Pumpkin Patch Sensory Bin/Small World

I just adore small worlds, I think they are so perfect to get kids wanting to play with some of their dolls or figures or whatever that they might not have played with in a while, or just gives them the opportunity for pretend play in a little setting that often has a scenario or theme already.

For this sensory bin/small world I made it pumpkin patch themed for the fall time. 

I made this for my daughter when she wasn't even 2 yet and now she's almost 4 but I got the pumpkin cut outs at Dollar Tree when the Halloween/Fall things were out. I can't imagine something like that would be too hard to find these days now though, or that it's even 100% necessary to the bin.

What you'll need to recreate a pumpkin patch sensory bin/small world like this is:
- ground coffee
- some Little People or other figures
- some green pipe cleaners
- a fake squash perhaps (Dollar Tree)
- a real small pumpkin
- pretend small pumpkin/whatever else little pumpkin things you might have that you could put into a pumpkin patch themed bin

I have that little pretend pumpkin and "welcome great pumpkin" sign from a Charlie Brown play set we have.

We took this bin outside to make it even more real since pumpkin patches are outdoors, and because this bin can be messy if coffee grounds start flying everywhere. They didn't with us, but some did get out of the bin which. I had it laid out on a outdoor blanket for easy clean up and comfort for Charlie sitting on the deck.

Birdseed Sensory Bin

I really like this birdseed sensory bin that my daughter helped me to make. We filled the sensory bin up with a birdseed mixture, you can find this at Menard's or a similar store. We added in some birds we got from the Dollar Tree, a yellow daisy sink strainer. We also had a little toy nest and a little toy bird bath to use, as well as a butterfly eraser I put in. 

It's a very close to nature sensory bin and the kids can use the sink strainer to scoop and pour and play with the bird seed. 

Frog Life Cycle Pond Sensory Bin

As part of our Habitat Series we're doing right now we are doing a unit on the habitat of the pond. Frogs live in ponds, and knowing the life cycle of a frog is important animal knowledge. So I made this sensory bin/small world that shows the life cycle of a frog in a cute and interactive way. Kids can play with it while learning and experiencing fun tactile sensory materials. 

To make this sensory bin/small world I first made a batch of blue homemade playdough to represent the water. My favorite homemade playdough recipe goes as follows:

1 cup of water
1 cup of all purpose flour
1/4 cup salt
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
blue food coloring (for this batch)

Mix them all together in a pot with a wooden spoon and then put it on the stove on medium heat and stir it constantly until it forms a ball, transfer it to a bowl, knead it until it is no longer sticky once it is cool enough.

Now, to make the bin look like the pond how I wanted I put the blue playdough down into more than half of the surface of the bin, stuck some small rocks into the edge for a border, and then poured some dry split peas into the remaining surface area of the bin. After that all there was to do was to put the life cycle of a frog pieces into the bin. I also added a little plastic fly we have to discuss how frogs eat flies. We also watched a video afterwards of a frog eating flies to connect the concept and make it more real.

You can buy the frog life cycle here  to make this bin or to use for your own educational activities.

Make sure you interact with your child(ren) as they play with this bin and explain the stages of the frog life cycle and the differences between each. Every day of the pond unit after we did this bin I am having my daughter show me the frog life cycle in order on her own.

Sensory Farm Small World

If you're looking for a sensory bin that includes some pretend play small world fun this is a great one. It's particularly great for a farm tot school or preschool theme. 

For this bin you will need:
- cornmeal
- baking soda
- water
- lemon-lime koolaid mix
- rocks
- some little people or other plastic farm animals, a tractor and farmer too if you can

First you'll need to make the dough by filling a bowl with the amount of baking soda you want and then very, very gradually adding water and mixing it together until it forms a dough that you can make into a ball and crumple again. Too much water will result in it just turning into liquid.

Once you have that dough made you can add some to the bottom of one half of a sensory bin, then put a row of rocks on it and pour some cornmeal on the bottom of the other half.

Then all you need to do is add in the animals and other things.

Little Mermaid Sensory Small World

Does your little one love the book or movie Little Mermaid? If so this sensory small world will be perfect for them. I'm always looking for ways to bring books and movies to life in fun ways, and I'm always looking for more and more ways to use our Little People. This bin is the best of both worlds for that.

To recreate this sensory small world you will need:
- Blue playdough
- Corn meal
- Some seashells
- Little People Little Mermaid figures. You can get Ariel as a mermaid and her 3 friends here and you can get Ariel as a person on land with Prince Eric here.
- We also added a little Sebastian figure we had and an aquarium toy

To set it up use the blue playdough to make an ocean by pushing it down to cover half or a little over half of the surface of the bin. Add the corn meal to the rest of the surface of the bin. Add in the Little People where they belong (mermaid in the ocean, others on the sand). Add in the extras, seashells either place, and aquarium toy in the ocean.

Glamorous Petting Zoo Sensory Bin

I've got a very fancy little girl who loves pink! So, just for her I set up this Glamorous Petting Zoo sensory bin/small world. She LOVED it and I bet your kids would too.

All you need is:

- A sensory bin

- Colored/floral scented Epsom Salt (purchased from Dollar Tree)

- Some Little People (or whatever kind) petting zoo animal figurines

- Things to represent their food, we again had Little People stuff, but play food from your child's kitchen would work just as well if it's all you've got

Pour the Epsom Salt in the bin and then add in the cute little animals and food. You can also give your child some Little People (or other doll/person figures) to play with in the petting zoo, to feed the animals, and pet them, etc. Their little imaginations will just soar with this bin!

Coffee Shop Sensory Bin/Small World

Doesn't this sensory bin/small world look so inviting? I think it does!

Coffee beans are a great base material for sensory bins. I decided to add some more things to our usual coffee bean sensory bin to make it more interesting this time. I added coffee mugs from the play kitchen, Little People, and a Little People stand from the corner market play set. The point was to get my daughter to play with the Little People as if they were at a coffee shop, making them cups of coffee and such, and having them interact with each other. I still had out some measuring spoons and cups for more fun transferring. She had a lot of fun with it! 

Fairy Garden (sensory play, pretend play, outdoor play)

I am absolutely in love with this fairy garden that I made for my daughter! We had been gathering the supplies for it all April, and then ended up putting it together on Easter. I wanted to make her this Fairy Garden so she could do some digging in the dirt, some pretend play with her fairies, pretend to plant the flowers, move around some loose parts, and have something she could do beside me while I tend to our garden. 

I found that perfect pot for it at Menards, and filled it up with the dirt! 

The materials I used for inside of it were all purchased from Hobby Lobby and Dollar Tree (aside from the aquarium gems which some are from Pet Co, some have came in holiday sets from Hobby Lobby). I think the gems really add to it though, since they're loose parts that are intriguing for imaginative play. They also sparkle very pretty in the sunlight. We use the black ones for around the house and stepping stones. The green ones can look like grassy areas, and the orange ones we put on the tables to be tea and crumpets.

 Here's another picture with everything included. The bridge wasn't in the last picture.

All things from Hobby Lobby were in one aisle, so getting these items doesn't require much searching. I purchased over $100 worth of items there that day and only ended up spending about $60 because of a great coupon I had. I think it was well worth it. From that aisle we got the house, mushrooms, flower bed, bridge, 3 fairies, bench, tables, and fencing.

The things I added from the Dollar Tree were the artificial flowers and rocks.

There's just another view, without the bridge again.

My daughter likes to play with the fairies and they have tea parties and their tables, water the flowers, etc.

She also likes to take the fairy items out sometimes and really get to digging and getting dirty with her minnie mouse shovel and cultivator from Toys R Us. I also give her a big bucket so she can transfer/scoop and pour the dirt when she wants too. She can also pretend to plant the artificial flowers again and again.

I think this is great outdoor fun for any child. I'm always looking for things to do outside so we can spend more time out there. If you don't want your sons playing with fairies, this could be made more "boyish" by using gnomes instead of fairies (also found in the same aisle at Hobby Lobby).

Ocean Water Play

My daughter, like most children, LOVES doing water play. If you haven't tried it with your little one yet you definitely should. It's always a hit here! Water play indoors is always okay if you have towels and such nearby, water play is the summer months is a good idea too as a way to beat the heat outdoors. For this water play session I went with an Ocean theme.

To start I got out one of our sensory bins and filled it up with water, then mixed in some neon blue food coloring until I got the color I wanted. Then I added in some seashells and the contents of our Animal Planet Animal Head Tube - Sea Life tube. 

My daughter played and played for a while. At first she delighted in looking at all of the sea animals. The great thing about the ones from the Animal Planet tube is that they all have the names written on their bottoms so you can work some knowledge in during play.

After a while I gave my daughter a plastic cup so she could pour the water, or collect sea animals in it.

Baking Apple Pies Sensory Small World

This is the sensory small world pretend play bin that we made with our Cinnamon Scented Rice. I just put the cinnamon scented rice in the bin, then added some Little People princesses, pretend apples, and a whisk. I sat out a small toy oven  next to it, and a measuring spoon and cup. 

I set this up as an invitation to play and told my daughter she was making apple pies with the princesses! She got to work right away!

Cinnamon Scented Rice

Here's our Cinnamon Scented Rice that we like to use for sensory play. It adds color and scent to a sensory bin perfect for the Fall apple pie making season. See our favorite bin we've made with this rice here.

Ingredients:
- White rice (enough to fill a bin the way you like)
- Red food coloring
- Cinnamon
-Alcohol or vinegar

Put the rice in a Ziploc bag and add in some alcohol or vinegar then shut the bag and mix it around with your fingers until it's coated. Then add in the red food coloring and cinnamon and do the same. I used lots and lots of cinnamon!

You can either let it dry in the bag or lay it out on a piece of foil.

Beach Small World

Small world play is great for toddlers and preschoolers to act out little scenarios that they are in complete control over. Most small worlds, including this one, also have sensory elements to them and can often be done in sensory bin form.

Our beach was set on just the sand. For the sand/base material I used yellow cornmeal. Poured that in there until it covered the bottom of the bin nicely, and then some. I added in seashells, a striped baby wash cloth as their towel, some Little People who looked like they belonged at the beach, and a fish shaped sand mold.