Finding hands on activities that encourage learning through play, can be a game changer. Sensory bins offer a wide range of benefits for your child’s overall development. encouraging fine motor skills, language development, problem solving, and social emotional skills, sensory bins can be a great addition to your child’s daily educational activties.

There’s a lot of talk about sensory bins, but do you actually know what they are?

Sensory bins are containers, filled with a variety of materials that stimulate the senses of touch, smell, sight, and sound. Let’s not forget taste. Sensory bins can also be used to help children explore different food tastes and textures.

1. Encourages development of fine motor skills.

Scooping, pouring, pinching, and grasping are all great ways to build fine motor skills. These movements are building hand and finger muscles and improving coordination, both of which are essential to improving writing, scissor and self care skills.

2. Encourages creativity and imagination.

Sensory bins offer an easy opportunity for open ended play, which can foster imagination and creativity. Kids can create stories using toys and textured materials. Creating a theme for the bins, can enhance engagement and provide a prompt for the story telling.

3. Supports Cognitive Growth.

Engaging in activities such as sorting (by shapes, color, size), counting items, and cause and effect, are a great way to promote cognitive development.

4. Improves language skills.

Playing in a sensory bin can offer an organic way for a child to build their vocabulary. By describing colors, size, textures, smells, and sounds, children learn how to use adjectives, and how to expand language when speaking to others.

5. Promotes social emotional development.

Need a self-regulation tool or help managing big emotions? A sensory bin can be a great tool to implement into your child’s routine. This easy tool can calm the sensory system by reducing stress and anxiety, through a hands on approach. In addition, it can help improve concentration and focus. Parents, teachers, caregivers can use sensory bins to intentionaly provide opportunities for children to work together, share items, and cooperate, as they build imaginary worlds together.

1. Storage boxes-These storage boxes are a great foundation for your sensory bins. I love that they are see through and have handles for secure closure.

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2. Kinetic sand-this kinetic sand comes with 5 colors (you can make 5 different bins) and comes in the refill size. It never dries out and is a great tactile tool.

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3. Measuring cups and scoops– I like these scoops, because they come in various shapes. Kids can use them to scoop or measure, as well as learn shapes and how different shapes can make different building structures.

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4. Melissa and Doug construction vehicles-These vehicles scoop, pick up, and roll over.

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5. Pom Poms-If you have kids and don’t have a sandwich bag of pom poms around, let me know how you get by with that. I have lots of them. These things come in handy for all your sensory and crafting ideas!

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6. Foam alphabet letters-These letters are made of non-toxic foam,  are soft, and can be used multiple ways (ex. letter recognition, letter sounds, and counting).

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Click here for sensory bin ideas.

Simplicity is your friend: You do not have to go out and purchase a loads of toys and gadgets. Materials don’t have to be the latest “mom influencer toy craze”. Start with low cost items or items you have around the house (think: dry rice, beans, macaroni noodles, toilet paper rolls). Add on from there.

Switch Up Themes: Rotate your sensory bins based on your child’s current interest, season, holiday, or special events (ie. birthday).

Create Age Related Bins: construct your bins to include objects that are safe to use depending on age and development. ALWAYS supervise younger children when manipulating small objects that can be considered choking hazards.

Click Here for a list of 15 Themed Sensory Bin Ideas.

Sensory bins offer a variety of benefits for the overall development of your child.  With just a few simple items, you can encourage your child’s growth in the areas of fine motor, cognition, social-emotional, and language development.

If you have any fun tips for sensory bins, please share with the community. We look forward to hearing how your sensory bin building is going.

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