Why You Should Add A Sensory Bin To Your Learning Centers

It's no secret that kids learn better when they can experience whatever it is they are studying. Books and crafts are great. We absolutely love both of those things and use them All. The. Time.

But we also use a simple but powerful box of learning magic to reinforce every unit we learn about. It's full of wonderful goodness that contains amazing objects that enhance understanding and hold the attention of my tiny learners. 

It's called a sensory bin.

They can be as simple as white rice and cups or as detailed as a scene with miniature animals. They can help kids better understand concepts like shapes, colors, science, habitats, life cycles... The possibilities are truly endless. 

We started out using mostly edible ingredients when my kids were really young because I knew they would probably end up tasting it all anyway. Since then we have progressed into more detailed, play centered bins. Even at 4 and 2 years, sensory bins can really hold their attention and are the perfect activity to teach them numerous skills. 

We started out with bins concentrating on colors or shapes. Or even combining the two. This was when we were focusing on the simplest concepts
and our play was based on discovery and observations. This was our blue bin. The base was dyed rice and we added anything blue we could find. Paper circles, crayons, Legos, pom poms, etc. Going on a "color hunt" also made a great activity! We used this during winter, so we added some snowflakes to tie in the weather.

We also use sensory bins to explore themes within seasons. This fall bin was one of my favorites, because we added things that smell fallish, like cinnamon sticks, cloves, and nutmegs. Then we finished it off with fake leaves and pumpkins, pumpkin seeds, pinecones, dried corn, and even a pumpkin cookie cutter!

This was a really easy bin for St. Patrick's Day. We used some leftover Easter grass, plastic golden coins, and glittery plastic shamrocks to create the main bin. Then we used these cards to add some numbers that we used as counting mats.

This was one of the other bins we used the grass for. It was our main Easter bin. We added little chicks, foam and plastic eggs, and cups of stamps, cookie cutters, and little bunny erasers. The eggs on the sticks were great for sticking in an upside down colander for fine motor practice!

This was our other Easter bin. We used different colored dyed rice, plastic eggs, feathers, and these eggs to match upper and lowercase letters.

This Valentine's bin was one of my favorites. We used pink and red as the theme, with silk rose petals as the filler. Then we added plastic hearts, crayons, chenille stems, and glittery hearts on sticks that I numbered. (We also used these with our colander.) 

It was easy to change this out and create another counting bin by putting the plastic hearts in a pink paper cup and adding more number cards. 

Can you tell I love these cards? You can see some of the ways we use them in this blog post.

Sensory bins are definitely not just for Littles though! We also use them to explore so many more complex topics.

We used this simple bin when we started talking about zoo animals. It started with some dried beans, a few animals, a couple of plastic rocks and trees, and some glass marbles for water.

As we learned about more animals, we added another set of them, as well as some wooden blocks to build enclosures. We also sorted the animals into their separate enclosures and later made a cave from the blocks. This was great for imaginative play, learning about the animals, and even sharing...

We had to discuss that taking all the blocks and letting someone "borrow" a few was not, in fact, the correct way to share. Preschool logic!

This was another fun habitat bin. We used blue water beads, sea shells, and some plastic ocean animals. We also learned not to add real starfish or cover the bin. (After a couple days of wondering what the small was.)

We also added some shovels and empty 3D shapes for the kids to experiment with.

Our plant unit was a great way to incorporate a sensory bin. The filler was dried peas and we added some small garden tools, seeds, silk flowers, and plastic butterflies. They had so much fun "planting"!

This was another one of my favorite bins, but it was so easy! The kids are constantly asking to help me cook and loving playing in their toy kitchen, so this was the perfect bin for our fall unit! Cinnamon sticks, plastic apples, felt "crust", small pie pans, and some measuring scoops were added to a bin of oatmeal and the kids played with this for hours during the time we had it out!

 Sensory bins are definitely a learning staple here. They can be as simple or in depth as you want, but provide hours of learning opportunity! Do you use sensory bins? What is your favorite to create?

Using Apples To Teach Growth Mindset

Have you ever been in the middle of a lesson and thought “oh my goodness! This would make the best activity for _____!”

I got so excited the other day while I was creating some activies for our upcoming apple unit and this happened to me. These days students are so stressed out from the pressures of tv and social media and the idea that everyone should be perfect. With my son beginning junior high this week, it is something I remember from my time at that age and something I am not looking forward to him experiencing.

This is a simple activity to remind students that even though they may not all be just alike, they all have something that makes them special.

Do you remember the first time someone showed you that if you cut an apple in half horizontally it creates a star? I have no idea how old I was when I learned this, but I know it was forever ago and I still think it's so cool!

I used different colored apples to emphasize this lesson. The apples were different sizes, shapes, and colors, which was a great introduction to how people are all different. I also pointed out how pretty all the different colored apples looked grouped together. We talked about how boring it would be if everyone looked and acted the same way.

I noticed one of our apples had a brown spot, which made a great improvised lesson. I pointed out that even though the apple had a little part that may not be perfect, the apple was still perfectly fine to eat. It was a great way to point out the fact that we all have imperfections, and they are only a tiny part of who we are as a whole.

We then talked about what we know about apples. My kids are pretty small so we just talked about the basic attributes of apples, but this could definitely be used with any age and answers from older kids are always fun! 

After this discussion I cut one of the apples in half vertically. We discussed what the inside of the apple looked like and anything special about it.

I then asked them if they thought the inside of the apple would look the same if I cut it differently. You may have students who know it will make a star, but also some that don't. I cut the apple in half horizontally and my kids were surprised to see that the seeds inside now made a star pattern.

We took this opportunity to discuss how sometimes we can look at something over and over and not see the thing deep inside that makes us special or surprises us. Something we may not know is there until we look at each other or even ourselves until we take the time to look inside us in another way. 

This was such an easy hands-on lesson with an extremely powerful message! If you want an easy way for students to record their observations (plus some prompts to encourage your students to write about the special qualities inside themselves and others!), you can find my Apple Growth Mindset resource in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Observation-and-Growth-Mindset-Activity-4006202