Sensory play has many benefits. Babies and small children use their senses to explore and learn about the world around them. The more we can engage their senses of smell, sight, hearing, touch, and taste as well as body awareness and balance, the more they learn and the better they grow. Goodstart Early Learning Senior Occupational Therapist Sally Fitzgerald says that providing opportunities for children to actively use their senses as they explore their world through ‘sensory play’ is crucial to brain development as it helps to build nerve connections in the brain’s pathways. This leads to a child’s ability to complete more complex learning tasks and supports cognitive growth, language development, gross motor skills, social interaction and problem solving skills. (Source)
Sensory bins are a wonderful way to allow children to explore their senses while containing the mess! I’ve rounded up some great spring-themed sensory bins you can put together for your baby or toddler. To get started, you’ll need a large plastic container. Some of the most common sensory bin items include play sand, rice, water beads, beans, and items from nature including flowers, sticks, and acorns.
1. Buggy and Buddy has a spring-themed sensory bin featuring green split peas! This is the first time I’ve seen this used in a sensory bin, but it looks like a great tactile experience. She also includes colorful straws, flower sequins, and small clay pots. This is a great bin for imaginative play as well as sensory play.
2. The Rainbow Playhouse kicks it up a notch with this gardening box! I absolutely love this idea as it combines sensory play with fine motor skills practice and gardening! I think I’ll make this one up for my older kids. Anyway, you’ll need to fill your plastic container with compost or soil, seed packets, child-sized gardening tools, gloves (optional) and a watering can. What a great way to learn about the life cycle of a plant as well!
3. Mama Miss shows us a simple but fun bin filled with pastel colored rice, plastic eggs, flowers, and shovels. Rice bins were always a hit when my kids were little. Here’s how to dye rice with Kool-Aid. Anytime you give a kid a big container of rice and a few scoopers, they’re guaranteed to be entertained for a while.
4. Teaching Mama has put together this sensational bin with black beans, dry pasta, and plastic creatures from the dollar store. She even included a counting bugs sheet which you can print from her website. Genius!
5. Love Play Learn made my favorite Easter-themed bin (and I looked at several)! I love that she used both rice and Easter grass (or shredded paper). Throw in some plastic eggs and a few Easter items from your local dollar store and voila! So much fun!
6. ABC Creative Learning has another great Easter-themed bin which includes Easter grass, colorful buttons, plastic vegetables and eggs, and a magnifying glass! I love the addition of the magnifying glass. That’s smart!
7. Momma’s Fun World shows us how to make an insect sensory bin! Eww! Gross! But so cool. Don’t worry. They’re not real insects! Whew! You’ll need some play sand, a magnifying glass, some plastic insects from the dollar store, and a bug catcher kit is optional and usually found at the dollar store this time of year.
8. Teaching 2 and 3 Year Old’s has several spring sensory bins on her site, but my favorite is the frog bin! Add water, plastic frogs, rocks or pebbles, foam lily pads, and plastic tweezers. Kids love playing in bins of water. Place a couple of towels underneath if you’re using them indoors.
9. Mama Papa Bubba had a great idea with this outdoor dishwashing station. What kid doesn’t like to play in foamy bubbles? And this provides a fun experience while learning an important skill – dish washing! Make this with a bin filled with warm soapy water, dish drying rack, plastic dishes, cups and spoons, scrubber pads, and a dish brush. What’s not to love?
10. Little Bins for Little Hands made a colorful craft sand bin that has all of my favorite components. Sand, scoopers, and funnels! Add some pony beads to boot, and this is great fun. Sand-filled bins are best kept outdoors in my humble opinion because, you know, sand in carpet and tile grout isn’t fun.
11. Where Imagination Grows made a great water bead sensory bin. My kids used to love playing with water beads and I bet they still would! I think they’re pretty fun myself. She uses this bin with a light table but I’m sure this would be loads of fun without the table if you don’t have one. She used water beads, plastic flowers, tongs, and a sink strainer along with containers for sorting.
