Sensory Bins
Sensory bins are usually the most bang for buck activity: quick set up time with long play time. A sensory bin is basically a contained play activity where all the playing is done in a given bin. The size of a bin vary from a small tub to a full on inflatable pool. It also is super flexible in that themed toys turn ANY sensory bin into a THEMED sensory bin. Sensory bins are also GREAT starting points for teaching children how to work with boundaries and how to play with others. You know that beach trip you've always wanted to go to but are afraid to because you feel that your little one will stuff handfuls of sand into his mouth? Or wanting to paint with your child but won't even buy that paint because knowing your kid, the paint will either be in his mouth or on your beautiful walls? This is THE activity for you.
The easiest sensory bin is the water bin. It is quick to set up, can be done in every home, and easy to clean.
Materials needed:
- Bin
- Water
- Random toys
- Towel (optional)
How to:
- Put water into the bin with the toys
- Play!
- To clean up, just pour away the water and rinse everything.
When we learnt about the letter B, I set up a water bin, dropped a blue colour tablet to make blue water and threw in a few blue duplos and blue waterproof toys we found around the house. During our week on the letter D, I threw some sea creatures figurines I had including the Dolphin and two fishing nets into the same water bin and the kids got busy fishing for them.
If I were doing a themed sensory bin, I would sit down with them for a while to get them into the activity and talk about the key item we were learning about then leave to do my own stuff. If not, it's a great activity to buy you that time you need to cook or get some caffeine into your system!
Pro tips:
- If I decide to play in the living room, I usually lay a towel down so that the floor around the tub isn't too slippery and the kids don't slip and fall when they move around the tub.
- If your bathroom is big enough, I suggest just doing it there or directly in the tub if you have one for easy washing and clean up.
- A drop of food colouring brings play to a whole new level. If you are worried about staining, there are colour tablets that are made specifically for water play and are safe for kids on Amazon.
Literary titles that can accompany play:
- The Seaside Switch by Kathleen V. Kudlinski
Q&A:
1. What if my child doesn't get the activity, isn't interested or even seems fearful of the rice/water?
Some children take longer than others to get into sensory play. K was very very VERY sensitive from birth and the tiniest change in environment can upset her. She would cry and freeze whenever she was placed on the grass (even with shoes on) and avoided it like a plague. She was only okay with this somewhere around the time she turned 2.5 years old. IT IS OKAY. If your child isn't up to it, don't push it. You can pop it right into a ziplock and keep it aside to try again a month or two later to see if anything has changed.
Some kids might only play with this for 5 minute while others can spend hours on it. The interest of children vary so try it out but don't hit yourself if it isn't for your kid. Interests of children also change from time to time so what might not work today may work two weeks from now, so don't dismiss it entirely! You never know!
2. My kid will just dump the entire bin on the floor and I will have rice EVERYWHERE.
Kids won't learn to play well with sensory bins right off the bat. Thing is, not every child knows what to do when. And as parents, it is our job to teach them what the proper etiquette is in different situations. Using a simple sensory bin, you could teach the child these rules in a safe environment AND practice keeping those rules till it becomes second nature!
I started K off with the water bin because clean up is THE EASIEST. I used that to teach her the proper etiquette of sensory bins. During our first session, I told her clearly: 'NO pouring / dumping ANYWHERE outside of the bin. Splashing is fine but not too hard till all the water goes everywhere. Stay seated when you play. If you stand up or get too much water on the floor we will have to stop playing. Have fun!' Sure enough, moments later, a huge cup went RIGHT to the floor. I got up and said: ' Seems like you are done!' and cleaned everything up. Tantrums ensued blah blah blah.. and once she calmed down I told her :' I said at the start that if you pour water out of the tub we would stop. You poured it onto the floor so we had to stop. We will try again tomorrow.'
The next day, we tried again and I said the same thing before we started. This time, she stood up to walk around with the water. So I did the exact same thing. After a while, she got it. And we could go on to playing with rice, noodles, pasta, etc etc.
It is a learning process, and you just have to teach the proper etiquette by stating your expectations clearly at the start and then follow through consistently.
3. My child eats EVERYTHING. How do I handle that?
I would set not putting things into their mouth as an expectation from the start AND stick to taste safe sensory bins. This way, I can help teach them proper sensory bin etiquette while being sure that if a spoonful of the bin goes into my kid's mouth before I can stop it, my child will not die. There are a ton of different bins out there that have taste safe versions. If that is too much of a commitment at this point (buying all those ingredients and putting it all together just to have them eat it and stop the activity 10 seconds in), start with a small water bin. It can even just be a mixing bowl on a towel.
4. At what age can I start with sensory bins?
This is a little child dependent but I would say that by 1.5 years, ALL children should be capable of starting with sensory bins. I started N with sensory bins from 10 months. My only prerequisite was that he could sit steadily and different kids reach that milestone at different times.
5. How do I handle such an activity with multiple children?
Multiple children make this activity last SO much longer. However, it also brings in the necessity to include sharing as part of the play etiquette. HOWEVER, I don't usually step in until the fighting gets really bad. I believe that kids need to fight their own battles and if we are always the referee, they don't learn how to reach a compromise on their own. But if they clearly can't reach a compromise then I will step in and simply state: 'Since you can't share, I will take it away.' They do quickly learn that it is better to share than to not be able to play with it at all.
If you (like me) have one child who knows the proper play etiquette while the other is still in the test boundary stage, I just remove the child who doesn't follow the rules of play as per usual. The lesson is so much more impactful because they see their friend/sibling still enjoying the play while they have been forced to stop because they did not follow the rules.
Do feel free to comment and leave further questions for us if you encounter any other issues that were not addressed in the Q&A section or if you thoroughly enjoyed the activity!
The easiest sensory bin is the water bin. It is quick to set up, can be done in every home, and easy to clean.
Water Bin
Water play is just about the easiest activity to pull together and it is so easily adaptable to any object lesson you would like to teach. It is also a super quick activity to set up if you need some time to yourself to cook or clean. I usually do this activity right after lunch so that I can wash up the dishes and the kids get a bath just before their nap.
Materials needed:
- Bin
- Water
- Random toys
- Towel (optional)
How to:
- Put water into the bin with the toys
- Play!
- To clean up, just pour away the water and rinse everything.
When we learnt about the letter B, I set up a water bin, dropped a blue colour tablet to make blue water and threw in a few blue duplos and blue waterproof toys we found around the house. During our week on the letter D, I threw some sea creatures figurines I had including the Dolphin and two fishing nets into the same water bin and the kids got busy fishing for them.
If I were doing a themed sensory bin, I would sit down with them for a while to get them into the activity and talk about the key item we were learning about then leave to do my own stuff. If not, it's a great activity to buy you that time you need to cook or get some caffeine into your system!
- If I decide to play in the living room, I usually lay a towel down so that the floor around the tub isn't too slippery and the kids don't slip and fall when they move around the tub.
- If your bathroom is big enough, I suggest just doing it there or directly in the tub if you have one for easy washing and clean up.
- A drop of food colouring brings play to a whole new level. If you are worried about staining, there are colour tablets that are made specifically for water play and are safe for kids on Amazon.
Literary titles that can accompany play:
- The Seaside Switch by Kathleen V. Kudlinski
Q&A:
1. What if my child doesn't get the activity, isn't interested or even seems fearful of the rice/water?
Some children take longer than others to get into sensory play. K was very very VERY sensitive from birth and the tiniest change in environment can upset her. She would cry and freeze whenever she was placed on the grass (even with shoes on) and avoided it like a plague. She was only okay with this somewhere around the time she turned 2.5 years old. IT IS OKAY. If your child isn't up to it, don't push it. You can pop it right into a ziplock and keep it aside to try again a month or two later to see if anything has changed.
Some kids might only play with this for 5 minute while others can spend hours on it. The interest of children vary so try it out but don't hit yourself if it isn't for your kid. Interests of children also change from time to time so what might not work today may work two weeks from now, so don't dismiss it entirely! You never know!
2. My kid will just dump the entire bin on the floor and I will have rice EVERYWHERE.
Kids won't learn to play well with sensory bins right off the bat. Thing is, not every child knows what to do when. And as parents, it is our job to teach them what the proper etiquette is in different situations. Using a simple sensory bin, you could teach the child these rules in a safe environment AND practice keeping those rules till it becomes second nature!
I started K off with the water bin because clean up is THE EASIEST. I used that to teach her the proper etiquette of sensory bins. During our first session, I told her clearly: 'NO pouring / dumping ANYWHERE outside of the bin. Splashing is fine but not too hard till all the water goes everywhere. Stay seated when you play. If you stand up or get too much water on the floor we will have to stop playing. Have fun!' Sure enough, moments later, a huge cup went RIGHT to the floor. I got up and said: ' Seems like you are done!' and cleaned everything up. Tantrums ensued blah blah blah.. and once she calmed down I told her :' I said at the start that if you pour water out of the tub we would stop. You poured it onto the floor so we had to stop. We will try again tomorrow.'
The next day, we tried again and I said the same thing before we started. This time, she stood up to walk around with the water. So I did the exact same thing. After a while, she got it. And we could go on to playing with rice, noodles, pasta, etc etc.
It is a learning process, and you just have to teach the proper etiquette by stating your expectations clearly at the start and then follow through consistently.
3. My child eats EVERYTHING. How do I handle that?
I would set not putting things into their mouth as an expectation from the start AND stick to taste safe sensory bins. This way, I can help teach them proper sensory bin etiquette while being sure that if a spoonful of the bin goes into my kid's mouth before I can stop it, my child will not die. There are a ton of different bins out there that have taste safe versions. If that is too much of a commitment at this point (buying all those ingredients and putting it all together just to have them eat it and stop the activity 10 seconds in), start with a small water bin. It can even just be a mixing bowl on a towel.
4. At what age can I start with sensory bins?
This is a little child dependent but I would say that by 1.5 years, ALL children should be capable of starting with sensory bins. I started N with sensory bins from 10 months. My only prerequisite was that he could sit steadily and different kids reach that milestone at different times.
5. How do I handle such an activity with multiple children?
Multiple children make this activity last SO much longer. However, it also brings in the necessity to include sharing as part of the play etiquette. HOWEVER, I don't usually step in until the fighting gets really bad. I believe that kids need to fight their own battles and if we are always the referee, they don't learn how to reach a compromise on their own. But if they clearly can't reach a compromise then I will step in and simply state: 'Since you can't share, I will take it away.' They do quickly learn that it is better to share than to not be able to play with it at all.
If you (like me) have one child who knows the proper play etiquette while the other is still in the test boundary stage, I just remove the child who doesn't follow the rules of play as per usual. The lesson is so much more impactful because they see their friend/sibling still enjoying the play while they have been forced to stop because they did not follow the rules.
Do feel free to comment and leave further questions for us if you encounter any other issues that were not addressed in the Q&A section or if you thoroughly enjoyed the activity!
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