Sensory Bins

The other day I came to the re-realization that there are very few supports for Sarah and myself since I chose to homeschool her as a special needs student. I began to do some looking online at something called "sensory bins" which is a bin that is filled with pretty much anything the imagination can conjure.

So... I bought an e-book that talks about what to use as the base:

1. rice (colored or not)
2. pasta (cooked or dry)
3. popcorn kernels
4. oats
5. flour
6. cloud dough
7. dried beans
8. shredded paper or Easter basket hay
9. water
10. sand
11. dirt
12. flour
13. cereal
14. marbles
15. water beads
16. cotton balls
17. shaving cream

Really, the list is endless... My first bin that I created was with rice. Dyed red. This rice bin kept Sarah occupied for 4.5 hours! Once the base is determined, you can add whatever you'd like to engage their minds. A lot of the ones you'll find online are very thematic and I may go that way later but for now, I'm doing Sarah's purely for the play value.

Then I found a recipe for cloud dough which is 1/4 cup of vegetable (or baby) oil and 2 cups of flour. I didn't have an oil based food dye so mine didn't color. But that's on my shopping list! :) 

Even Arianna got in on the fun!

Then I began to dye popcorn!

And chickpeas!!

It's only been two days but so far it's kept her busy for hours! I can't wait to use these super colorful items and expand on Sarah's play time! 

(ALL methods of coloring were found online, none of them were my own idea)