Sparkle Garden Sensory Bin for Preschoolers
Here’s another sensory bin that we have been enjoying this past week. It is no shocker that my girls love pink and everything glittery. (I might be a bit obsessed myself…) This sparkle garden sensory bin was perfect for them. And I had a blast putting it together.
Materials we used for the Sparkle Garden Sensory Bin:
12 cups of rice dyed pink (directions for dyeing the rice can be found here.)
Glitter balls vase filler
Felt flowers
Spring-themed cupcake liners
Pink ‘gems’
Flower cookie cutters
Small disposable appetizer spoons
I have to say, this was one of my favorite sensory bins to put together. Pink is my favorite color and combining it with the sparkly balls was just perfection to me.
My preschooler was the first to play with this bin and she is very interested in scooping and pouring right now. She is working hard to build her hand-eye coordination and fine-motor skills. She thought that the tiny spoons were so much fun!
Which is great because that means that eventually meal-time will get less messy as she begins to actually transfer food from her plate all the way to her mouth…
Some of the things that I love about sensory bins are that they are:
Great for small spaces (we have a super tiny home and it still works for us.)
Skill-building
Open-ended (use them for language development, math skills, fine-motor skills and so much more!)
Plus, if I take the time to separate the contents of our sensory bins after the kids are bored with them, I can use the same objects in a different sensory bin without spending any extra money. It’s like a brand-new toy for free.
I usually play beside my preschooler for a few minutes talking to her about what she is doing (not giving instructions) to help build her language skills. Then I let her play with the bin independently.
This time she wanted me to do more than just talk. She gave me a spoon and worked on transferring the balls from my spoon to hers. It took a lot of concentration on her part and she really enjoyed me playing with her.
She also used the cookie cutters to press down into the rice and then fill with more rice.
Her sisters usually jump into the fun after I leave. Don’t assume that older kids won’t enjoy playing with the sensory bins too. My 10 & 11-year-olds love playing with all of our sensory activities.
Whatever your learning goal, a sensory bin can fit right in!
Check out these other sensory bins!
