Yesterday I made Liam his first sensory bin. I've been pinning different ideas and themes for them on Pinterest for months, but never got around to getting the supplies. Finally yesterday I just did it. A quick stroll through Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart, and Liam had a lovely fall sensory bin in under 30 minutes and for about $10.
I don't know how much people usually spend on sensory bins, probably nothing as you're supposed to be able to just use found objects and whatnot, but this girl likes a good theme so I went shopping. Everything came from Hobby Lobby (40% off!) except the popcorn kernels.
I got "real" fake leaves, foam leaves which some have glitter, felt pumpkins, acorn jingle bells, and popcorn kernels as filler.
Liam started out really slow, picking through the objects and showing them to me one by one.
But then he saw me getting excited telling him about everything in the bin, so he started really digging in.
Liam loved the acorn jingle bells the best which I knew would be his favorite. This kid loves music.
I showed him how to rub the glitter leaves together to make a scratchy, sandpaper sound.
We threw the leaves and watched them float to the ground, and I rubbed his cheeks with the soft felt pumpkins.
He also loved digging his hands down into the kernels. As always, monitor your kiddos when little pieces are present. Liam only tried to put a kernel in his mouth once, but he listened when I said no and didn't try again after that.
I got a cup out to scoop and pour the kernels, but he wasn't quite ready for that and just threw them all over the kitchen. The dogs were outside so I didn't really mind, but he preferred to just use his hands.
After he was finished - I think he played with it for 20 minutes or so which is good for him, he's usually bouncing from one thing to another at warp speed - I just swept up the corn kernels and put the lid back on!
Liam was intrigued by my sweeping which led to this for another 10 minutes or so.
He's sweeping cheerios.
Then he dropped the broom on his foot and it was game over.
I'm so glad I finally made a sensory bin for Liam!. He loved it, and they are seriously so easy to throw together. This will not be our last!
Awesome! I've been thinking about making one but Henry puts everything in his mouth and he tires over and over again. So I think it would end up being a huge pain. But then again maybe he would play and not try to eat it if it was fun.
ReplyDeleteFun! We've done one with Grace with a bunch of random things and rice- she really just likes raking her fingers through the rice though!
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking of doing an ocean themed one and dying the rice blue! Yours is super cute!
ReplyDeleteI love your fall sensory bin. I have made two sensory bins (one with beans and one with rainbow rice) for my 18 month old son, and he loves both of them!!!
ReplyDeleteLove it!! And Liam is getting to be such a big boy. I cant believe it!!
ReplyDelete