Summertime is here and I am sure that most of us would rather be lounging at the beach or in the pool than being cooped up indoors. Where we live, it gets to be 100°+ every day in the Summer so finding entertaining things for the kids to do inside during peak hours is a must!
Sensory bins are a great way to entertain kids (either inside or outside) and also have many benefits for learning and development. According to Arizona Early Childhood, sensory play toys are “beneficial for language development, cognitive growth, fine and gross motor skills, problem-solving skills, emotions and social interaction.” When I was younger, we had a sandbox inside our Kindergarten classroom and when my kids were young I remember them using tubs with shaving cream, toys, and food coloring to play with.
Nowadays, there are so many different ways to create a sensory bin. For other ideas, check out my Sensory Play board on Pinterest.
If you’re not able to go to the beach, why not bring the beach to you? This Beach Sensory Bin is fun to make and lots of fun to play with! The shovels and beach toys can easily be found at your local dollar store and the sand is inexpensive too! The bin in the picture used approximately 25 pounds of play sand. I purchased a 50-pound bag of play sand at Lowe’s in the garden section for under $5. Have fun and let your imagination run wild!
Beach Sensory Bin
Materials:
- Play Sand
- Water
- Blue Food Coloring (optional)
- Large storage bin
- Optional: toys, shovels, shells, etc.
Directions:
- Pour enough play sand into the bin to fill up half of the space.
- Fill a pitcher with water and add a few drops of food coloring. Stir to blend the color into the water. Pour the blue water into the empty side of the bin.
- Add beach toys, shovels and shells into the bin. Kids can enjoy digging in the sand for shells, scooping up the sand, and splashing in the water with their hands.
This is such a fun idea!!! I’ll have to try this with my little one. Thanks for sharing!
That is so cute.