Summer Themed Sensory Bin Ideas
Summer is finally upon us! I have come up with a few sensory bin ideas for toddlers to use this summer that your little one will enjoy. Sensory bins can help improve fine motor skills, support cognitive development, and allows your child to use their imagination. Below you will find some of the sensory bins I have created by theme as well as some ideas and printables I have used from Abundant Play Co.’s monthly play book.
Abundant Play Co.
First, Let’s talk about activities! Do you struggle coming up and creating fun/ engaging activities for your little one? I love doing hands on activities with my daughter, but sometimes I have a hard time and stress over planning new activities. That was until I found Abundant Play Co. Abundant Play co offers a monthly subscription filled with simple ideas even for the not so Pinterest mom. Each month incorporates some seasonal fun activities, and it’s budget friendly at only $9 per month. Most of the materials can be found at the dollar store or items you already have lying around the house. GENIUS! There are so many great science experiments, play based learning activities, and ideas to practice those fine motor skills.
Being a teacher, I am lucky to have off during the summers. June’s playbook focused a lot on animals. My daughter has had so much fun the past few weeks doing all of the activities. We went to the zoo this past weekend and were able to use the BINGO zoo printable in the playbook. We found the animal, identified it, and practiced making the sounds the animal made. We also did a fun science experiment that only needed 3 materials! One thing I love about Abundant Play Co. is how you can easily differentiate each planned activity to fit your child! Check out Abundant Play Co. and use my code: AMANDA for a discount on your first month!
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Sensory Bins for Toddlers By Theme:
Under the Sea
What toddler doesn’t love water beads? They are so easy to make and they keep my daughter entertained for a while. I love that you can get them in practically any color you want. I chose to do an under the sea/ ocean theme for summer so I used green and blue to mimic the water. When making water beads make sure you are using enough water. I like to normally use 1 tbsp of beads and 2 cups water.
Cut out blue glitter cardstock to add another layer of texture to the ocean. Place it on the bottom of your sensory bin, add the water beads on top, and throw in some sea animals on top. Add playdough for the beach and a scooper to have your toddler practice their fine motor skills!
Materials:
- water beads
- glitter cardstock
- playdoh
- sea creatures
- scoopers
When Life Gives You Lemons..Make Lemonade!
Another easy sensory bin filler is dyed rice. It is so simple to make and again, you can dye the rice any color! I highly recommend Wilton’s gel color dyes. I use 1/8 tsp gel dye and 1 tbsp of vinegar. As always when dying rice, make sure you let it sit out for a few hours or overnight so that it can fully dry.
For the lemonade sensory bin I decided to dye rice yellow and pink. Pretend play and sensory play is so important when they are little. When it is unstructured it allows your child to explore without rules or limitations. I wanted to put materials in this sensory bin that would mimic the idea of making lemonade. Some great fillers for this bin is pretend ice cubes, cups, straws, pretend lemon slices, and a pitcher.
Materials:
- rice
- mini cups
- pretend lemon slices/ lemons
- straws
- pitcher
- scooper
- pretend ice cubes
Explore The Rainbow Sensory Bin
Practicing and sorting colors is a must! One way to identify colors is using froot loops and mega bloks! My toddler loves when I place editable cereal into her sensory bin. They can sort the froot loops and mega bloks into the correct color container. It is super quick and easy to setup. You can also add fine motor skills by threading the froot loops onto the pip cleaners. You can easily differentiate this and have them count out a given number onto the pipe cleaners.
Materials:
- froot loops
- pipe cleaners
- legos or mega bloks
- sorting containers
Mermaid Sensory Bin
As I mentioned before, I try and use materials that are already lying around my house. My daughter loved scooping the rocks and putting them into the bucket. She also had some fun digging in the kinetic sand and finding shells.
Materials:
- marbles
- scrapbook paper
- assortment of shells
- kinetic sand
- pom poms
- a cup
- turquoise rocks/ filler
- pipe cleaners for seaweed
4th of July/ Memorial Day Sensory Bin
Everything for this specific bin was found at the dollar store and was super quick to throw together. You could use this bin to work on repeating patterns or counting.
Materials:
- blue marbles
- shot glasses/ mini cups
- star filler
- different sized buckets/ pails
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Ice Cream/ Sweets Sensory Bin
Let your toddler use their imagination to pretend they are at a ice cream shop with sweets! My daughter loved scooping the cotton balls and making her own ice cream. She kept saying, “yummy.”
Materials:
- cotton balls
- mini pom pom’s for “sprinkles”
- sequins or confetti
- ice cream scooper
- ice cream bowls (dollar store)
- pretend play food
