Toddler Kindergarten Preschool
Sensory Activities
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With Spring in full swing around here, we’ve found ourselves stuck indoors on more than one occasion due to the thunderstorms that always seem to show up this time of year. Now, on one hand, that means that we’re already missing the sunshine and fresh air that we had just a few weeks ago, but it also means that we’ve been given the perfect opportunity to dive into a weather theme unit, and we started it off with a little bit of cloud themed sensory play!
Whether you’re learning all about clouds and rain or just trying to find a fun activity to keep your kids entertained while spending a rainy day indoors, this fluffy sensory bin couldn’t be more perfect!
It introduces new textures, encourages a whole lot of squishy, messy play, and gives your little ones a bit of a fine motor workout all at the same time. It doesn’t get much better than that!
Well, I guess it could get better :) You could put together an entire week’s worth of weather themed sensory bins!
If you’re up for that, you may want to check out a few of these fun weather themed sensory play ideas!
Weather Themed Sensory Bins
Thunderstorm Themed Sensory Bin from Counting Coconuts
Rain Stick in a Bottle from Teach Preschool
Exploring Rain Sensory Bin from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds
Weather Sensory Bottles from Twodaloo
Super Simple Raindrops in a Cloud Sensory Bin
This squishy sensory bin seriously couldn’t be easier to put together. In fact, you’re only going to need 2 items!
Now, a couple of things to note. First, the amount of shaving cream that you’ll need will obviously depend on the size of your bin. We used a can and a half, filling our bin almost to the top and the kids loved it!
Second, if you either can’t find blue water beads or would prefer not to buy a ton of them in a single color, go with clear water beads instead, measure out what you’ll need for the bin, and dye them yourself.
How to Dye Clear Water Beads
If you’ve never dyed water beads before, don’t let the idea scare you! It’s quick, easy, and so much better than buying a ton of water beads in single colors.
Just fill a bowl or bin with water, add a few drops of liquid food coloring and mix well. Add your clear beads and let them sit until they’ve expanded to their full size, give them a quick rinse with warm water to wash off any residual food coloring, and you’re good to go!
Weather Themed Sensory Bin
Once your beads are ready, throw them into your shaving cream cloud and let the kiddos enjoy!
This simple rain themed sensory bin is the perfect way to kick off a weather theme! In our case, it sparked an entire conversation about rain, clouds, and how raindrops are formed while making a dreary, rainy day just a little bit brighter.
