The Mitten Sensory Bin

Kindergarten Preschool Toddler Fine Motor ActivitiesLanguage ArtsSensory ActivitiesWinter

If you’re working through a winter theme unit with your toddlers or preschoolers or you’re introducing them to the story “The Mitten” by Jan Brett, then you’re going to want to add this fun winter sensory bin to your classroom lesson plan!

It easily doubles as both sensory play and a literacy activity and your students will have a blast searching through the snow to find all of the animals in the mitten!

Building The Mitten Sensory Bin

This is, hands down, one of the easiest sensory bins to throw together and once it’s done, your students are going to be able to work on their storytelling skills, vocabulary words, and so much more!

Supplies Needed for The Mitten Sensory Bin

• Some sort of bin or tray
• The Mitten printable (grab the download at the bottom of this post)
• Instant Snow (your students are going to love this all by itself!)
• Water
• Scoops, spoons, brushes, and any other sensory items that you’d like to add

Putting The Mitten Sensory Bin Together

First and foremost, you’re going to need to download the mitten printable. You can find this at the bottom of this post.

Cut it out and then, because it will be underneath all of the wet snow, run it through your laminator.

With a few pieces of tape, secure it to the bottom of your sensory bin so that it doesn’t slide around and then, start making your snow!

You’ll need to mix your instant snow powder with a little bit of water to turn it into that light and fluffy snow, but check your package’s instructions for exact amount.

Once it’s made, add your snow to the bin on top of the mitten along with any other sensory toys that you’d like to add and you’re ready to start searching for those animals!

Quick Tip: While the Instant Snow is a ton of fun to play with, adding too much to your bin at once will make it difficult for your students to move it out of the way enough to find the animals.

Using The Mitten Sensory Bin

Grab your copy of “The Mitten” by Jan Brett and read through the story with your preschoolers during circle time.

It’s a wonderful story and if they’re as obsessed with animals as mine are, they’re going to love seeing all of the winter animals in this book!

Then, bust out the mitten sensory bin and let them go to town finding all of the animals from the story!

Within the download, you’ll also find the mitten worksheet that lists all of the different animals. Print off enough so that each child has their own and have them color the animals as they find them.

This winter themed sensory bin is a ton of fun for all ages and would make a great addition to any winter theme, but if you’re looking for more fun sensory bin ideas that your preschoolers are going to love, we’ve got that too!

Looking for more fun crafts and activities for your winter themes? Here are a few of our favorites!

• Bear Crafts for Kids
• Winter Snow Sensory Writing Tray
• Winter Themed Books for Preschoolers
• Five Little Snowmen: Puppets and Song
• Printable Snowmen Color Matching
• Winter Movement Cards