What is sensory bin activity?

What Is a Sensory Bin? A sensory bin is a shallow container that combines filler material and various small odds and ends . You fill the bin with a filler material such as sand or rice, then add items from around the house such as spoons or measuring cups. Let your child explore the items and have fun playing.

What are three popular traditions connected with St Patrick's Day?

St. Patrick's Day is historically observed through a number of traditions. These include preparing food like corned beef and cabbage, musical gatherings called "céilí," and decorating with symbols like shamrocks and leprechauns.

What can we put in a sensory bin?

Remember that you can use things you already have around the house as sensory items for kids to create easy sensory bins! Dry rice, beans, and/or pasta. Unpopped popcorn. Sand. Cotton balls. Shredded paper. Raffia/crinkle grass. Corn Meal. Craft feathers for a feather sensory bin. More items... Oct 15, 2022

How do you create sensory activities?

It's so satisfying to watch children learn and develop through various sensory play activities that are often quick, cheap and easy to create for them. Make Homemade Playdough. ... Create Pasta Necklaces. ... Try Finger Painting. ... Make a Mini Sand Garden. ... Sorting Pebbles. ... Moving Cotton Wool Balls Between Jars. ... Stacking Bricks. More items... Dec 4, 2019

How do you organize sensory bin items?

I often pick a base color for my bins so I keep the colored items sorted this way and an get to them easily for bins or even other activities regarding colors . In the white drawers, I keep extra random supplies for the bins and for other Tot Tray activities.

What is a good St. Patrick's Day saying?

"May the luck of the Irish enfold you. May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you." "Bless your little Irish heart and every other Irish part." "May luck be your friend in whatever you do, and may trouble be always a stranger to you."

What food is traditionally eaten on St. Patrick's Day?

Patrick's Day party, including soda bread and a seriously tasty trifle to whip up for dessert. Bacon and Cabbage. ... Irish Soda Bread. ... Irish Stew. ... Irish Coffe. ... Corned Beef and Cabbage. ... Colcannon.

How do the Irish celebrate St. Paddy's Day?

The celebration of St Patrick's Day only properly came to prominence in Ireland during the 20th century and traditions, if you could call them that, generally revolve around a local parade, the wearing of green and a few drinks with friends and family during a traditional Irish music session .

What is the color code for St. Patrick's Day Green?

The official Pantone color designations for the green and orange colors are PMS 347 and PMS 151. The Hex codes, RGB, and CMYK formulations are: Green PMS 347: Hex #009a49 | RGB 0,154,73 | CMYK 100,0,53,40 .

How do you make a simple sensory toy?

- Use hair gel and mix with 6 parts warm water and fine glitter if you wish then pour into the bottle. Add plastic toys such as lego bricks. Put the lid on and see if the bricks move. If they don't then empty some of the liquid and add more warm water.

How do you make a green pea sensory bag?

How To Make: frozen green peas and cold water. Mix . in a gallon sized ziplock bag and seal and secure to . the floor with duct tape !

St. Patrick's Day Sensory Bin and Activities (2024)

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We put together our St. Patrick’s Day sensory bin last week, and as I expected it has already become a daily play choice for both of the girls. Over the next couple of weeks we will continue to explore the bin freely and incorporate a few specific learning activities along the way.

FIND EVEN MORE ST. PATRICK’S DAY IDEAS IN OUR PRINTABLEST. PATRICK’S DAY THEME LESSON PLANS.

Why play with sensory bins?

If you would like to read a little more about sensory bins and why they are helpful in play and learning, Salus University gives a good, brief description of sensory bins and their benefits.

What’s in Our Bin?

We didn’t have a lot of St. Patrick’s Day materials on hand, so I made a quick trip to the Dollar Tree. Almost everything in our bin was purchased there with the exception of the black bins. I grabbed them from our Halloween supplies. I wanted the black pots to serve as our bins, but since they are a bit small I decided to use two of them. I also added a couple of materials to the small green buckets. The combination of buckets ended up offering a lot of opportunities for sorting, transferring and pouring.

So what’s in it, already…

Pinto beans as the base-So far beans have been one of my favorite materials to use as a base for sensory bins.
Gold coins
Green coins
Foam shamrocks-different colors, some with glitter and some without
Shamrock necklaces-We may leave these intact or end up cutting them into smaller strands of beads
Small strips of gold ribbon
Green flower table scatter
Gold glass beads
Green leprechaun hats
Green ice cream scoop

Ways We Will Extend the Use of Our Sensory Bin

Starting this bin a while before St. Patrick’s Day will give us many opportunities to use it in different ways.

Exploring:

This first week I will simply leave the bin out for the kids to explore on their own. As you can see in the pictures below, Tinker couldn’t wait to get started. This self-directed learning and sensory exploration is the primary focus of sensory bins. The kids will feel the different textures, observe the objects, and begin to experiment with the materials in different ways. During this time I will also watch to see what they are naturally doing with the objects so I can decide which activities we might do next.

Once I see that the kids are done freely exploring the bin, I will start using some of the options below for extending its use. These are more adult-directed than free exploration, but they will allow us to focus on specific skills. The bin will also remain out and available for free exploration. We might just use it for various activities throughout the day.

If you read about our Christmas sensory bin, you will notice that these ideas for extending the learning are almost exactly the same. Using sensory bins we are able to practice important developmental skills over and over again. By adding a little novelty with new items, kids are engaged and excited more than they might be if I used the same materials over and over again.

Language Development:

Talk…just talk about what the kids are doing as they explore the bin. This can be a great way to introduce and discuss new vocabulary. Describe what little ones are doing. Ask older children to describe what they are doing in their own words.
Name objects in the bin for Tinker (2 years) and ask her to locate them. As she is able, ask her to pick up an object and name it.
Name the colors of objects in the bin.
Discuss and explore the texture of different objects in the bin.
Play “I Spy” with Lovey (4 years) by describing an object using its physical description (color, shape, size, texture).
Make up a story using some of the items in the sensory bin.

Transferring and Pouring:

Practice fine motor skills by moving small pieces from one bin to the next. Toddlers can use their fingers in pincer grasp, or you could include tongs.
Pour beans from one container to the next. This is a toddler favorite!

Counting:

Choose a kind of object. Find all of those items in the sensory bin. Count how many in all.
Choose two different kinds of objects. Find all of those items in the sensory bin. Count how many of each. Then compare the two numbers (more, less, the same).
Roll a number cube (with either dots, numbers, or number words). Find that many objects.
Roll a number cube. Decide what number isone morethan the number rolled. Then find that many objects.
Roll a number cube. Decide what number isone lessthan the number rolled. Then find that many objects.
Introduce and practiceestimation with gold coins like this activity from Carrots Are Orange.

Sorting:Sort objects from the bin by:

Color
Shape
Size
Texture

Patterning

Select some of the objects and make a pattern.
If your child is just beginning patterning, make a pattern for the child. Then ask him or her to copy it or extend the pattern.

MORE ST. PATRICK’S DAY THEME FUN WITH PRINTABLE LESSON PLANS

Save time and get right to the playful learning with ourprintable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

This St. Patrick’s Day theme pack includes semi-editable lesson plans and hands-on activities for a week full of math, reading, & science learning activities to explore some fun St. Patrick’s Day topics. Watch this short video to see just a few examples of the types of activities and printables included in this set: