Sensory tubs

Fall Halloween Sensory Bin

September 19, 2019

Last week, I took a trip to the dollar store. Of course, they had all their Halloween stuff out, so I picked up a few things to put in a Halloween sensory bin for Rosebud. She is loving it so far!

What’s in the bin?

Acrylic leaves, pumpkins and acorns,

Pompoms,

Mini jack-o’-lanterns,

Glittery spiders,

Sticky eyeballs,

Tongs,

Small bowls.

I found the spiders, mini pumpkins and eyeballs at the dollar store, but I wasn’t sure what to do for the filler. I was thinking of dying some rice orange, but didn’t want to go through the trouble. I was shopping on Amazon for some mini pumpkins and happened to come across this set of acrylic fall items. The pack comes with pumpkins, leaves, and acorns. These work great for the halloween theme, but would also be great for a general fall sensory bin.

So far, we’ve made patterns, sorted the objects, pretended to feed Rosebud’s babies, practiced fine motor skills with the tongs and tried to make pumpkin towers. Rosebud wanted to use the bin with her magnet blocks. I built a divided box and we sorted the objects into their own sections, but Rosebud broke it before I could snap the picture. She has gotten quite creative with this sensory bin, using it in her play kitchen as well as with the blocks. I’m interested to see what else she does. Here, she is feeding her baby and Kermit the Frog who she has dressed up for the occasion.

Are you doing any fall or Halloween sensory activities? Let me know in the comments.

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Preschool, Sensory Play

Ice Cream Sensory Bin

August 22, 2019

Years ago, I saw this creative ice cream shop sensory tub by Counting Coconuts. I thought it was a neat idea and always wanted to put together my own ice cream sensory bin. Back then, I didn’t have any kids and it’s been years since I’ve been able to do any lesson planning for my job. Well, I finally made one for Rosebud and she loved it.

What’s in the bin?

An ice cream set,
Ice cream cones from bubbles,
White beads for whip cream,

Pompoms for toppings,
Measuring spoons,
Small bowls,
Foam marshmallows.

For the bulk of this bin, I used this cute little ice cream set that has everything you’ll need to make pretend ice cream Sundays. Rosebud plays with it a lot, but it’s funny how adding other materials changes the play. I added bigger bowls that are not pictured so that everything wouldn’t fall out, but I will have to get pictures of that later to add to the post.
 
These foam marshmallows were also a big hit! I bought them to do another sensory bin this coming winter, but thought they’d be cute added as another ice cream topping. It was Rosebud’s idea to create patterns. Marshmallow, bead, Marshmallow bead or bead, pompom, bead, pompom. Patterning is a pre-math skill, so I’m glad she has incorporated it into her play. Other than patterning, we made ice cream sundays with different toppings, sorted objects by color and size and counted marshmallows and beads.

I just put this sensory bin out this week, so I’m interested to see what else Rosebud does with it. Have you made any sensory bins this summer? Let me know in the comments.

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Sensory Play

Rice and Bugs Sensory Bin

July 11, 2019

Here is another quick sensory bin that I set up for Rosebud. I love having a couple sensory bins on hand in the kitchen to occupy Rosebud while I make dinner. I’ve limited her screen time to a bare minimum which I’ll write about in another post, but I need plenty of activities that will entertain her. This one does the trick and it was super simple and quick to put together.

What’s in the bin?

Rice,
Plastic bugs,
Glass marbles,
Scoops,
Tongs,
A funnel.

I included scoops of different sizes and the mini tongs for picking up the bugs. The glass marbles were for buried treasures. I got two small bags of rice at the dollar store and that was enough, but you may need more or less depending on the size of your bin. These bugs that I found by Melissa & Doug are great! They are a hard rubber/plastic material, but they are slightly larger than other plastic bugs I’ve seen and they are well made. Also, they are not sharp, so I had no problem using them in my toddler class a few years ago. Unfortunately, I could not find the link for them, but I’ve had good luck with the Safari figurines which would work just as well.

So, there you have it. Another quick spring/summer themed sensory bin. What are your favorite sensory bins to do this time of year? Tell me in the comments. I have more sensory bins to show you in the next few weeks, so definitely come back and check them out.

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Activities, Parenting, Preschool, Sensory Play

Flowers and Water Beads Sensory Bin

June 14, 2019

Here is a fun spring themed sensory bin. Rosebud and I love flowers and I through this together in less than five minutes. After we waited for the water beads to puff up to full size, it was all set for play. This kept Rosebud busy for over an hour while I made dinner.

What’s in the bin?

Flowers tube from Safari Limited,

Water beads,

Small tupperware containers,

Flower holders,

A funnel,

A measuring cup,

Measuring spoons.

I didn’t have any purpose in mind when putting this sensory bin together. I showed her how to put the flowers in the flower holders and showed her that she could turn the little containers into vases, but other than that, I let her take the lead.

The little funnel was perfect because the water beads fit through the hole. The measuring spoons were the perfect size as well. They work great for scooping up the water beads.

What are your favorite activities with water beads? Tell me in the comments.

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Activities, Parenting, Preschool, Sensory Play, Toddlers

A Sensory Bin for Fine Motor Skills

April 9, 2019

I set up this sensory bin often for Rosebud. She likes to be in the kitchen with me while I’m making dinner. I usually try to make foods that she can help me prepare, but when the meal is too complicated or if she isn’t in the mood to help, I put together this quick sensory bin. I don’t have a name for it because it’s random, but it’s fantastic for working on those fine motor skills. Squeezing, pinching, grasping and pouring are all skills that strengthen the hands and fingers, increase hand eye coordination and are a precursor to writing.

What’s in the tub?

Water,

Dish soap for bubbles,

Small bowls,

Small measuring cup,

Small set of measuring spoons,

Eye droppers,

A funnel,

Sponges,

Boat from this set,
Animals from the arctic tube set.

Other things you could include:

Tongs,

Stones or marbles,

Small bottles,

Mini strainers,

Sponges of different shapes and or textures,

Food coloring.

Rosebud’s favorite part of this sensory tub is the sponges. She loves squeezing all the water out into the cups. I only had these wedge makeup sponges on hand, but I will be buying different sponges to add. She also asked for the animals which allows for more pretend play. She has the penguins and seals swim through the bubbles, dive into the cups and she gives them a bath. It’s a win-win. I can make dinner or do dishes and Rosebud can play and learn at the same time. What are your go to activities when you need to be busy with chores? Tell me in the comments.

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Activities, Parenting, Preschool, Sensory Play, Toddlers

Easter Spring Sensory Bin

April 2, 2019

This post will be short, but I wanted to check in and share our latest sensory bin. I’m not sure what to call this, so I’m going with the Easter spring sensory bin. I went to the dollar store the other day and stocked up on some random spring and Easter items and here is what I came up with for this week.

What’s in the bin?

Easter grass,

Plastic eggs,

Mini and medium sized rubber ducks,

Glass and acrylic rocks,

Pompoms,

Scoops,

Tongs.

Rosebud mostly just played with the materials, but she hid the mini ducks in the eggs. We scooped up the eggs with the scoops. We hid items in the grass. We put pompoms in the eggs. I told Rosebud to pretend they were little bunnies, but she wasn’t having it. She started making nests for the little ducks and their eggs, but decided to dump everything on the floor instead. She enjoyed picking up items with the tongs and trying to get them free from the grass. It’s a great fine motor activity. She was tired, so this was short lived tonight, but I have a feeling this one is a work in progress. We will be adding and subtracting items when necessary and I will be changing up the sensory bins more often. I have lots of ideas for this spring. What are in your sensory bins right now? Tell me in the comments.

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Activities, Parenting, Preschool, Sensory Play, Toddlers

Water Beads Sensory Tub

January 11, 2019

One of Rosebud’s stocking stuffers this year was a bottle of water beads. I’ve been seeing these things on early childhood blogs for several years, but have never seen them in person. They always looked so cool and I’ve always wanted to try them, but never had the opportunity with any of my classes. Well, I finally got the chance to play with them with Rosebud and she loved them.

I’m a big fan of sensory play. We do a lot with play-dough, sand or just plain water. There are so many benefits to sensory play and it really captures childrens attention. These water beads are definitely a different sensory experience. The ones we have are a little smaller than the standard sized marbles. They start out about the size of a sprinkle. At first, I thought of a grain of rice, but I think they are even smaller than that. I love dessert and sprinkles was the first thing I thought of. Anyway, they are tiny, but they start expanding soon after you put them in water. I think they were at full size after soaking for about an hour.

I poured a bunch in the tub, added water and when it was ready, I brought it to Rosebud. She loved the different texture. They are squishy and slippery. They can fall easily and role all over the place which makes them more attractive to kids, but makes a bigger mess for us to clean up. I included little scoops and cups, so we did lots of scooping and pouring. We counted how many scoops would fill each cup. We looked through the water beads and discovered that we could see light through them. We saw them bounce off things in the tub. I added a large funnel. The opening was big enough so that one bead would fall through at a time. Rosebud had fun filling the funnel and watching them fall down.

I’m looking forward to playing more with the water beads and tying them into different themes. I also want to look for larger ones. Have you used water beads? What cool things have you done with them? Let me know in the comments.

Here are more links to explore.

10 Ways to Play With Water Beads from Teaching Mama

Exploring Water Bead Science and Sensory Play from Little Bins for Little Hands

Edible Water Bead Sensory Play from A Little Pinch of Perfect

8 Comments

Activities, Education, Parenting, Preschool, Toddlers, Winter

Gift Giving Sensory Tub

December 7, 2018

This week, I decided to make up a festive sensory tub for Rosebud. I’m calling it the gift giving sensory tub.

What’s in the tub?

Wrapping paper,
Small boxes,
Ribbon,
Bows,
Tissue paper,
Bells,
Snowman rings,
Sparkly pompoms,
A bulb shaped ornament that opens,
A gift bag
A small stocking.

Today was the first time Rosebud got to play with this tub and she played for almost an hour. I had to tare her away for bath time. She loved filling the gift bag, putting the items in the different sized boxes and trying to wrap them. We pretended to give each other gifts. She’d open a box of snowman rings and say, “thank you Mommy. This was the best gift ever.” Then I’d open a gift bag full of pompoms and tell her what a nice gift she gave. If you are working on sharing and kindness, this would be a great sensory tub for the theme.

We worked on math skills by counting the number of pompoms in a box. We used our listening skills to guess what was inside the boxes. We discovered that we can always tell when one of the bells were in the boxes, but we could only hear the pompoms depending on the size and style of the box. Rosebud folded wrapping paper and tried to tie ribbon to practice those fine motor skills.

If your child is a little older, you could include tape so they could practice actually wrapping presents. I did not include tape because I knew it’d be everywhere. I’d love to add more ribbon of different sizes, other Christmas and winter themed trinkets for a wider variety of gifts and child scissors to cut wrapping paper. If you’ve tried something similar or have a festive sensory tub of your own, tell me in the comments.

10 Comments

Activities, Education, Parenting, Preschool, Toddlers, Winter

First Snowfall Sensory Tub

November 20, 2018

We had our first real snowfall on Friday. When Rosebud woke up, she was so excited to see snow. Unfortunately, both of us have been fighting off colds for the past few weeks so I’ve only taken her out a couple of times since the weekend. However, I figured why not bring some snow inside to play with? I don’t have to stand outdoors and freeze and she gets to play with snow. An almost perfect compromise.

Here’s what I put in this sensory tub.

Snow,
Acrylic crystals,
Glass stones,
Safari Ltd Penguins
Scoops and a shovel,
Small cups.

The stones and acrylic crystals were our treasures. She liked those the best. Digging in the snow and watching it fly everywhere.

She loved finding the different penguins.

Of course, those scoops and shovels were used to dig and uncover those treasures. Not to mention the added benefits of getting snow all over mommy. It was the perfect snow to make snowballs and we found out that when we put it into the little containers, the snow would be shaped like them when we took it out. We watched how snow melted and how we could put it together and break it apart.

It’s play, it’s science and it’s fun on a winter day. What are some of your favorite winter activities? Let me know in the comments.

6 Comments

Activities, Education, Parenting, Preschool, Sensory Play, Toddlers

Treasures by the Sea Shore Sensory Tub

September 5, 2018

Here’s a simple sensory tub that we’ve been using a lot this summer. I know I’m very late posting this, but there is still plenty of sunshine outside and if you are not ready for fall, then this is for you. It started off as an ocean themed sensory tub, but Rosebud decided that she was a pirate looking for treasures. I’ve used this set up with and without water. She enjoys it either way.

What you’ll need:

Water,

Scoops and or measuring cups,

Mini toy fish,

Seashells,

Glass marbles.

If you are really adventurous, you could add sand for the real seashore experience.

Ideas for play:

Counting marbles or sorting them by color if you use multiple colors. Those were the treasures in our case.

Sort seashells.

Identify types of fish.

Work on fine motor skills with scooping and pouring.

Watch your child using their imagination and see what they come up with.

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