Policeman Sensory Bin

This sensory bin is great for toddlers and preschoolers to explore new objects and learn about things they haven't before. It opens up opportunities for some great conversations to expand vocabulary.

For the base material I used black and blue paper squares. To make paper squares you simply rip up construction paper into squares. I always save left over bits of paper from crafts for this exact purpose. I rip them up and keep each color in their own Ziploc bag.

Things I added to this bin were:

- Policeman little person

- Police car stress reliever

- Plastic police badge

- 2 police car erasers

Puzzle Pieces Sensory Bin

Does your little one love puzzles? Why not let them explore some smaller puzzle pieces than what they're used to in a sensory bin setting. To fill a small sensory bin enough I used 3 boxes of 100 piece puzzles. They sell them at Dollar Tree for just one dollar each.

As you can see, my daughter dug right in!

Aquatic Sensory Bin

This sensory bin is pretty simple to throw together. What you'll need to recreate it is a bit pricier than the average dollar store items, but I still like to think of it as frugal since the materials can be used over and over again for years.

Now, I call this an Aquatic Sensory Bin because the base material is aquarium gravel and almost everything else in it are things from the aquarium aisle at a pet store.

So, for your base material you can use any color aquarium gravel you'd like, I love the pretty multicolored one we used. I also added multicolored fake jewels, and a artificial piece of pink algae. Your kiddo has probably never got to experience something that feels quite like this yet, so it's sure to make for an awesome sensory experience.

Although it doesn't go with the theme that well I wanted to introduce my daughter to that wooden frog that's in the bin. It makes noise and enhances fine motor skills so I had to add it. You could add a fish bath toy, or more things from the aquarium aisle at your local pet store.

To add scooping and pouring to this bin since so many toddlers love to do that, just provide a plastic measuring spoon (tbsp size is great) and a dish or bowl. I give a purple plastic 1 tbsp measuring spoon, and a plastic yellow pineapple shaped dish that I found in the dollar section at Target.

Book Hospital for Broken Books

Above is a photo of our Book Hospital. I made this as a place to store the books that need repairing. It helps my daughter learn to be responsible by having to place her broken books in there. It helps me to fix them in a timely manner, and it looks darn adorable. I think a Book Hospital would look great in any playroom or classroom.

To make one all you need is:
- A relatively small sized tub/bin of your choice. I love everything about ours, shape and handles. We purchased it from the Dollar Tree. I'm sure there's still similar options there.
- Paper
- Tape
- Markers

All I did to label ours was write "Book Hospital" on some thick white paper, and color a couple little hospital symbols on there. Then I cut that out with funky scissors and taped it to the bin.

It's really simple to use. You can keep it where kids can reach to make it easier for them and teach them to be responsible for their books. I have ours on top of one of our lower bookshelves. Then when you find time you take the broken book(s) out and repair them. Then they go back in the Book Hospital to recover and you tell your child when they can get them out again.

Sand Paint

This is a really fun sensory paint that you can use for summer crafts with your kids. It's really easy to make too! You just squirt the desired amount of washable tempera paint into a paint pot or bowl, whatever you'll be using. Then you shake in some sand and mix it together.

It's a great sensory experience to finger paint with these paints. Kids will experience an all new texture as they use it.

Outdoor Baby Painting

Here's a must try activity for this summer!

Outdoor Baby Painting is really fun because it's painting with something totally unexpected. You can use any baby doll to do this, but a Water Baby like we have will probably work the best since it's made of a unique material that wipes off really easily.

You'll need:
- A baby doll
- A piece of cardboard or poster board or whatever you'd like to use
- A few different colors of washable tempera paint

To set it up just model off of what I did in the picture above, squirting some of each color of paint in a row on one side of the board. Then let your kiddo take their baby and create their masterpiece! Great process art!

Popcorn Kernel Sensory Bin

This is one of my daughters favorite sensory bins and she plays with it almost daily. Popcorn kernels are a fun material to use for scooping, pouring, and transferring. They also make for a great tool for pretend play.

To make this bin

The base material is obviously popcorn kernels. You can find a decent sized bag of them at your grocery store, but they are a few dollars. Still totally frugal though for how much use you'll get out of it. It's not like they go bad. 

I also added two plastic popcorn containers from the Dollar Tree, and a measuring spoon for the scooping and pouring.