Easy DIY Night Sky Sensory Bin for Building Language Skills
The night sky is a source of wonder for people of all ages, but children especially. This week we are exploring the night sky! We explored the solar system with the older kids over the summer, but we took a different route today to make it more skill-appropriate for Shiloh. I loved the way that this night sky sensory bin turned out! The sparkles contrasting with the black rice sensory bin were so fun to explore!
Recommended Grade Level:
Materials for the Night Sky Sensory Bin
- Black Dyed Rice
- Gold Pony Beads
- Gold Pipe Cleaners
- Star Buttons
- Gold Bead String
- Gold Cupcake Liners
I had a blast putting this sensory bin together for my little one. I had originally planned to put together a DIY light table, but my budget said that this would be a better option. I also contemplated glow-in-the-dark star and solar system stickers, but as fate would have it, my craft store did not have them.
Then, I saw the glitter foam stars and inspiration struck. It was all sparkles and fun from there on out!
My goal for the sensory bin was to introduce some new words to Shiloh. I did not expect her to say the words independently, but I wanted to expose her to the words in a limited environment.
Counting
We counted the tiny rhinestone stars as we put them into a cupcake liner.
We also lined up the foam stars in the bin and counted to three as we did.
Big & Small
We compared big stars and small stars with the sparkly foam sheets and the foam stars. We stuck the sticker to the foam sheet according to size and separated them with a metallic gold pipe cleaner.
Long & short
We used the gold beaded garland to compare length. I cut the garland into several lengths and we compared the different pieces.
Fine-motor skills
Then we worked on fine motor skills by threading the gold pony beads onto the pipe cleaners. Shiloh is great with her fine motor skills. Especially picking up and manipulating small beads, but she lacks understanding that she needs to push the bead further down the pipe cleaner before adding a new one, so we worked on that skill.
We also had some fun making star cupcakes which was also great for building fine-motor skills. She worked hard at aiming the handfuls of rice into the cupcake liner. Then she decorated it with beads and garland.
To help extend the fun, I created a simple printable for practicing patterns. You can use the foam stars or the printable stars that are included. Then have fun creating your own patterns with the stars.
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What did you use to dye the rice black??
I use these instructions to dye it: https://lifeovercs.com/re-dyeing-rice-for-sensory-play/ along with Wilton Black Gel food coloring.
Ooh, so pretty! I love all the sparkles! We don’t get a good view of the night sky in the city but I’m thinking this would be a pretty cool alternative! 🙂 #ThoughtfulSpot
Brilliant sensory bin – we’re working a lot on sensory language this would be a great activity will have to dye some rice.
With this one, I dyed the rice after the kids were in bed, spread it out in the sensory bin to dry and air out and it was ready to play with when Shiloh woke up at 7am.
Love this sensory play! It’s a great invitation to explore night time objects and textures!
I love the exposure to different textures that sensory play provides. It helps to solidify the concepts in the minds of little ones.
I WANT TO PLAY! I love this sensory bin. You got so much packed into it that is.t’s just full of learning. The colors are beautiful.
Sparkles always make things more fun!
This sensory bin is so beautiful! Great learning activities to go with it too.
Thanks! She had a lot of fun and practiced a lot of new words.
Your sensory bin is beautiful. I imagine our little ones would pretend it was treasure with all of the lovely sparkling elements. I love the great educational activities you shared to do with the bin.
It would work great for a treasure bin too! What a fun idea!
What a lovely sensory bin. I bet your child had a lotof fun llearning about night time.
She did have a lot of fun with the sensory bin!