Exciting Safari Sensory Bin for Kids

Get ready to transport your preschoolers on a wild adventure with our new favorite sensory bin! If your preschoolers are anything like mine, then they love a good safari themed activity. My classroom instantly fills with the sounds of happy giggles and wild animal roars whenever I bring out a new safari themed activity. This Exciting Safari Sensory Bin for Kids is perfect for sparking curiosity about nature and animals while keeping little hands and minds engaged in sensory exploration! Intriguing textures, bright colors, and adorable safari animals are just a few of the amazing components to this sensory bin. Your kids are going to love engaging in sensory safari play without ever having to leave the comfort of their home or classroom!

two photos showing a colorful safari sensory bin made with dyed chickpeas & coconut flakes.

close up image of dyed chickpeas in a plastic spoon over top of a safari sensory bin.

someone is using tongs to hold up light blue dyed coconut from a safari sensory bin.

up close image of plastic jungle animal toys in a safari sensory bin made with dyed chickpeas.

Recommended Grade Level:

Preschool

Kindergarten

Supply List
Coordinating Activities

Materials for the Exciting Safari Sensory Bin for Kids:

3 cups dried chickpeas
1 bag of coconut shreds (7 oz)
Acrylic paint – light green, dark green, and yellow
Blue food coloring
Wax paper
Cooking sheet
3 sandwich baggies
1 gallon zip-lock baggie
Medium-size sensory bin
Safari animals
Scoops
Tweezers
Tongs

Get Ready For A Safari Sensory Bin Adventure!

Lions roaring, hippos splashing, zebras galloping – this can only mean one thing – imaginations are running wild with this super fun sensory bin! Animals are always at the top of my preschoolers list of favorite themes. If they are at the top of yours too, you have to check out more of our amazing animal activities here at Life Over C’s.

Taking a field trip or family trip to the zoo is one of the ways we love to make learning about animals meaningful and authentic for our kids! Are you planning a trip to the zoo? If you are, here are some awesome Zoo Themed Activities To Get Your Kids Ready for the Zoo!

Need More Animal Themed Activities? Check Out Some Of Our Favorites:

What Are The Benefits Of Using This Safari Sensory Bin With Preschoolers?

There are so many benefits to using sensory bins with kids of all ages!

Builds Social Skills: Sensory bins are great for small groups of kids because they promote social interactions, sharing, and taking turns. Preschoolers will love playing together in this safari themed sensory bin. Together they can create stories, solve problems, and share their love of animals! Even as an independent activity, this bin can be great for social skills- my son loves making the safari animals “talk” to each other when he plays with this sensory bin, which is great for language development too!

Encourages Creativity and Imagination: There is just something about an animal themed activity that brings out the super creative side of my preschoolers! You will love seeing their creativity and imagination shine as they play with the sensory bin filler and the safari animals. One of the best parts of a sensory bin like this is that I never truly know exactly how my kids will play with it. They are always surprising me with their new and creative ideas!

Helps Sensory Development: A safari themed sensory bin is great for preschoolers because it allows them the opportunity to explore different textures and materials while having fun! As they are taking in all the sounds, sights, textures, and smells of this bin, they are helping their brain develop and learn to process the world around them. Sensory bins can also help with emotional regulation and with fine motor skills!

Check out more of the amazing benefits of sensory bins for kids in this article from Parents!

Guess What? There Are Benefits For You Too For Using This Safari Sensory Bin!

Besides all of the amazing benefits listed above for kids there are also some pretty great perks to sensory bins for parents and teachers too!

Sensory bins are inexpensive to make! Many of the materials that you need you probably already have around your house or can be purchased from your local dollar store for a small amount of money.

Once you put together a sensory bin (if you are using materials that are not wet food) it can be reused over and over again! You can easily rotate out sensory bin filler or the toys and utensils to make the bin new and exciting. Bins can also easily be scaled down into a smaller container if you just need a bin for one child, or materials can be spread out into a larger bin for more children to play.

Finally, one of the best parts of sensory bins- the mess is contained to a bin! Now, that doesn’t mean you won’t have a spill of filler every once and a while, but for the most part, kids are pretty good at keeping the materials in the bin!

I just love an activity everyone can benefit from!!

How Do I Use This Safari Sensory Bin for Kids?

There are so many concepts you can reinforce with this Exciting Safari Sensory Bin for Kids! Kids can practice color recognition, learn about habitats, practice identifying animals, and of course use their senses to explore with this sensory bin.

You can set this bin up as an independent activity, partner activity, center station, or group activity. The size of your bin and the number of children you have will help you decide how to best use this bin in your home or classroom.

Materials You Will Need For Creating This Exciting Safari Sensory Bin For Kids:

3 cups dried chickpeas
1 bag of coconut shreds (7 oz)
Acrylic paint – light green, dark green, and yellow
Blue food coloring
Wax paper
Cooking sheet
3 sandwich baggies
1 gallon zip-lock baggie
Medium-size sensory bin
Safari animals
Scoops
Tweezers
Tongs

Step-by-Step Instructions for How To Make This Safari Sensory Bin:

Step One:

Gather all the supplies needed to make your sensory bin. Putting everything you need close beside you will help make the process go more quickly and get your child to sensory bin exploration sooner!

Step Two:

First, you can prepare your cooking sheet! Place a piece of wax paper on the cooking sheet and set it aside. This is where you will put your painted coconut shreds and chickpeas to dry.

Step Three:

Next, you will work on painting your dried chickpeas! Divide the chickpeas into three separate bags. This will be about one cup per bag (don’t worry if one bag has slightly more or less- no one will ever notice!). One bag at a time, add a squirt of paint (kids will love helping to squirt the paint in!). Use the yellow paint for one bag, dark green for one bag, and light green for another bag. This will give you three different colored groups of chickpeas! Seal the bag, roll, and shake the dried chickpeas to get them coated with paint. Keep going until all 3 baggies of dried chickpeas are painted!

Teacher Tip: Get your kids involved in the fun of painting the chickpeas! They will love squirting the paint into the bag and helping to shake up the bags to cover the chickpeas with paint! This is a great way to keep them occupied and re direct their attention to prevent them from asking you when the activity will be ready every five minutes!

Step Four:

Now it’s time to get your coconut shreds ready! Pour them all into one gallon zip lock baggie. Add a few drops of each color into the bag. This will create a nice blue dye for the coconut shreds! Zip the bag shut and shake gently to coat the coconut shreds.

Teacher Tip: You can just use blue paint instead of adding three different colors to the bag and mixing them together.

Step Five:

Carefully pour the colored coconut shreds and chickpeas into a single layer onto the prepared wax paper-covered cooking sheet. Allow the coconut shreds and chickpeas to air dry for at least 3-4 hours or overnight. You can occasionally stir the chickpeas and coconut shreds with a disposable spoon to prevent them from clumping together and help them dry a little more quickly.

Step Six:

Add animals, tongs, scoops, and tweezers to the sensory bin and get ready for some safari fun!

Great Job! You Made An Exciting Safari Sensory Bin For Kids! What’s next?

It’s time for some safari sensory bin fun now! One of the wonderful things about this bin is it is super versatile and can be used for an independent activity, a partner activity, small group activity, center station, or really in whatever way will best fit you and your needs as a parent or teacher!

If your child has never used a sensory bin before you may need to do a little modeling and show them how to get started, but most kids should be able to jump right in and start their sensory play without much instruction at all! (Tip: If this is your child’s or classes’ first time using a sensory bin, you may just want to establish some very basic ground rules- no throwing sensory bin materials, don’t put anything in your mouth, use kind words with friends and take turns with materials, etc…)

How Can I Modify This Sensory Bin?

This sensory bin will keep your kids entertained for hours just the way it is! But, if you’re looking to change it up or make modifications for a child in your home or classroom, check out some of these ideas!

Change up the animals or follow the same steps that are listed above to paint the coconut shreds and chickpeas different colors that would better match another habitat.
Add playdough into your sensory bin to make animal tracks with the animals. Talk about the animal prints with your child and you can even play a fun matching game where you make animal prints on the playdough without them watching and try to get them to guess the animal that made the print.
Give your child a pencil, crayons, and some paper and let them trace or draw the safari animals!
Counting animals is great for working on one to one correspondence! Add a set of counting posters like these Free Printable Farm Animal Number Posters for added support!
Talk about letter sounds as you work with your sensory bin. What is the first letter of the animal the tiger? What sound do you hear in the word hippo?
Add in a safari scavenger hunt paper to see if your child can find the animals in the bin. Check out our Free Printable Zoo Scavenger Hunt for Kids as an example, or use it for your scavenger hunt if it matches the animals in your sensory bin!

Need More Activities For Sensory Exploration? Check Out These:

Do you have a dinosaur lover in your home or classroom? Try this Easy Dinosaur Pasta Sensory Bin for Kids.
This Mini Farm Sensory Bin for Kids is another sensory bin that my animal loving preschoolers can’t get enough of!
Heading to the zoo? This Printable Zoo Scavenger Hunt Book for Kids is perfect for looking for animals on your next zoo adventure.
Check out some fun animal crafts in this list of 10+ Easy DIY Cardboard Tube Crafts!
A sensory bottle like this DIY Ocean Animals Sensory Bottle for Preschoolers is a great way to mesmerize your toddler or preschooler!
An exciting Butterfly Sensory Bin for Preschoolers is perfect for any little insect lover!

Frequently Asked Questions

These are frequently asked questions about this Exciting Safari Sensory Bin for Preschoolers:

Are sensory bins messy?

Sensory bins can be a little messy, especially if you have a tiny sensory bin filler like sand, rice, or tiny pasta. You can easily help to minimize the mess though by using a large bin so there is plenty of room to move, spread out, and manipulate materials. You can also put a small tarp or disposable table cloth under the area where you are using the bin to catch anything that falls out.

How do sensory bins help preschoolers?

Sensory bins help preschoolers develop motor skills, creativity, and problem-solving by engaging their senses in fun, hands-on play.

How often should I change the materials in my sensory bin?

I like to change out the materials in my sensory bin weekly, but you don’t have to do it that frequently! I think it is a good idea to at least change the materials in your sensory bin every few weeks or when your child loses interest, so you can keep the sensory bin fresh and engaging.

How long should a sensory bin activity last for preschoolers?

In my experience, a sensory bin usually keeps my preschoolers occupied for about 15-30 minutes. Now that doesn’t mean that I haven’t had a child entertained by a bin for longer (my daughter once played with a bin for over an hour!) or shorter (my youngest child tends to have a shorter attention span when it comes to sensory bins and only lasts about 5-10 minutes!). It all just depends on your child and how interested they are in the theme of your sensory bin!

It’s Time For Safari Themed Sensory Bin Fun!

Now that you have learned all about the amazing reasons to use this sensory bin and unique ways to use it, we hope you will share with us how much you love it! Leave us a comment and let us know what your favorite thing about this sensory bin was. We hope it becomes a regular in your sensory bin rotation at your home or school!

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