3 Simple & Fun Toddler Sensory Bins

In recent years I have seen some amazing sensory bin ideas and have wanted to assemble a few of my own. With a two year old now in my care who needed some fun entertainment while I teach her older siblings, I thought now would be the perfect time. These bins are super easy to make with many things easy to find at your local dollar tree. You can keep the bins as is or if you have a sensory table, then simply change out the activity every week!

The Importance of Sensory Play

When my younger siblings were very little, we started getting much of our food from a local co-op. We would get several big bags of beans, rice, oats and other grains. The children loved to help pour the food into buckets for storage and it became such a fun thing for them to stick their hands in the buckets and feel the textures of the grains. I actually found myself doing it as well and then understood why it was so fun.

Children love to explore the world around them through their sense of touch. They are doing so from the moment they are born. Babies grab things and try to taste them. They grab their fingers and toes and yes, our hair! When they learn to crawl they are picking up things off the floor and feeling it. They splash and kick in the water of the bath tub or pool. When they sit up to eat, they are mashing the food in their hands. So much of our first learning is done through touch and sight.

Giving children a place to explore and learn the texture of things as well as sort by color and variety is such a great way to introduce them to new things. It is so fun and can keep them entertained for quite a while.

Here are some simple bins that I quickly assembled this last weekend with supplies that I collected.

Sensory Bins and Supplies

First off, I am a nanny with multiple families so I wanted to have a way to bring these bins with me to the family I am working with that day. I also have found that it makes it easier to bring one so the littlest is entertained when they have to wait for the big kids at an appointment.

These bins I found at Walmart in a set of four where the perfect size. These are 12qt bins that are flat enough for play and easy to bring along with me.

From recent science parties that I have put on for several families and neighbors, I already had plastic spoons of different colors, clear bowls, and scoops.

Finding pom poms, pipe cleaners (or fuzzy sticks), buttons, and beads is super easy at your local craft store or Dollar Tree.

Beans, rice, and pasta of all different sizes and colors make for a great base and the perfect size for kids to scoop.

Everything else I used for each of these bins are listed below.

Spring or Easter Themed Sensory Bin

This bin is super easy to make during this time of year. I wanted to have a fun one for little ones who genuinely love spring. Making it with extra Easter themed treasures just made it more exciting.

I started with spaghetti pasta that I cut into small pieces and put in a plastic ziploc bag. I dyed it green with acrylic paint and spread it out to dry on a cookie sheet. It didn’t take that long to do and turned out great!

I added some pastel pom poms, plastic eggs, clear bowls, and scoops. The cool find was these little acrylic filler gems that I found at Hobby Lobby. I really loved these and the pop of sparkle they add to the bin!

Children can fill the plastic eggs with treasures, hide the pom poms in the pasta grass, have fun color sorting, and scoop and pour all they want!

Flower Pot Planting Sensory Bin

This one is probably my favorite to be honest. I got actually giddy with excitement when this one came together! It looks so realistic that I know the little ones will love it!

Starting with black beans I had on hand, I added these plastic terracotta planters (found at the dollar store) to the bin. I had also grabbed a few different colors of silk flowers that I cut into smaller sections. With the addition of scoops, this bin was done! It was that simple!

Children will love to ‘plant’ flowers in these pots using the black beans as dirt. The simplicity yet beauty of this one is so much fun!

Color Fun Sensory Bin

If you are a toddler mom always searching for ways to keep your little ones’ hands busy, then you probably have pompoms, pipe cleaners, and beads somewhere! If you do, then add what you can into a bin, give them some scoops, empty bowls, and plastic spoons and you have an amazingly simple sensory bin.

This one was just that! I just added a little bit of everything I had and it turned out so cool. The two year old I care for has already spent so much time exploring this bin. Her favorite thing has been just pouring the beads back and forth into the little containers. She also strung some beads on the pipe cleaners and made bracelets. I even found her siblings entertained by it in moments of play and they came up with some really cool color-sorting ideas.

If you have different color bowls and spoons, see if your toddler can sort the pompoms by color or size. It is a great way to teach them their colors and see what other ideas their creative minds come up with.

All of these sensory bins are easy to make and not expensive at all. Children love to learn by doing and this gives them the space to do that as well as develop skills that are important to their daily life. As they get better at scooping and pouring, they will want to be helping you more with little things around the house like making cookies, pouring their milk, or washing dishes.

Having them alongside us is one of the greatest blessings to them as well as to us! I encourage you to pull up their stool or learning tower more and see what they can do.

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Many blessings to you!