Looking for a great way to keep little hands busy? Try making our colourful and kinetic spring sensory bin for hours of great fine-motor learning, mathematical development, and scientific exploration!
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Making the Spring Sensory Bin
You Will Need:
- Coloured rice (really easy to make – instructions at the bottom of the blog)
- A windmill spinner
- Pastel fillable easter eggs
and/or fillable carrots - Assorted Pom Poms in pastel colours
- A kids garden tool and watering can set (optional)
- A couple of clothes pegs
Setting up the Spring Sensory Bin
- Secure your pinwheel to the bottom of your bin with play dough or tape OR tape the wheel to the side of the bin (facing in)
- Hide some pompoms inside the eggs for your child to find!
- I use an old baby-bathtub for my sensory bin, but you could also grab any large container to hold the rice (just make sure it’s large enough for your child to spread out a bit!)
Spring Sensory Bin Play!
Onetime (my 2.5 year old son) really enjoys rice sensory bins and has played with this one for literally HOURS!!! There is so much great learning going on!
Filling and dumping rice works those fine-motor muscles and helps develop a mathematical sense of volume and capacity!
After figuring out he could make the pinwheel move by blowing into it, Onetime also experimented to discover that pouring rice over the wheel could also make it turn. We connected this discovery to a Richard Scarry story about a flour mill that works using a water wheel! What awesome scientific learning!
I think we’ll take these little pinwheels into the bathtub next…
The clothes pegs provide another opportunity for fine-motor exercise. Onetime used his pegs to place pompoms into the plastic eggs to make shakers and at one point, a “carrot treat!”
Love that this sensory bin can also be about music-making and make-believe!
One of the great things about sensory bins is that they are perfect for open-ended play – one of the best ways for toddlers and preschoolers to learn! Onetime got SO much more out of playing with this bin than I even could have predicted.
Have you made an Easter or Spring Sensory Bin for your little one? What kinds of materials did you include?
Instructions for Making Coloured Rice:
1. Spread your rice out on a cookie sheet and squirt on 8 -10 drops food colouring.
2. Using a spray bottle, spritz on vinegar all over rice.
3. Stir around rice until colouring has coated it all over. Allow it to dry!
Enjoy!
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This looks like so much fun!!!
My son had a blast again with this bin today Michelle! That’s how I know it’s a rich learning activity – when he can play with the activity over several days and find new ways to engage!