What Is A Sensory Bin?
A sensory bin is typically a bin or container of various items that a child can touch and explore. This might include taste-safe items, toys, and even everyday household tools such as spoons, ladles, and even a spatula. You can customize each bin on a specific theme, such as a holiday or learning subject. Sensory bins are growing in popularity lately because it is convenient for parents and caregivers to put together, and it provides children with an engaging learning activity.
Alphabet Sensory Bin
Whether for toddler is reviewing a certain letter or simply learning about the alphabet altogether, this super simple Alphabet Sensory Bin will be perfect for your purposes.
Materials:
- Pom Poms
- Letters
- Bin
When it comes to toddlers, I like to use simple and sometimes easy-to-clean fillers. Today, we used pom poms for fillers in a relatively large bin. It has plenty of room for the children to explore as they wish. I bought a bag of pom poms from Target, which comes in different colors and some even with different textures.
When starting new projects, I love to let the children help me in creating them. Asking for their help to place the pom poms in the bin, and the letters.
Speaking of letters, I have a wooden alphabet puzzle. I simply dumped the letters from that into the bin. If you have magnetic letters that can stick to your fridge, those would also work. You can also use foam and cut those out into letters.
If you don’t want to use pom poms, you can use colored beans, rice, or even shredded paper. Try using new materials your child doesn’t play with every day.
When it comes to playtime, as an adult, you’re going to want the child to take the lead. They know all about play. That means, no talking about staying neat and tidy or keeping track of how many minutes are left in the play activity. Find a way to let it be enjoyable for you and your child.
Other Ways To Play
Ask your child to find a certain letter of the alphabet and then place it aside. Continue to look for other letters until they find all of them.
Add water to the bin and give your child a spoon or ladle. See if they can scoop letters as they practice working with water and developing fine motor and gross motor strength. This is great for concentration.
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