Gardening Sensory Bin

Posted on May 2, 2022 by danielleridgway

Happy May everyone!

Lets bring on the May flowers and start this month off with a Gardening Sensory Bin.

Since kids need some type of play at parties, I thought a Gardening Sensory Bin would be great. It turns out… it was.

Although I haven’t posted about it yet, Mila’s birthday part was garden and plant themed. She loves plants so much, it was a perfect fit. All of Mila’s friends loved it and Mila kept playing with it for days after.

Just beware of beans flying everywhere.

For this bin, I used things that were around my house, but you can find everything at the dollar store:

Dried Beans
Fake Flowers or Produce
Gardening Accessories
Jars or Mini Pots
Sensory Bin

All you need to do is a fill a sensory bin with whatever kind of dried beans or rice.

Then, place fake produce and flowers like they’re planted in the ground. I loved the felt produce from Targets Dollar Spot or we use fake flowers from the Dollar Tree.

Next, place some jars or pots in the bin along with some gardening accessories.

Now it’s time to play!

Your child will know exactly what to do with this bin. It’s a lot of fun to watch them play and discover. I’ll have this sensory bin ready for whenever. It’s easy and has endless amounts of fun.

What are you looking forward to this month? Let me know in the comments.

Love Potion Sensory Play

Posted on February 2, 2022 by danielleridgway

If love isn’t in the air, then you can conjure it! Well, your toddler can through this fun Love Potion Sensory Play.

Toddlers will feel magical and interact with Valentine’s elements.

Mila seriously had so much fun making a love potion. She ended up pretending she was a witch and made our dogs fall in love with each other. Anytime sensory play opens to imaginative play, I get happy!

She also had a blast renaming all her ingredients, which I thought was so creative.

Speaking of ingredients, here’s the ingredients you’ll need to make your little fall in love with this potion:

A Big Bowl
Jars
Tissue Paper
White Vinegar
Baking Soda
Heart Ice Cubes
Shaving Cream
Food Coloring
Tongs
Candy Hearts
Heart Sprinkles
Spoons

I let Mila do her thing when she put all the ingredients in. The only rule I gave her was to put the big jar (water) in last. That way everything could fizz and look magical.

Although I didn’t give her an order, I think it’s best if you mix the baking powder with the other solid things first. Then, add vinegar.

The longer it can fizz and pop, the better!

She also loved stirring it when she did add the water. I just made sure to keep getting more hearts and tissue paper for her to add in there. It just extends play longer when they can put more things in.

We had so much fun with this simple Love Potion Sensory Play idea. It was easy to set up, but can get messy. I would totally suggest adding kraft paper or a sensory bin underneath to catch rogue water.

No matter what, this potion was a hit and we’ll make sure to keep making potions in the future too!

What fun Valentine Activities do you do with your littles?

Snow Globe Sensory Bin

Posted on January 12, 2022 by danielleridgway

There’s so much magic when a person gets to shake a snow globe. It’s a whole work in your hands. Snow Globe Sensory Bins are even more magical and fun to explore.

If your child loves snow globes, they’re going to love this play idea.

Mila has a slight obsession with snow globes.

On her first Christmas, she got multiple ones from different people. We still have all (but one), that are all set up in her room. My parents also get her snow globes from every place they visit. To say we have a mini snow globe collection is an understatement.

No matter the time of the year, she loves to shake and look at them. To continue that love, I thought this sensory bin would be a perfect fit.

I was right!

As with a lot of my sensory bins and play ideas, I used elements I had around the house or from past bins. Here’s what we used for this one:

Fake snow
Sensory bin
Rainbow bottle brush trees
Different sized jars
Extra accessories
Spoon or mini shovel

This sensory bin is full of fun activities. All I did was set it up like this and Mila made it her own.

She filled up the jars with snow and saw how many trees she could fit in each jar. I watched her make the snow globes pretty too.

We talked about the colors of the tree, had them count, and we did small to big comparisons with the jars. Learning has no boundaries. You can talk about whatever with your child. They’ll soak up all that information.

Even though I originally just set up the mini trees, Mila brought in mini toys to play with and put in the snow globes too.

I can easily see opening up play with her by making the snow globes more themed or adding different seasonal elements in the future. Again, the opportunities are endless when it comes to sensory bins!

Hopefully you and your child enjoy this sensory bin as much as we did. We want to make snow globes sometime this winter and need all the tips we can get! I’ll update when we make them.

Have you ever made a snow globe before? What liquid do you use for the inside?

Then… check out these other fun indoor winter activities too!

Winter Tree Sensory Bin

Posted on December 21, 2021 by danielleridgway

Happy First Day of Winter, everyone! To celebrate, I prepped this Winter Tree Sensory Bin for Mila to play with winter elements without the cold!

This sensory bin was such a hit, I’ll keep it set up all winter long.

Let me tell you a secret… of all the elements in this sensory play are reused from Christmas decor and past sensory bins.

My dogs told me… aggressively… that they didn’t like my new mini tree. I was so sad because it was cute and brand new! Instead of just throwing it all away, I cut what I could salvage off and gave it a new life.

I’m letting you on this little secret because I have NO idea where to find little tree branches like these normally. AND since Christmas season will be over soon, you definitely can reuse old decor items for play or other DIY’s. It’s always just a nice reminder.

Anyways, here’s what’s all in this sensory bin:

Reused pine branches
Fake snow
Mini ornaments
Bells
Pinecones

To set this up for Mila, I added fake snow from the other sensory bin this month at the bottom of a tray. At first, I put the tree together so she knew what she was going on.

Then I told her to decorate the tree with the ornaments and bells.

After, she had taken everything out of the bin and started making different trees! I wish I would have began the play this way. It made the bin much more creative and she ran to get other little characters to play in the snow.

I love watching her play and her ideas come to life.

If you’re looking for ways to celebrate winter or just want another sensory play idea for your child, this one was definitely a hit!

Let me know in the comments your favorite season and how you celebrate them.

Christmas Sensory Bin

Posted on December 2, 2021 by danielleridgway

Happy December!

A new month means there’s new things to explore and discover. This month, we’re doing a Christmas Sensory Play. The most fun part of this sensory bin is everything is bought from the dollar store!

We love Christmas and all the joy it brings to us. I think Mila is mostly excited for snow and Santa to bring presents. To combine that happiness and interest, I thought this Christmas Sensory Play idea was the best of both worlds!

This sensory bin is filled with:

Different types of fake snow
Jingle bells
Chocolate Kisses
Santa stickers
Refrigerator organizer

As I said before, I got this entire bin at the dollar store! Everything was pretty cheap and easy to put together. All I did was dump the three different types of fake snow in the refrigerator organizer.

If I could give one fake snow suggestion, I’d tell everyone not to get the small foam balls. They get EVERYWHERE and stick to everything. We could have done with just the glitter snow and the medium sized foam balls. It would have worked just as well.

Anyways, then I hid chocolate kisses underneath so Mila could find surprises.

The next things I added were the jingle bells. I had a ton of different sized and colored bells. This is important for one of the activities that I’ll explain.

To make it a little more festive, I added five, felt Santa stickers. They’re so cute!

There’s seriously a ton of activities you can do with this Christmas Sensory Bin.

The first is just letting your child explore the sensory bin. There they can find the chocolate kisses, feel the different types of snow, or use their imaginations. Mila loves when I don’t give her directions and she just does whatever.

One activity that I directed her in was sorting the bells. You could have them sort by color or size. This provide a ton of different skills.

I also had her count the Santas too. There’s a ton of math that kids can do that will help!

In all, this Christmas Sensory Bin is festive and educational. Kids will love it and you’ll love that they’re learning and having fun.

Do you have any suggestions of Christmas play? I have a few, but I’m definitely up for more ideas. Also, what are you most excited for this Christmas season?

Make a Turkey Sensory Bin

Posted on November 2, 2021 by danielleridgway

Happy November! We’re celebrating this month and Thanksgiving with another fun sensory bin. You all know how much we love them! This time Mila did a Make a Turkey Sensory Bin.

Not only did she have fun playing with the different materials, she made Thanksgiving art.

This bin looks like a random grouping of items, but it all came together so perfectly. Here’s all that we used:

Feathers
Googly eyes
Wooden beads
Candy corn
Brown paper
Canvas
Glue

Like with all sensory activities, I let Mila explore the different materials. She was familiar with everything, but the beads threw her off. We usually only use beads for threading activities… or making bracelets.

It was fun to watch her interact with these materials with the thought of making a turkey too.

Obviously, she pointed out the feathers and eyes for the turkey, but everything else she made up on her own. I had a canvas with a brown circle glued down on it. This became the base of the turkey.

Then, I let her glue down everything else and put the items where ever she wanted.

This is how it turned out:

She says the beads were the turkey’s necklace, the candy corn it’s ears, and everything else is normal.

I just love her quirky turkey.

To extend this activity, you can have your child describe the texture and feeling of the items. You could also do a fun counting game with them too.

No matter what, it’s a great way to make memories with your child.

I have a few Thanksgiving and turkey activities lined up. As always, I’d love to hear about your traditions or activities you do too!

Let me know in the comments.

Pumpkin Washing Sensory Bin.

Posted on October 2, 2021 by danielleridgway

Another day, another fall activity! Today’s play is a Pumpkin Washing Sensory Bin.

We love sensory play for so many reasons. To summarize all of its benefits, it helps children’s brains in a ton of ways! It also gives me a minute to do a chore or task that needs done around the house too.

Now that it’s spooky season, I’m finally letting Mila pick pumpkins from our pumpkin patch on the side of our house. It led straight to this activity.

Before we paint or decorate these pumpkins, I thought they needed to be cleaned off. Instead of me just doing it, I thought it would be so much fun for Mila… and I was right. All I had to do was set up this station.

The only materials I used were:

Pumpkins from our patch
Sensory bin
Water
Dish soap
Resin letters
Scrub brush/washcloth

The only thing I told Mila was that the pumpkins needed cleaning and she could use more water and soap if she needed.

Let’s just say… she went to work right away!

This activity is so simple and Mila had came up with a big story of why they needed washed. She pretended they came from a different farm and not just outside our home. I always love listening to how her mind works.

That’s what makes sensory play so fun for everyone.

I actually left this activity out for the next day and she kept on playing. Lets hope painting or carving pumpkins goes this smoothly too.

Do you paint or carve pumpkins?

I’ve done both, but I’m thinking Mila may like painting more than carving this year. I’ll keep you all updated when it happens!

Pirate Sensory Treasure Hunt.

Posted on September 19, 2021 by danielleridgway

Ahoy there mateys! If you’re looking to celebrate pirates or how they talk, your toddler or young child love this Pirate Sensory Treasure Hunt.

Recently, Mila has been watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates. She loves all the adventure and when they find treasure. What little kid wouldn’t want to live on a boat and find coins buried in the sand?

I think she is still obsessed with mermaids too and the ocean reminds her of them!

Anyways, I thought it would be fun to bring the buried treasure to Mila… with some sensory elements mixed in too. Let’s just say this little activity was a hit.

Here’s all you’ll need:

Rice
Kinetic sand
Sensory bin
Seashells
‘Pearls’
Coins
Other little pirate/ocean toys or stickers

I actually used my resin seek and find from Beags and Bubs as Mila’s treasure map. So, some of the items in the seek and find, I put in the bin. It was another cute way to use it!

To assemble this bin you’ll first need to put the items in the bin.

I probably could have added more coins and probably will next time. It just depends on how long you want this play to last. By the way, the ‘pearls’ were under the seashell!

Then, add rice for the sand and blue kinetic sand as water. I put the fish and mermaid under the ‘water.’

Personally, I put the kinetic sand down first. It helped me cover the fish first. BUT, the rice is way easier to spread than the kinetic sand, so it was just easier to do it this way.

After it was set up, I got out some pirate accessories and resin letters to set it up for her.

She had fun finding all of the treasure. It was so cute to watch her just dive in there. I think the hardest thing to find were the coins. They moved around in the rice.

After she did find everything, she prepped it for me to find things!

It was fun to play along with her.

Then, she used the bin for some pretend play while she warched Jake! Anytime she extends play makes the work behind it well worth it!

I personally love this bin and can see us doing more treasure hunts in the future. Mila’s down every time she gets to put money in her piggy bank.

Do your kids like pirates? What are some ways you’ve used them in your play? Let me know in the comments.

Leaf Cutting Sensory Bin.

Posted on September 13, 2021 by danielleridgway

Fall is quickly approaching and that means leaves will be changing. A great way for kids to learn about leaves and fall is through sensory play. This Leaf Cutting Sensory Bin is a fun activity to welcome fall and practice important skills.

Mila and I try to go on a walk every day; with Max and Toby too. This past weekend, there were so many leaves on the ground. Since she was in awe of them, Mila started picking them up.

My pockets were full when we got home!

Even though I had planned this activity for September, it sort of just happened naturally.

Once we got home, I emptied the leaves in our sensory bin, set out her resin letters, and hoped the child safe scissors would work!

That’s actually best part of this sensory bin… you probably have everything right on hand!

Leaves
Child safe scissors
Bin

All I did was do the steps above and let Mila explore the leaves. I did have to remind her how to safely use the scissors a few times though.

Without prompting, she talked about the different colors of the leaves, their texture, and if they are crunchy or not. It brought up a lot of different conversations that I really enjoyed having with her. It’s so amazing to see her mind work.

If you have scissors that cut different shapes, I’d suggest using them. Mila loved seeing the different patterns.

I also love that there isn’t a ton of creativity or prep for this activity. She actually took her time and played with the leaves. It was great for me to clean up while she played.

Another huge suggest is to get resin letters!

She’s been playing with them during our activities for the last few months and is recognizing more letters. I really believe they’re helping her become more comfortable with them. She’s actually remembering what letters are in her name and her cousin, Isla’s name.

Again, check out Beags and Bubs, Danielle makes amazing custom sets. I actually have another on the way!

Do you think your child would like this activity? What activities do you use to talk about fall or the leaves changing with your young child? Let me know in the comments.

Toddler Activity: Cake Decorating Sensory Bin

Posted on August 10, 2021 by danielleridgway

Cake it till you make it with this Cake Decorating Sensory Bin.

Shaving cream is such a fun ingredient to use during sensory play. It’s cheap, versatile, and easy to clean up. That makes this bin perfect for kids and their parents!

I also loved seeing Mila’s creativity again and again. She did a lot of different designs and pretended she was a cake decorated the entire time.

It was a sensory bin success!

Here’s the only things you’ll need for this one:

I feel like I always say this, but putting this bin together took no time.

The longest part was cutting up the straws into sprinkles. For this, all I did was randomly cut it in small pieces. I didn’t measure or make anything exact.

Then, I put shaving cream in the bin. There was a decent sized layer there, but I didn’t fill the bin.

After that, I set it in front of Mila and told her the goal of the sensory bin. She did everything else without me having to monitor it.

The only thing I did have to mention that this was shaving cream… not whipped cream.

Mila played with this activity for way longer than I set it up. Which is always a win in my book. When she wanted to clear off her cake, we put the sprinkles in a colander and cleaned them off.

This Cake Decorating Sensory Bin really was such a simple and fun activity for her!