Sensory Play has always been a favorite with my kids! I'm a firm believer that childhood should be messy, and that kids should be allowed to explore and learn through different textures. I just prefer that the mess be contained, which is why I love Sensory Bins!
Sensory Play is especially important for Liam. After we received his Down syndrome diagnosis, I began researching, and I discovered that sensory issues can be quite common. I was determined to help him as much as I could, so I introduced sensory play and sensory bins when he was a baby. Thankfully, he's a BIG fan of messy play!
My girls love sensory bins, too. They get a lot of use in our home! I try to come up with at least one new sensory bin and sensory activity each month to keep things interesting, and they usually play with that bin for a few weeks before switching to a different sensory bin filler in our stockpile.
When I was brainstorming ideas for this month's theme (purple) for the Year of Color link party that I co-host, I decided to make a flower garden sensory bin using fake purple flowers that I recently bought. They paired perfectly with the black beans sensory bin filler that is part of our usual sensory bin rotation!
Flower Garden Sensory Bin
This fun sensory bin is very easy to set up, and is perfect for sensory AND pretend play! All the scooping, filling and pouring really helps strengthen Liam's fine and gross motor skills, too!
SUPPLIES:
- Sensory Bin with a lid (An under the bed storage tote works perfectly!)
- 8-10 lbs of black beans
- Several bunches of fake flowers (I just used purple for the theme, but get creative.)
- Small flower pots
- 2 garden shovels
- 1 garden rake
- Ziploc gallon bags for easy storage
SET UP:
- Empty the beans into a clean sensory bin.
- Separate the stems on one bunch of flowers, and cut each stem so they are only about 10-12 inches long.
- Pull just the flowers off the second bunch (no stems).
- Toss the flowers, flower pots and gardening tools into the sensory bin.
- Have fun!
NOTE: I highly recommend playing with this sensory bin outdoors. Those beans have the tendency to go everywhere! (I learned that lesson!) We also use THIS ROUND PLAY MAT all the time! It's perfect for pretty much everything, especially toys with small pieces. After the kids are done playing, I just have to pull the drawstring, and it turns into a toy storage/travel bag. We take it on vacation every year!
PLAY:
Here are a few ideas to get started:
*Rake the beans with the garden rake.
*Plant the small flowers in the bin.
*Fill the pots with beans and plant the flowers.
*Create different floral arrangements by adding different flowers to the mix.
*Take pictures of their creations.
*Pick up the beans with a shovel and use it to fill all the pots.
*Scoop up the beans with the pots, and pour into other containers.
*Dig into the beans with bare hands for a full sensory experience!
CLEAN UP:
When the kids are done playing, clean up is so easy! I just shake all the beans that landed on the play mat back into the bin, put the flowers in a gallon ziploc bag, and let the kids pour the beans into a few gallon bags. I place everything back into the bin, put on the lid, and store it until the next use!
If your kids love sensory play as much as mine do, this fun sensory bin will keep them busy for a long time. And that, my friends, is a mom win!
All of my kids have played with sensory bins filled with beans before, but they loved The Flower Garden Sensory Bin! It was so much more than just sensory play, so they played for hours. This is definitely and idea that we will be adding to our regular sensory bin rotation!
In case you are wondering, the "A Year of Color" link party with me, Little Dove, Macke Monologues, and Work It Mommy happens on the third Friday of the month. Each month focuses on one color and you can link up any post that revolves around that particular color: Fashion, Recipes, Activities for Kids, Crafts...ANYTHING is welcome! The link will be open for a month, so you can link up any time. We hope you will join us!
Obviously, it's NOT Friday. I'm posting a bit late this month, but with good reason. Lexie and Lily's dance recital was on Saturday, and the week leading up to it was unbelievably chaotic. We lived and breathed dance, and I didn't have time to do anything else. It was well worth it, though. I will be sharing that adventure on my blog tomorrow, and let me just say, it's definitely the start of a new journey!
Plan ahead for next month:
You might also like:
Rubber Ducks Sensory Bins & Sensory Play
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I love love love this idea! I didn't think to use beans and well soil and Connor just don't mix.
ReplyDeleteI love this! My kids love sensory bins too. I use beans a lot, but I'll have to add little pots and flowers to our collection.
ReplyDeleteOf all the sensory bins I have seen, this HAS to be one of the cutest. I love this so very much.
ReplyDeleteGirl, this is just BRILLIANT! I'm thinking that this might be my favorite of all of the sensory bins I've ever seen you post.
ReplyDeleteLiam is adorable! I love the sensory bins, too bad we didn't know about them when my brother was a bit younger. My parents had 2 kids of their own and then adopted 5 more of us then we have guardianship over one other. One of my brothers has down syndrome, my other brother has multiple things wrong with him physically and mentally. I think I will show my mom your blog, I think my younger brother could have a lot of fun with these bins. I will need to read more of your blog to find some he might be able to do. He has full function of one of his hands, and some function with one.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I found your blog! I found you through TuesdayTalk!
These bins are so wonderful! Thank you for the new idea to get those hands busy!
ReplyDeleteStefanie!! This is amazing!! I am totally going to do this! Can I ask where you got those little plastic flower pots? The mini ones? I'm thinking I can find everything else at the dollar store? My girls will love this!
ReplyDeleteSuch a fun sensory bin. I know my girls would love this.
ReplyDeletethis is awesome. i love the black bean option and I bet it sounds super cool when you're playing with it. I've had sensory bins with sand or rice and it was SO MESSY it almost made it unenjoyable cleaning it up lol
ReplyDeleteThis is a really cool idea! My little would LOVE this, she always wants to dig in the garden! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSo fun, Simon would love this idea!
ReplyDeleteSuch a fun idea! My kids would love this one
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ReplyDeleteI saw your instagram post on this! SO freaking COOL!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea! My 3yr old just aged out of early intervention and doesn't start pre k til August so I have two months to fill! What other sensory bins do you use? Jonny doesn't like to get his hands dirty but these beans will be perfect!
ReplyDeleteSuch an adorable idea!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea--you always figure out a way to provide fun and show neat and easy storage at the same time. It looks like your girls and Liam had a fun time "planting." I imagine raking the beans is pretty calming. I would love to do it myself!
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