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4 min read
While not technically Montessori, you can find sensory bins in many Montessori classrooms.
They're great for sensorial exploration and can be very calming for children.
They're also just a fun way to develop pouring skills, fine motor coordination, and creativity.
Sensory bins are typically just a plastic tub or a large container, filled with materials that will stimulate the senses. They can have a theme, like Valentine's Day (shown in the image below), or they may just include loose materials for scooping, pouring, and mixing.
Sensory bins are incredibly easy to make. They can really be made from so many different materials.
Start by choosing a container that’s large and shallow enough to encourage movement. A large, shallow rubbermaid bin or tupperware container works well.
Next, choose a base material. Popular choices include coloured rice, pasta, sand, or dried legumes but this article is about taste-safe options, so scroll down to use those instead.
You can also pick a theme you for your bin (i.e. colours, nature, seasonal (i.e. winter or Christmas), space, cars, animal figurines, letters, etc). You can choose anything your child is interested in.
Lastly, add some tools for scooping, pouring, mixing, dumping, patting, squishing, etc.
Examples of tools would be tweezers, spoons, tongs, small bowls, measuring cups, eyedroppers, an ice cube tray, etc.
Click here to see our Wooden Sensory Bin Toolkit.
Click here to see our Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set.
TOOBs or other animal figurines are also great additions.
Since these sensory bins are taste-safe, you may want to use all-natural food colouring too.
You can find natural food colouring at some grocery stores or make them by juicing colourful fruits and vegetables, i.e. carrot juice, beet juice, cranberry juice, spinach juice, blueberry juice, etc. You can also use strongly coloured spices mixed with a bit of vinegar, like turmeric, matcha, and paprika.
Often the natural food colours aren't as vibrant but they will still add colour to your base.
This is a great sensory bin filler to make when you’re planning to cook with chickpeas. All you need is the liquid from a can of chickpeas.
It's a fun substitute for shaving cream or bubbles because it's light and foamy.
I this version, I used blue food colouring and added the figurines from the Penguins TOOB.
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This is a great way to use leftover pasta. The texture is great for children that enjoy squishy textures, like mud.
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This is a great way to use up stale cereal, crackers, or bread (toasted).
In this version, I used stale Saltine crackers and added the figurines from the Wild TOOB.
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You can also use water, oats, cornmeal, whip cream, or scarves/swatches of fabric/felt. All you need to do is add them to your container, no prep required!
Also note that there are a few “taste-safe” recipes out there that use raw flour but raw flour should not be ingested. Bake the flour on a lined cookie sheet at 350 for 5 minutes (or until it reaches 160 degrees), let it cool and then it is safe for a child to explore with all of their senses.
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