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Easter sensory bin: How we used it

March 12, 2013 by Katie 21 Comments

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With Easter coming up, I was so excited to create an Easter sensory bin for my kids to use and explore. As I explain in my post Sensory Play: What It’s All About?, there is so much that children can learn from sensory bins and other forms of sensory play. In this post I’m sharing how I created my Easter sensory bin. I’m also detailing the various ways that my kids used the bin, with commentary about the skills they were developing along the way.

Note: This and other Easter activities can be found on my Easter activities for kids and Easter printables pages.

Easter sensory bin for preschoolers #preschool #ece #sensorybins #sensoryplay #sensorytubs #messyplay #Easter #GiftOfCuriosity || Gift of Curiosity

I created our Easter sensory bin from the following items:

  • A base of green and white rice (left over from our Christmas sensory bin)
  • Two small pails
  • A handful of fabric Easter eggs
  • Some plastic Easter eggs
  • Mini Easter egg beads (inside the plastic Easter eggs)

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

I also prepped some tools for the kids to use with the sensory bin, including:

  • An egg carton
  • Some measuring cups (from Goodwill)
  • A pair of tongs (also from Goodwill)
  • A set of aluminum scoops
  • A pair of scissor scoops

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

I put together our Easter sensory bin one evening after the kids had gone to bed, and I left it on the floor in our office. As soon as the kids saw it they were begging to play with it, but we were so busy for the next couple of days that it took us a while before the kids had a chance to dive in. When it was finally time, the kids were very anxious to help take the lid off. 🙂

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

And they were eager to explore all the materials inside the bin.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

They were excited to discover mini Easter eggs inside all of the plastic Easter eggs.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

The kids and I ended up playing with the bin for an hour that afternoon. By the end, rice was everywhere (which is why I put a sheet underneath before I let the kids start playing) and they had explored all of the materials.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

Here are some of the ways we played with the sensory bin and some of the skills QBoy and XGirl got to practice during our play.

Opening and closing the plastic Easter eggs

The kids spent a lot of time just opening and closing the plastic Easter eggs. They opened them to get the mini-eggs out. They closed them up with rice inside. They closed them up to put into the egg carton. All of the opening and closing was a great opportunity to build fine motor skills.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

Further, the kids got to work on color matching skills when I encouraged them to put the eggs back together with pieces that matched.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

Fine motor practice: scooping

The kids did lots of scooping of the rice using different materials. They scooped using the measuring cups.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

They scooped using their hands.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

The scooped using the scissor scoops.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

And they scooped using the aluminum scoops.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

Fine motor practice: tonging

The kids used tongs to pick up the Easter eggs.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

It was challenging, but eventually QBoy managed to pick up an egg using just one hand.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

Collecting and counting eggs

One of the first things QBoy did was to collect several of the plastic Easter eggs and line them up. He is very interested in order right now, and lining up his eggs was a manifestation of his preference for order right now. Once he lined them up, I invited him to count them.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

He also collected eggs inside the egg carton.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

XGirl, on the other hand, started by opening all of the plastic eggs and collecting the mini-eggs that were inside. Every time she added a new egg to her collection I asked her to count them up, which she did quite happily.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

Sensory play using feet

At one point, QBoy decided to sit down inside the sensory bin in order to get a sense for how the rice felt on his feet.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

Of course, XGirl and I had to take advantage of this opportunity to bury his feet in the rice. 🙂

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

Imaginary play

The kids also used the items in the sensory bin to engage in imaginary role play, pretending they were making me some eggs for breakfast.

First, they filled the eggs with rice egg white and yolk.

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

Then, they “cracked” the eggs into the buckets, pouring out the rice egg to prepare for “breakfast.”

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

QBoy also filled up the egg carton with rice and gave it to his dad as a “present.”

How we used our Easter sensory bin >> Gift of Curiosity

I’m always amazed at the creative play my kids invent for themselves when I allow them to engage in open ended play.

More Easter resources

More Easter posts from Gift of Curiosity:

  • Easter Printables Pack
  • Easter egg memory game
  • Easter egg sound matching game
  • Easter Bingo
  • Easter do-a-dot printables
  • Easter coloring pages
  • Easter I Spy game


For more Easter activities and printables your kids will love, see my Easter Activities for Kids page and my Easter Pinterest board.

Follow Katie @ Gift of Curiosity’s board Easter on Pinterest.

Don't miss out!

21 Comments

Comments

  1. Mary says

    March 12, 2013 at 7:50 pm

    I love this idea! I always have a hard time with ideas for my sensory bin. This is perfect for Easter!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      March 13, 2013 at 10:25 am

      This was one of the simpler sensory bins I’ve done, but there was so much learning involved for the kids. Sensory bins definitely don’t have to be complicated to provide a wonderful learning experience.

      Reply
  2. Kelli says

    March 13, 2013 at 7:14 am

    I love this! Thanks for the great ideas!

    Reply
  3. Kimberly Scanlon says

    March 13, 2013 at 6:10 pm

    I use and create sensory bins all the time for my clients (I’m a speech therapist) but I LOVE LOVE this one. Putting it a clear container only adds to the excitement and anticipation. I can’t wait to try this one with some of my clients (as long as they don’t try to eat the rice…may try dried pasta instead!).
    Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Katie says

      March 14, 2013 at 4:32 pm

      Thanks for your comment. And you are right that a sensory bin with rice would not be appropriate for all kids, especially those who still put things in their mouths. Fortunately my kids are past that stage. 🙂 But there’s so much fun to be had with all the Easter eggs. Hope your clients enjoy!

      Reply
  4. Tracey@We-Made-That says

    March 14, 2013 at 6:11 pm

    Oh what fun! I love sensory bins too and I really need to get on the ball and do more for my girls they really love them and they are great for keeping them entertained too! Thanks so much for sharing on We Made That!

    Reply
  5. Cynthia says

    March 15, 2013 at 3:46 am

    Another cute idea. Thanks so much for sharing.

    Cynthia

    Reply
  6. Jessica says

    March 16, 2013 at 1:45 pm

    I was just thinking about making a sensory bin for my 2-year-old this week. I’ll be sure to include some of your ideas. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Ashley says

    March 17, 2013 at 6:49 am

    What a great sensory bin; so many play options! Thanks for sharing at Mom’s Library!

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      March 18, 2013 at 6:38 pm

      Just want to let you know I will be featuring this on Mom’s Library this week! I hope you stop by!

      Reply
  8. Enchanted Schoolroom says

    March 17, 2013 at 10:06 pm

    I love the sensory bin. I especially love the picture of the kiddos inside the bin. It is a great tactile experience, I have to admit that when setting things up, I never can resist the urge to run my fingers through the rice, pasta, lentils, or whatever filler I have decided to use!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      March 18, 2013 at 10:54 am

      I love your Easter table and Easter sensory bin! Lots of fun things to play with. 🙂

      Reply
  9. Vicky @ Mess For Less says

    March 19, 2013 at 8:52 am

    That colored rice is awesome! Their feet look like they having such fun in there. Pinned!

    Reply
  10. Savannah says

    March 19, 2013 at 10:59 am

    What a great project. I was ignorant about sensory projects until my children had outgrown them. I hope you’ll consider sharing this post at my Look What We Did link up.

    Reply
  11. Tulip says

    March 19, 2013 at 2:57 pm

    Looks like they had so much fun! I love the rice and the way they used different utensils to pick things up. Great for motor skills! Thanks for sharing your Easter Sensory bin at Mom’s Library!

    Reply
  12. Lindsay says

    March 19, 2013 at 7:00 pm

    Just the last few weeks I’ve been struggling with the idea of sensory bins. I didn’t really understand the educational aspect and was very distracted by how messy they can be! Thank you for sharing all the different ways your kids learned through this activity! Maybe I’ll try another bin 🙂

    Reply
    • Katie says

      March 19, 2013 at 7:31 pm

      Glad I could be of help! And I hope your kid(s) enjoy them as much as mine do!

      Reply
  13. Amie@Triple T Mum says

    March 20, 2013 at 6:29 am

    Thanks for linking up to The Weekly Kids Co-Op. I have selected your post as one of the features for tomorrow’s Kid’s Co-Op post over on Triple T Mum and I have pinned this to The Weekly Kid’s Co-Op Pinterest Board. Looking forward to seeing your next linked up post 🙂

    Reply
  14. Julie says

    March 21, 2013 at 12:59 pm

    So much fun! The rice is beautiful. He climbed in the box:) I love the big tongs!

    Reply
  15. Carrie says

    March 22, 2013 at 12:14 pm

    Oh, how fun!! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!

    Reply
  16. Hannah says

    March 25, 2013 at 8:02 am

    The colored rice looks like fun! Thanks for sharing with us at Eco-Kids Tuesday!

    Reply

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