sensory bin

10 Kindergarten Sensory Bin Ideas | How To Make A Summer Sensory Bin

October 3, 2024 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

When thinking of an idea for kindergarten sensory bin ideas I came up with a theme perfect to cap off summer while introducing kindergarten concepts. Also, grab my other tips, ideas, and crafts for kindergarten on my page Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum.

What do you think of when you think of summer?

For a preschooler headed to kindergarten they have probably spent their summer in the sand.

10 Kindergarten Sensory Bin Ideas | How To Make A Summer Sensory Bin

Or at the pool, splashing in sun shower puddles, kites, sidewalk chalk, and enjoying drippy popsicles.

So, popsicles it is.

This is a fun and inexpensive way to practice letter recognition and matching, not to mention the other wonderful benefits of sensory bins.

Sensory bins are also fabulous for toddlers through middle elementary kids to introduce and reinforce new themes.

Also, they encourage creative play, and sensory input.

They can also be used as a fun way to teach simple concepts like alphabet matching.

Kindergarten is a time of exploration and big learning leaps making it a great time to introduce or continue using bins for learning.

Add another level of learning to the sensory bin learning by adding in some ABC tiles, books, or flashcards.

Also, this is one of my favorite books for learning about the letters.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is one of my favorites for learning letters, bright and fun with singsong rhymes. Kids love it.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Chicka Chicka Book, A)

There is always enough room on your child’s bookshelf for this rollicking alphabet chant that has been a children’s favorite for over thirty years!A told B, and B told C, “I’ll meet you at the top of the coconut tree” In this lively alphabet rhyme, all the letters of the alphabet race each other up the coconut tree. Will there be enough room? Oh, no—Chicka Chicka Boom! Boom!

Besides my summer sensory bin, I have 10 more amazing kindergarten themed sensory bins to make your whole year of learning fun and memorable.

10 Kindergarten Sensory Bin Ideas

Whatever the theme you need to cover I can guarantee there is a creative sensory bin to go along with it.

For another summer theme, learn How to Make a Watermelon Sensory Bin for Play and Learn to reinforce letter sounds and thematic concepts.
Here, learn How to Dye Rice & Make Mini Sensory Bins
Kids start with learning how to identify and spell out their own name first, making this Magnetic Letter Name Search Sensory Bin a great place to start.
If you need something to do with all of those shells you brought home from the beach this summer, create a Seashell Alphabet Sensory Bin with them.
These 4 Fun and Engaging Bat Activities include a neat bat sensory bin
Make a Construction Site Sensory Bin to go along with not only a construction themed unit but for community helpers as well.
Use the Farm Harvest Sensory Bin to teach your child about the seasons of planting and harvest.
Make teaching numbers a snap with a Number Recognition Sensory Bin that you can easily develop into simple addition and subtraction problems for your cold to figure out.
Is your kindergartener reading sight words already? Check out this Kindergarten Sight Words Sensory Bin.
This Apple Pie Sensory Bin can go in so many theme directions- A is for Apple, farm, fall, or a cooking unit.

MORE KINDERGARTEN HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES

Kindergarten Sensory Bin Resources

Sensory Bin
Letters
Numbers
Sensory Bin Tools
Kinetic Sand for Filler

How To Make A Summer Sensory Bin

You will need:

Large shallow bin
Shred paper filler
Craft foam
Wooden craft sticks
Paint marker
Pompoms, pipe cleaners, etc…
Alpha tiles/letters
Scissors
Hot glue gun/sticks

First, start by adding a base layer to your sensory bin.

A shredded paper from the dollar store is a great choice because it’s inexpensive, comes in a variety of colors, and is reusable for many applications.

I also threw in some colorful pom poms to give it a little more splash of color.

Twist some pipe cleaners around your finger to make a fun little spring shape that adds more color, texture, and dimension to your bin.

And add some letter beads to continue with the ABC theme in our bin.

Cut out popsicle shapes, twice, you will need a front and back for every popsicle.

Run a line of hot glue along the top and sides of one half and then press the other piece onto the top and let it cool.

Now on the popsicle use a paint marker, sharpies run, to write either a lowercase or capital letter

Finally, write the opposite letter (lowercase or uppercase) on a stick.

Place “popsicles” in the sensory bin either together or separate with some buried to encourage your child to search through for matches.

You can also add in cups, scoops, tongs, spoons, etc. for your child to investigate the filler and learn about measuring and more.

I highly recommend capping off this activity with a real popsicle to enjoy.

Discover The Magic Of Nocturnal Creatures | Nocturnal Animal Sensory Bin

July 30, 2024 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

We’re putting together a quick and easy nocturnal animal sensory bin using some basic things we can find around the house and some plastic animals.

Learning about the difference in nocturnal and diurnal animals is a fun and fascinating part of a child’s early education.

Much of it comes naturally and children quickly learn animals like owls, bats, and foxes come out at night.

Discover The Magic Of Nocturnal Creatures | Nocturnal Animal Sensory Bin

This simple sensory bin is a great way to be a bit more intentional with teaching them.

And it pairs nicely with some wonderful picture books on the subject, videos, and even games.

Share a little basic information with your child as they explore their sensory bin, try to find examples of each type.

Nocturnal Vs. Diurnal Animals

Nocturnal-Animals that are most active at night. Examples: bats, raccoons, owls, and moths/

Diurnal-Animals that are most active during the day. Examples: hawks, bees, rabbits, groundhog, humans, dogs

For children that have grasped the concept of the two basic circadian rhythms of animals you can move onto the more involved subcategories like…

Auroral animals – Animals that are active at dawn. Examples: moose, skunk, hamsters

Crepuscular animals – Animals that are active at dawn, just before the sun goes down, or dusk, just after the sun rises. Examples: deer, corn snakes, rabbits, rats

Cathemeral animals – Animals that don’t fit the conventional definitions of being strictly nocturnal, diurnal, or crepuscular. Examples: lemurs, lions, spiders

Nocturnal Animals of North America

Skunk
Aardvark
Armadillo
Badger
Barn owl
Bat
Coyote
Gray Wolf
Hedgehog
Luna moth
Mink
Mountain Lion
Mouse
Opossum
Raccoon
Red Fox
Sea turtle

Before we played in our sensory bin, I created another quick and easy activity.

I wrote nocturnal and diurnal on black and blue pieces of construction paper halves.

Then, I offered a selection of both types of animals for the child to sort them.

We talked about what was and was not nocturnal as they put them in the proper spots.

Next, look at these other sensory bin ideas.

More Sensory Bin Ideas for Kids

Nocturnal Animal Sensory Bin Resources

Also, add these resources to your study of nocturnal animals.

Nocturnal Animal Sensory Bin Resources

Add some of these resources to your fun study about nocturnal animals.

Out of Sight Till Tonight! All About Nocturnal Animals

The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library series combines beloved characters, engaging rhymes, and Seussian illustrations to introduce children to non-fiction topics from the real world! Stay up past your bedtime and discover the world of nocturnal animals, including:

• how bats use echolocation

• why some desert animals hunt at night

• how toads need to stay damp to survive

• and much more!

Where Are the Night Animals?

Female frogs lay eggs in the water, but what hatches isn't a frog yet—it's a tadpole. Tadpoles are like tiny fish that breathe underwater through gills. As the tadpole gets older, it loses its fishy tale and its gills and grows legs and develops lungs. This picture book shows the incredible metamorphosis that occurs as a tadpole becomes a frog.

This is a clear and appealing science book for early elementary age kids, both at home and in the classroom. It includes a find out more section with an illustrated guide to identify different frog species and a map showing where bull frogs can be found throughout the United States.

This is a Level 1 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explores introductory concepts perfect for children in the primary grades. The 100+ titles in this leading nonfiction series are:

hands-on and visual
acclaimed and trusted
great for classrooms

North American Wildlife TOOB

This Toob has a few nocturnal animals in it. If you do not yet have a good collection of plastic animals I highly recommend that you grab some because they are not only great for sensory bins but you can add them to the blocks and encourage your child to build enclosures, take them outside and use in place of fair gardens, and when they are older they are fantastic for dioramas.

Finally, look at how to make this fun nocturnal animal sensory bin.

Nocturnal Animal Sensory Bin

You will need:

Black aquarium pebbles (or beans)
Plastic nocturnal animal figures
Small branches
Greenery
White button (moon)
Google eyes
Shallow bin
Spoons, cups for pouring, measuring, etc…

First, fill the bottom of your sensory bin with black aquarium gravel.

Alternatively, you can use black beans, or pasta dyed with black watercolor to create your night.

You can use any good-sized shallow pan as a container for your sensory bins.

Dollar Tree is a fantastic resource.

Add sticks and greenery to set a woodsy scene,

I used live and fake plants from around the house and wood out of my craft stash.

You could use some sticks from the yard.

I thought it would be really fun to add a few googly eyes peeking out of the darkness of “night”

And then a big white button to represent the moon.

Now add in your nocturnal animals to set the scene, you can also hide some under the dark base.

Hide some behind greenery or inside a cave made from painting a little plastic cup black as you talk about how they use the cover of night to hunt or hide from predators.

How to Make a Watermelon Sensory Bin for Play and Learning

June 2, 2024 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today I’m showing you how easy it is to make a summer theme watermelon sensory bin that is perfect for play and learning. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool Preschool for more ideas.

What may seem just like a fun container of rice is so much more than just play!

There are many benefits to sensory bins for preschoolers.

How to Make a Watermelon Sensory Bin for Play and Learning

And they can introduce a fun standalone theme like watermelon or be used as a springboard for a small unit study.

If you have not introduced sensory bins yet this is a perfect easy starter one that can be made into any size

You can spend a little time learning about how watermelons grow, planting your own seeds and watching them develop, and even taste testing different varieties to fill it out even more.

Make the entire week wildly watermelon themed with these additional sensory ideas which I have below.

Too, learn why sensory bins are such a wonderful part of preschool development.

Wild Watermelon Sensory Ideas

Grab Food Anatomy from the Julia Rothman series and learn a little bit more about different varieties of this delicious summer treat.

Include a taste test before or after the sensory bin to include even more of your child’s senses.

We have also learned How to Make Fun Watermelon Seed Slime For Summer Learning, another great activity to involve several of the 5 senses and build hand muscles.

Make a Watermelon Squish Bag for a sensory treat that doesn’t make a mess.

I love that everything is contained in a tidy gallon zip top bag.

While slices of watermelon are fantastic on their own try putting a twist on it and get your kids in the kitchen learning all about following directions, measuring, and kitchen safely with a Kid Friendly Watermelon Slush.

These tempera paint sticks make for great painting projects and keep the mess to a minimum,

They worked fantastically for a quick W is for watermelon picture.

Watermelon Moon Sand is a unique texture that kids love to play with (messy warning, this stuff sticks and spreads).

8 Benefits of Using Sensory Bins

Next look at the benefits of using sensory bins in your homeschool.

Sensory bins are a calming activity where children can play independently or with others.
Scooping with cups or spoons builds fine motor skills.
Picking up items with fingers or tweezers develops grasp important for prewriting.
Prompt cognitive development as children sort,
Talking about what they find or are doing in the bin builds language development and vocabulary.
Adding letters introduces literacy skills like letter identification, sounds, and building words.
Counting and measuring objects in the sensory bin introduces early math concepts like counting, sorting, and volume.
When playing with others it teaches children to share through cooperative play.

Finally, look at how to make a watermelon sensory bin.

How to Make a Watermelon Sensory Bin

You will need:

Uncooked rice
red/pink food coloring
Hand sanitizer
Black beans or sunflower seeds
Containers and spoons
Optional-watermelon scent

First, measure out enough uncooked rice to fill about 2” depth in whatever container you have chosen.

Stir in either liquid or gel food color along with enough hand sanitizer to help spread the color all around until you have reached your desired color.

Mix it up well and then spread out the rice as flat as you can, using a baking sheet if you like.

Stir in scent at this time if you are going to use it as well.

Lay your rice out in the sun to dry and stir every so often, the alcohol in the hand sanitizer helps it to dry fast.

Transfer rice to a shallow container for your sensory bin.

Sprinkle on some black beans or sunflower seeds for watermelon seeds

These are great for counting and sorting.

I happened to have sunflower seeds on hand and loved the way they looked as watermelon seeds.

Add in fun items for exploring like spoons, cups, bowls, mason jar rings, measuring cups and spoons.

You want items that can be used for filling, pouring, scooping, investigating volume, etc.

Next, include some letters to hide like W’s or even those to spell out w-a-t-e-r-m-e-l-o-n for a quick language lesson.

I also included 4 wooden craft sticks to play with and these can also be used to form a w.

Have your child sort out the watermelon “seeds” for counting.

Fun Corn Life Cycle Preschool Sensory Bin and Printable Lifecycle Foldout

August 16, 2023 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Your little ones will be so excited to get their hands on this corn life cycle preschool printable and sensory bin. Also, you’ll love my page Fall Season Unit Study {Pumpkins, Leaves, Corn, & More}.

The sensory bin and foldout are both great ways to learn about corn, its life cycle, the different parts, terminology, and even the different ways we can enjoy or use corn.

My printable shows your preschooler how corn grows in all its stages from planting to harvest in a simple and fun fold-out that they can color.

Fun Corn Life Cycle Preschool Sensory Bin and Printable Lifecycle Foldout

Then the perfect hands-on activity to go along with your corn life cycle preschool printable is a fun corn-themed sensory bin that they can dig into.

Items We Get From Corn

We get a lot of products that we use every day from corn.

This is a great time to talk about that with your child while they color in their fold-out or dig into the sensory bin.

To get you started here is a list of some of the things that corn makes:

Corn on the Cob
Canned Corn
Corn meal
Grits
Corn Syrup
Corn Chips Cornstarch
Crayons
Toothpaste
Popcorn

Also, look at more preschool corn activities.

More Corn Life Cycle Preschool Activities

I grabbed one of my favorite resources and both Farm and Food Anatomy had a page on corn, including the parts of the corn plant, varieties, and fun facts.

These are great to have out while your child explores the sensory bin.

Food Anatomy is even great for preschoolers with its pretty illustrations and small snippets of information that will keep them interested

And Farm Anatomy is always a great reference for farm and food-related topics.

Make popcorn to enjoy together for a healthy and delicious snack that ties right into the lesson.

To incorporate some early math skills you can also add a die to the corn sensory bin to have your child roll a number and count out the coordinating amount of corn kernels.

Add 2 for older children and they can practice addition and subtraction using the kernels as a manipulative.

Explore different corn products with your child, placing some items from the list above for your child to look at and investigate.

Teach your preschooler how to shuck corn, not only is it a great idea for dinner but it helps develop your child’s fine motor skills.

Follow the directions to print and cut out the corn life cycle printable, let your child color their corn images before cutting them out.

This Dancing Corn Experiment is a fun science activity that requires very little prep or setup and will fascinate your child.

Incorporate math skills like number recognition and fine motor skills with the Preschool Corn Counting Activity.

Corn Activities to Include Older Children

In addition, here are a few activities to include about corn for older your children.

Finally, look at some ideas for corn preschool sensory bin.

Corn Life Cycle Preschool Sensory Bin

For the sensory bin you will need:

A shallow container, preferably with a lid
Whole feed corn
Spoons and scoops
Small containers
Corn toys

Start by pouring corn into your shallow container a couple of inches deep,

I found this perfect-sized container at my dollar tree. You can even use a baking pan or sheet to hold your sensory bin materials.

You can find whole-feed corn at your local feed store (Tractor Supply, Rural King, and even Walmart).

If you can’t find it you can use popcorn or cracked corn that is sold for feeding birds in its place.

Add a few scoops and spoons, as well as a container or two for filling and pouring for fine motor development and hand-eye coordination-important prewriting skills.

If you have a preschooler chances are that you have some pretend food in their toys, chances are also good that there is some corn in the mix.

Grab it and add it to the sensory bin, you can also get real corn shucked and unshucked but if you have a child who is very sensory and likes to taste everything you might want to skip using real corn.

We had several plastic corns on the cobs as well as a pretend can of corn and a corn from this Safari Fruits and Vegetables Toob .

Add flashcards or small photos of corn, I did a quick watercolor to put in our sensory bin.

You can also add letters to spell out corn using Scrabble tiles or letter beads to help your child with word and beginning letter recognition.

Finally, pop in your corn life cycle printable.

Set your bin up, you may want to put a sheet or shower curtain liner underneath to catch the mess for an easy cleanup.

Finally, look below to see how to download the corn life cycle foldout.

Free Corn Life Cycle Printable Foldout

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sensory bin

10 Kindergarten Sensory Bin Ideas | How To Make A Summer Sensory Bin

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Chicka Chicka Book, A)

10 Kindergarten Sensory Bin Ideas

MORE KINDERGARTEN HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES

Kindergarten Sensory Bin Resources

How To Make A Summer Sensory Bin

Discover The Magic Of Nocturnal Creatures | Nocturnal Animal Sensory Bin

Nocturnal Vs. Diurnal Animals

Nocturnal Animals of North America

More Sensory Bin Ideas for Kids

Nocturnal Animal Sensory Bin Resources

Nocturnal Animal Sensory Bin Resources

Out of Sight Till Tonight! All About Nocturnal Animals

Where Are the Night Animals?

North American Wildlife TOOB

Nocturnal Animal Sensory Bin

How to Make a Watermelon Sensory Bin for Play and Learning

Wild Watermelon Sensory Ideas

8 Benefits of Using Sensory Bins

How to Make a Watermelon Sensory Bin

Fun Corn Life Cycle Preschool Sensory Bin and Printable Lifecycle Foldout

Items We Get From Corn

More Corn Life Cycle Preschool Activities

Corn Activities to Include Older Children

Corn Life Cycle Preschool Sensory Bin

Free Corn Life Cycle Printable Foldout

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sensory bin

10 Kindergarten Sensory Bin Ideas

MORE KINDERGARTEN HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES

Kindergarten Sensory Bin Resources

How To Make A Summer Sensory Bin

Nocturnal Vs. Diurnal Animals

Nocturnal Animals of North America

More Sensory Bin Ideas for Kids

Nocturnal Animal Sensory Bin Resources

Nocturnal Animal Sensory Bin

Wild Watermelon Sensory Ideas

8 Benefits of Using Sensory Bins

How to Make a Watermelon Sensory Bin

Items We Get From Corn

More Corn Life Cycle Preschool Activities

Corn Activities to Include Older Children

Corn Life Cycle Preschool Sensory Bin

Free Corn Life Cycle Printable Foldout

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