The Ultimate Guide to Creating Sensory Bins - Stay At Home Educator (2024)

Welcome to your ultimate guide to all things sensory bins!

With this guide, you will come away with new ideas to implement sensory bins in preschool plus the research behind their value.

What You Need to Know About Sensory Bins in Preschool

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Sensory activities are a somewhat new idea in the early childhood world… but now sensory bins and sensory play are popping up in classrooms, museums, libraries, and even at home. We now hear all the time that sensory play is healthy for our kids. But why?

Sensory bins provide children with the opportunity to explore and learn through hands-ontactile play that engages their senses. These bins encourage and support various types of development and are great activities to have in your home.

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Take a moment and think about a preschooler. He is spirited, rambunctious, and full of energy. Always adores splashing in rain puddles with his rain boots on and delights in squeezing his banana until it is a pile of goo. He presses the sound button on his sound books over and over again to make a pattern and is overjoyed by jumping over the cranks on the sidewalk. He finally tries that new food – tomatoes – only to make a face of disgust and declare it yucky.

Now it may not seem like it, but these are all examples of things a preschooler might do. Many preschoolers are still developing language skills and because of that preschoolers learn so much through sensory play. Through touching, smelling, listening, tasting, and through seeing.

What is a Sensory Bin and How do I Use it With Preschoolers?

A sensory bin is a container filled with items chosen to entice the children and cater to their budding senses. Our favorite fillers to use include sand, dried beans, dried pasta, birdseed, colored rice, and water! The container should be large enough to let your child explore without spilling the filler out of the container.

The beauty of sensory play is that it is open-ended. Children explore the materials inside the bin and decide how they will play with the materials. Providing high-quality tools for sensory play ensures that children are stimulating the senses and having fun too!

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What are the Academic Benefits of Sensory Play in Preschool?

Sensory play provides a child with much more than just the feel of rice on their hands or the crinkled paper in their tweezers. Inviting children to play with sensory materials encourages academic, social, and emotional support during play.

Improve Language Skills

Language develops naturally when young children play with sensory activities. Adults and peers discuss while children play. You might hear, “Wow that rice falling in the bowl sounded like rain!” Or, “I am searching for four butterflies, but I only have two. Can you help me find the rest?” Children are so engaged with the excitement of sensory play that the language comes naturally and it’s a perfect time for the children and grown-ups to participate in conversation together.

And it’s important to consider that through sensory play children learn to express their opinions. Many children enjoy playing with slime while others can barely stand the touch of it. Sensory play teaches children the vocabulary to describe their feelings, wants, and needs.

Develops Fine Motor Skills

So many sensory activitiesnaturallyinclude a fine motor component. Wringing out sponges in water, scooping ladles of rainbow rice, rolling playdough into snakes or balls, using tweezers to pick up jingle bells, or packing cloud dough into cups, to name a few, all help children develop their fine motor skills as they play with sensory materials. Even offering children various art materials including paintbrushes, q-tips, and cotton balls can be a sensoryand fine motor experience combined.

Increases Cognitive Development

Adding hidden items into a sensory bin encourages children to use problem-solving skills. For example, if you create a sensory bin where toy animals are frozen in ice cubes, children have to figure out ways to free the animal.

For a more no-frills sensory experience, include number and letter shapes in the sensory bin. This can provide children the opportunity to learn the alphabet and numbers in their open-ended play.

Don’t Forget the Sensory Books!

Young children love books that have sensory components like fuzzy animals, silicone bumps, and squeaky noise buttons. Take a look at some of my favorite sensory books for preschoolers.

What are the Social Emotional Benefits of Sensory Play in Preschool?

Calms and Relaxes Children

Children often findsensory play to be calming or soothing. For example, kinetic sand is popular because the sand sticks together when force is applied. This magical sand can be put into molds or cut with play knives and creates a very satisfying effect. Also, preschool teachers love usingglittery calm-down bottlesto help regulate a child’s emotions and take a mental break.

Helps Children Socialize and Communicate

Interacting with sensory activities helps to support social skills, such as taking turns, sharing,cooperation, and communication with others. In order to play with a sensory bin, children are in close quarters and must practice conflict resolution and communicating their wants with each other. Plus, the dialogue during sensory play is often so interesting… children love to incorporate dramatic play!

What Are Sensory Bin Ideas For Preschoolers?

There are endless sensory bin ideas out there and they often use materials already on hand in many classrooms and homes. Here’s a list of some of your favorites for any time of the year:

  • Dyed Beans Sensory Bin
  • Fruit and Veggie Sensory Bin
  • Sink or Float Sensory Bin
  • Scooping and Pouring Sensory Bin
  • Dyed Spaghetti Sensory Bin

For some extra special holiday or themed sensory play ideas, check out this list full of thematic fun!

  • Easter Sensory Bin
  • Winter Sensory Bin
  • Creepy Crawly Halloween Sensory Bin
  • Christmas Sensory Painting with Pine Boughs
  • St. Patrick’s Day Sensory Bin
  • Ocean Animal Hide and Seek Sensory Play
  • Foreign Money Sensory Bin

Materials For Your Sensory Play Activities

Having a few great options on hand to create your sensory experiences is a great place to start. I have included some of my favorite sensory items for preschoolers that we use all year round.

Tips and Tricks to Sensory Play in Preschool

We have put together some important tips and tricks, including safety reminders, to help you make your sensory play the best experience for your preschoolers!

  • Sensory play can take some children time to become comfortable with. Some children are very concerned about getting messy (think shaving cream, paint, slime, etc.) and can struggle to participate in sensory play that has a new texture or even smell. It’s important to allow children to join in at their own pace and to encourage them to watch if they are not interested in participating.
  • Sensory play can be messy… but if you’re prepared for the mess, it’s not so bad! Set the expectation to children that they must keep the filler items in the sensory bin. Many teachers like to put a large tablecloth on the floor around the bin for easy cleanup. Place a few small dustpans and brooms near your sensory bin and invite children to clean up any messes that they make after they’re finished playing.
  • Some early childhood programs restrict the use of food items in sensory bins for safety reasons. If you have students that are still mouthing, be sure to use large and safe items in your sensory bins.
  • Change out the sensory table theme and materials to keep engagement. Many preschool teachers create a sensory bin for each theme.
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The Ultimate Guide to Creating Sensory Bins - Stay At Home Educator (9)

Sarah Punkoney, MAT

I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.

stayathomeeducator.com/

The Ultimate Guide to Creating Sensory Bins - Stay At Home Educator (2024)

FAQs

What are the learning outcomes of the sensory bin? ›

By engaging their senses, these bins provide children with valuable hands-on experiences that promote cognitive, physical, and social-emotional development. From exploring different textures to enhancing fine motor skills, sensory bins offer endless opportunities for growth and discovery.

How are sensory bins educational? ›

Sensory bins provide children with the opportunity to explore and learn through hands-on tactile play that engages their senses. These bins encourage and support various types of development and are great activities to have in your home. Sensory bins can be themed for holidays, seasons and academic skills.

What are the learning outcomes of sensory play? ›

Supporting brain development, enhancing memory, complex tasks and problem solving. Developing fine motor skills through tactile play (useful when children want to hold a pen or use scissors for example). Supporting language development, communication and social skills. Enhancing memory and observational skills.

What containers are best for sensory bins? ›

You could also use dish tubs or shoebox storage containers. Water tables would be perfect outside if you are using messy materials and want easy clean-up. You can even find sensory tables that have two side-by-side tubs that would be good if more than one child at a time is using it.

How do you organize sensory bin items? ›

Keep the base materials separate from the goodies. This saves space and allows you to create new combinations of sensory bins. Use zip top bags to store your themed materials.

Why are sensory bins developmentally appropriate? ›

Sensory bins are a great way to allow children to explore multiple senses at the same time in a fun way. This includes touch, smell, sight, and even sound. Learning to engage with and stimulate several senses at once in a healthy way is incredibly beneficial and loads of fun!

What are the benefits of sensory activities? ›

Sensory play encourages learning through exploration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity. It helps to build nerve connections in the brain and encourages the development of language and motor skills.

Why is it important to have a sensory area in the classroom? ›

Sensory spaces allow students to learn at their own pace and develop skills without pressure, while encouraging them to express themselves in an effective, gentle way, and helping them learn how to manage their own emotions.

What are the benefits of a sensory bin for autism? ›

Sensory bins are great resources for the growth and development of children with autism. These play bins provide excellent sensory, calming, and exploration opportunities. They can be filled with various toys and materials to help kids explore their senses and develop their social, motor, and educational skills.

What are the disadvantages of sensory play? ›

Everyone's everyday life is filled with sensory activities already, so try to be a little more intentional about recognizing and communicating them. Other disadvantages may be that your toddler doesn't like messy play, that it's well… messy, and that activities can be expensive.

What are some examples of sensory play? ›

Let's talk about sensory play, primarily the sense of touch through tactile, hands-on play. Our favorite sensory play ideas for toddlers to preschoolers and beyond include sensory bins, sensory bottles, playdough, slime (especially taste-safe slime for younger kids), water play, messy play, and more.

Why is sensory play calming? ›

When used repeatedly throughout a child's day and week, sensory inputs help to calm their lower brain systems and provide a foundation for social engagement (relate) and higher-level thinking (reason). Examples of sensory inputs include: weighted blankets and toys.

How do you make a simple sensory toy? ›

A plastic bowl and Tupperware containers with dried pasta and/or dried rice in. Put the pasta or rice in the bowl for your child to move their hands through with you assisting and encouraging them hand over hand if required.

How do you make a sensory kit? ›

Here are items you can put in it: Earbuds, folding headphones, or earplugs to help make noise less overwhelming. Sticky notes to put over sensors for automatic flushing toilets and hand dryers. A small bottle of hand lotion to soothe your child's need for touch.

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