Creating a sensory activity bin about the Itsy Bitsy spider nursery rhyme turns it into a multi-sensory learning experience. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool Preschool for more learning ideas and teaching tips.
This fun rhyme has hands-on exploration, early literacy, science concepts, and fine motor development.
For example, instead of just singing about the spider climbing the spout, your child can move a pretend spider or pour rain over it.
And when children pretend play and act out nursery rhymes they understand the stories.
Too, sensory bins are perfect tools for strengthening little hands. Fine motor skills are essential for future writing skills.
If you’re homeschooling multiple young children, a sensory bin is equally engaging for all ages.
PRESCHOOL HOMESCHOOL RESOURCES
Next, look at these preschool resources.
13 Preschool Homeschool Curriculum Options
Look at what your homeschool preschool curriculum might look like with some suggestions for activities, books, and learning ideas.
Preschool Math at Home will guide you step-by-step as you introduce your preschooler to the world of numbers. Your child will develop a thorough understanding of the numbers up to ten, including: counting comparing and ordering numbers recognizing written numerals beginning addition and subtraction.
Looking for quick, engaging activities to prepare your child for kindergarten? Spend a few minutes a day with your child in productive, interactive play with Slow and Steady Get Me Ready For Kindergarten!
Slow and Steady Get Me Ready For Kindergarten abounds with hands-on developmental activities that parents can do with their children between the ages of 0 and 5 years old to get them prepared for kindergarten. June R. Oberlander, a 19-year veteran kindergarten teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia, first published this book in 1988. Now her granddaughter, Hannah Oberlander, a current teacher in Loudoun County, Virginia, has updated and enhanced these classic activities for today's parents of the next generation.
BOOK 1 of 4 (AGES 2-6) Book 1 is a pre-reading experience designed to provide your child with a complete program in perceptual readiness. Here are some of the unique qualities that you will find within these pages. We include all four major areas of perception: visual, auditory, motor, and comprehension skills. Each major category is then broken down into specific sub-skills so that you can understand just what type of learning is taking place. Every page develops only ONE sub-skill to avoid confusion when the child is working the page. A target score on each page quickly gives you a score as well as an incentive for the child to work toward a certain goal.
A perfect fun activity book designed for early learners to develop pencil control and motor skills. By following the arrows and tracing the dotted lines, the little scholars can complete the tracing exercises and creative activities leading to development of their early writing skills. The child will also learn to identify, write and revise straight, curvy, zig zag lines and multiple patterns. The book is also an excellent first step to prepare for school.
Designed to be used with children ages 2 through 4, Before Five in a Row is a rich treasury of creative ideas that help you gently, consistently prepare your children for the lifelong adventure of learning. Now in a revised second edition, this bestselling volume is the foundation for inspired learning through great books and future studies with the entire Five in a Row curriculum.
Rich Numbers: you will get 2 buckets of lowercase letter beads, including 384 lowercase letters and 24 ropes, a total of 408 items, and the equipped storage buckets are easy to storage and protect these accessories; And the quantity is very large, which can meet the needs of daily learning and playing
Forms like 21 thematic planning pages, a year at a glance page, and 12 months of planning your theme are a few included.
Adding in an editable lesson planning template and 4 colorful
attendance sheets helps you to easily meet record keeping guidelines if
necessary
Science books for your preschooler's curriculum should be simple and colorful but contain rich information in small bites. Nature Anatomy and The Big Book of series are perfect resources to keep on your shelves for preschoolers as they will grow with them for years.
This sturdy boxed set of four bestselling Cat in the Hat's Learning Library books includes something to pique the interest of every child! Beginning readers will learn all about our solar system in There's No Place Like Space!; all about dinosaurs in Oh Say Can You Say Di-no-saur?; all about the human body in Inside Your Outside; and all about sharks in Hark! A Shark!
At the preschool level, science is all about exposure, not memorization of facts. It’s helping the youngest explorers understand that their world is discoverable. Through guided exploration of their world, young children learn how to naturally incorporate all aspects of language (expanding vocabulary), math (counting and recording), science (observing and experimenting), and art (drawing out ideas) into their understanding of how their world works. Most importantly, children will come to understand that their world is wonder-full, peace-full, and beauty-full because God created it full of His love and wisdom. Preschool Exploring Creation Together is a spiral-bound curriculum with 2 distinct sections included
Fun-Schooling for Beginners - Do-It-Myself Journal: Letters, Numbers, Animals, Coloring, Tracing, Mazes, Logic and Drawing (Full-Sized Activity Book for Preschool & Kindergarten) (Volume 1
A1 & A2, ideal for ages 2-6 (Preschool & Kindergarten) A beginners journal full of 100 educational and fun activities. This secular journal can be used by children of any religious background Includes colors, numbers, letters, feelings, early reading & writing, and more.
This teacher guide contains gentle Socratic questions designed to prompt discussion and discovery. Beautiful drawings of indigenous animals are also included which will familiarize students with some remarkable creatures, their habitat and habits, cultivating respect and wonder for the natural world.
Sure to ignite curiosity about our nation's history, this Early American History Through Literature study will take you and your K-3 homeschooling students through the first Indigenous people of the Americas, the Vikings discovery of America, the exploration, colonization, settlement, and establishment of the United States. Spanning 1000 AD to the mid-1800's this course makes teaching this literature-rich curriculum easy and fun!
And one of my favorite things about this nursery rhyme is that it introduces beginning science skills.
For instance, you can introduce weather words like sun and rain and science words like spider and water spout.
MORE SENSORY BIN ACTIVITIES
- How to Create an Engaging Strawberry Sensory Bin for Hands-On Learning
- How To Make The Great Wall Of Ancient China Sensory Bin
- Easy and Fun Coin Hunt Sensory Bin For Kindergarten
- How To Make A Squirrel Nest Sensory Bin With Preschoolers
- Explaining Thunder And Lightning To Preschoolers Easy Sensory Bin
- How To Make A Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Sensory Bin
- How To Make A Dynamic Herb Garden Potion Sensory Bin
- How To Make An Ocean Currents For Kids Sensory Bin
- How To Create An Engaging Desert Sensory Bin For Hands-On Play
Finally, look at how to make this fun Itsy Bitsy Spider sensory bin.
ITSY BITSY SPIDER SENSORY BIN
First, look at this easy list of supplies you should have in the house.
- 3–5 cups dried pinto beans
- Fresh grass clippings
- 2–3 toilet paper rolls
- Toy spiders
- Small spray bottle filled with water
- Craft foam sun (yellow foam cut into a simple sun shape)
- Optional: small scoop or measuring cup
First, create the base.
Pour dried pinto beans into the bin to form the main filler. Spread them evenly across the bottom.
Then, add the “outside” texture. Sprinkle grass clippings over the beans. This adds texture, scent, and a realistic outdoor feel.
Next, build the waterspouts.
Stand toilet paper rolls upright in the beans. These become the “water spouts” for the spiders to climb.
Then, place the spiders on top. Set the toy spiders right on top of the beans and grass. Keep them visible and easy to grab so kids can immediately start the rhyme play.
Bring in the weather.
Place the craft foam sun in one corner of the bin.
Add the rain tool.Fill a spray bottle with water and add it to the bin.
HOW KIDS PLAY
Climb the waterspout.
Kids move the spiders up the cardboard tubes while reciting the rhyme.
Make It rain
Children spray water onto the spiders, pretending the rain is washing the spider out.
The light mist changes the texture slightly and adds a new sensory experience.
Out Came the Sun
After the “rain,” children can move the sun over the bin and help the spiders climb back up again.
Spider Hunt
Hide spiders under beans and grass. Kids dig and search, strengthening hand muscles while exploring textures.
Benefits of This Sensory Bin
Fine Motor Development
Spraying, scooping, pinching grass, and picking up spiders strengthen hand muscles needed for writing.
Sensory Exploration
Dry beans feel smooth and cool. Grass is soft and slightly tickly. Light mist from the spray bottle adds a new dimension without soaking everything.
Language Development
Reciting Itsy Bitsy Spider encourages rhythm, memory, and sequencing.
Imaginative Play
Children become storytellers, weather makers, and spider rescuers all at once.
Cause and Effect Learning
Spray the water. The beans darken. The spiders shift. The environment changes.
