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?