I have been doing sensory bins with Rosie for a full year now! We got her sensory bins for Christmas in 2020 and I spent all of 2021 having fun creating new bins. Rosie was about 1.5 years old when we started doing sensory bins, and she is now 2.5 (just to give you some context!) Some sensory bins are a huge hit and others aren’t (and that’s okay!) It’s about trying out different things and seeing what your child likes. Sometimes she does something different with the bins than what I had pictured, and of course I just let her go for it.
I try to do one sensory bin her per week (but that doesn’t always happen!) Of all of the bins we have done, here are my favorites! Below are 24 ideas for a full year of sensory bins. At the end of the post I show how I keep the materials organized and also linked some helpful products as well!
Hot Chocolate
Chocolate cereal, small and large marshmallows, and any type of cup (these came from Rosie’s play kitchen stuff). Make your own hot chocolate and enjoy a snack too.
Find the Puzzle Piece
You can do this with any puzzle that you have. Put the pieces in rice, and then the goal is find the puzzle piece in the rice and then put it in the correct place.
Valentine’s Day Textures
Find all of the materials that you have that are pink and red! I did not buy anything for this, I just looked through the kitchen and through the craft supplies. Add scoops to play around with scooping all of the materials.
Valentine’s Day Ice Mold
This ice mold is from IKEA. I made heart shapes of ice and then put them in water. Practice scooping the ice from bin to bin. It’s also fun to play with the mold.
Pot O’ Gold
The goal is to find the gold coins and put them in the pots o’ gold. These silicone baking cups come in handy for bins all the time. Add all kinds of green textures (rice, pots, and pipe cleaners).
Sorting Lucky Charms
Sort each of the three different St. Patrick’s Day marshmallows into a different cup. Have a snack too! Can use any little cups, I love to use these silicone baking cups.
Scooping Easter Eggs
Scoop plastic Easter eggs from bin to bin. There is water in both bins, but you could also do this without water.
Pom and Easter Egg Match
Find the poms that match each of the different color Easter eggs. Put the poms into the Easter eggs.
Flower Planting
This was a personal favorite of ours! You need a small pot, dry beans to fill the pot (acts as the “dirt”), fake flowers, and some gardening tools. These tools came out of a play set that Rosie has.
Fruit and Veggie Washing
The plastic fruit and veggie set is from Rosie’s play kitchen. I filled her bins with water, and then just grabbed some random brushes for her to wash everything.
Rock Washing
Rosie is obsessed with rocks, so this one is a no brainer. Just some soapy water and a sponge with some rocks from our landscaping.
Car Wash
Grab any toy cars you have (could be boats, trucks, construction, etc.) and add to bins with water and sponges or brushes.
Fish Rescue
I froze 20 or so plastic fish in water and then Rosie and I “rescued” them with a fork and spoon. It took a LONG time for the ice to melt. I recommend adding salt to the water to get it to melt quicker and/or do a smaller ice mold.
Unicorn Foam
I made a mixture of ice water, shaving cream, bath foam, bath soap, etc. and then added Rosie’s toy unicorns. A bowl was an easy way to scoop the mixture. Great for a hot day!
Alphabet Soup
These are erasers that I found at the dollar store I think? I grabbed some kitchen stuff from her play kitchen (pot, bowl, ladle, etc.) and added it to the water for scooping.
Bobbing For Apples
Bob for apples with any sort of utensil you have or with your mouth!
Fall Textures
Pumpkins, gourds, and any other Fall items can be thrown in here. The fake leaves are from the dollar store. Rosie loved to throw the leaves up in the air.
Pumpkin Patch
Chocolate cereal and those pumpkin candies (kind of like a candy corn). I “planted” some pumpkins in the “dirt” and then put some into a bowl as well. The measuring spoons were great for scooping this size of item in and out of the cup.
Pumpkin Spice Latte
This has to be the cutest one we did! Make your own PSL with pumpkin cake (that’s been crumbled) and whipped cream. I asked Starbucks for some small cups when I was at Target. Rosie loved scooping the cake into the cups and of course eating it too!
Thanksgiving Dinner
The filler is dried corn that I got at our local hardware store (technically it’s bird food). I added all different Thanksgiving play foods from Rosie’s kitchen as well as some of her play kitchen equipment. The measuring spoon and measuring cup are from our kitchen.
Ornament Scooping
These ornaments are old (could use any type of ornament or cheap dollar store ones). Put in water with some tools for scooping.
Present Wrapping Textures
Warning: this was a mess! This is a mixture of bows and a crinkle present filler. That stuff was everywhere! If I do again, would have some small presents, ribbon, etc. so that Rosie could do her own “wrapping” or something.
Jingle Bells
This was a huge hit! Find the jingle bells in the “snow” with the magnets. I bought the magnet wands recently and Rosie really loves them.
Helpful Sensory Bin Products
The actual sensory bins are from a local seller. IKEA has similar ones, or check Etsy! Here are links for a lot of what we use!
Sensory Bin Organization
I recently organized all of the sensory bin materials and it is life changing! It’s so nice to have everything organized. I plan to put these in our basement storage area. The bins are old, but you could use any sort of small bins or also gallon size storage bags.
Fun Toys to Use for Sensory Bins