items with those tools as well as their fingers.

When play time is over, you can snap a lid on the bin, or put it all back in the pluffle container for future play sessions. Pluffle never dries out!

You can find all of my sensory ideas here.

Favorites include:
Rainbow Rice BinVeggie Garden Sensory Bin

Squishy Eye Sensory Bag

Squishy, silly, sensory play with a spooky feel just in time for Halloween!

We love sensory play! Bins, bag and sensory activities are always a hit with my kids!

I made this easy but oh so fun  spooky eyes sensory bag for Harper. It is perfect for Halloween and can be used in several ways. 

This bag makes a great stress reliever for little hands. Kids feel stress too, and squishing this bag helps them to relieve some of it. But, this spooky eye sensory bag is also a fun way to practice sorting skills.

This post contains affiliate links.

Supplies:
Hair gel
Zipper seal bag
Googly Eyes

Squeeze about 1/4 cup of hair gel into a zipper seal bag.

Add googly eyes.

Seal the bag.

If your child has a tendency to use rough hands or is a toddler, you might want to reinforce the sides of the bag with duct tape.

Invite your child to squish, squeeze and sort the spooky eyes sensory bag!

You might also like these  sensory activities.
Unicorn Fine Motor Play is a whimsical way to engage the senses.

Button Sensory Bag

Sensory Play doesn't have to be complicated or messy! This easy button sensory bag is perfect for keeping little hands busy and eager minds learning. Best of all, it comes together in just a few moments!

Add caption

Sensory play is awesome for kids. It is fun, and can be as simple or as complicated as you wish. I love to give my kids the tools they need to play, learn, and relax. This button sensory bag is easy to make and can serve several purposes.

The button sensory bag is perfect for quiet reflection time. I made this for Harper on one of those rough days when she needed a chance to unwind. As she got herself together we used this bag for sorting colors and shapes. Manipulating the buttons is awesome for fine motor practice.

                                                          This post contains affiliate links.

Supplies Needed:

A zipper seal sandwich bag

Hair gel

Buttons

Glitter

Directions:
Place aout 1/4 cup of hair gel in a zipper seal bag.

Add glitter to the hair gel. I thought blue was a nice touch, but you can use whatever color you like.

Add assorted buttons.

Seal. If your child is young or has "rough hands" You might want to reinforce the edges and opening with duct tape.

Invite your child to explore the bag. Squish it, sort colors, or sort by sizes.

You can find more sensory activities ideas here:
Birthday Cake Sensory Play is always a hit!
Flower Garden Sensory Bins are perfect for rainy days!