We finally got everything in to make our first sensory bin and it was well worth the wait! Right after I finished putting everything together, I let Squeaker play with the contents and she sat for a good 15 minutes if not 20 exploring what was in there.
I kept the contents simple but themed because it’s a St. Patrick’s Day sensory bin, though we might rotate some stuff out or put some new stuff in and just change it to a “green” sensory bin when we start our unit on colors.
Still, we were able to get in a few things before she lost interest. We talked about the textures, shook the bin for sound, and counted coins.
Squeaker loves to explore everything so I was pretty sure that she would enjoy this sensory bin. I just didn’t know how much until she actually got to play with it. Since it was our first sensory bin experience, I didn’t want to use a container that was too large. And, at the same time, I also knew that I didn’t want to use one that was too small.
We ended up using a Rubbermaid container, but I think next time I’ll try my 8×8 baking pan.
So, here’s a breakdown of what I put in her sensory bin:
* Green feathers from this package
* Green buttons from this package
The sensory bin was just the right size for her. She wasn’t too overwhelmed with it and she was able to manipulate the container. Of course, I wasn’t going to let her play without me nearby because otherwise I’m sure the contents would have been all over the floor. Squeaker did end up sampling one of the lentils but I don’t think it’s going to do her too much harm.
After letting her explore the contents, we did a few activities with the items in her sensory bin. Our first was to count coins though she decided that it would be just as much fun to put the coins back into the container as I was taking them out.
Our next activity was exploring the feathers. I talked to her about how soft some of them were and ran them over her cheek, hands, and neck.
Squeaker then decided that all of the feathers needed to be out of the sensory bin, so she took them out one by one and put them in a pile.
I might take this out again when Sweet B is home and see how she does with it. She’s far more used to sensory bins than Squeaker is so we’ll see what we see. Overall, I’m glad that we had the opportunity to do this. Squeaker had a lot of fun!
Kori
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What a fun idea! My grandsons would love to do this year-round!