Artists Sensory Bin

Artist Study Sensory Bin

• Pony beads
• Chenille stems
• Miniature paint pallet (Michaels)
• Miniature still life bowl (Michaels)
• Miniature chair
• Sunflower
• Paint bucket (Michaels)
• Chalkboard
• Chalk
• Sample artist paintings with names
• Artist names
• Paintbrushes
• Mirror for self portrait
• Spoons
• Small cup
• Pom poms
• Letters spelling artists names

It's a Bird's Life

This month is brought to you by the Peregrine Falcon.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/peregrine_falcon/id

Mister has a tendency to get really focused on one thing and will not let it go.  If you guessed his latest obsession is the peregrine falcon. 

" Hey, did you know that the peregrine falcon can fly 200 mph? If it was flying on the highway, it would get a ticket for flying that fast." 

"Did you know they eat other birds?"  

All day long I'm learning about these birds.  Unfortunately, we won't see one of these birds in our backyard, but that's not stopping him from looking every day.  In the meantime, we are learning about birds.

To kick off our month, here is their Backyard Bird Sensory Bin.

• Green Rice - Grass
• Seeds for eating
• Birdhouse
• Duck Pond
• Nests
• Eggs
• Flower for nectar
• Insects for eating
• Labels
• Backyard Bird Toob plus a hummingbird
• *I will add a tree when I find a branch (we have no trees and no sod right now) or my trees, which are probably packed in a box.

March - Rrrr I'm Gonna Get You!

Long time no see.  Lots of stuff, to get technical, going on over here and it has left me with little energy to do anything other than veg when I have free second.

Mister and Ladybug are loving the Magic School Bus chapter books and we are reading about food chains and food webs.  Mister has taken to dinosaurs to the "delight" of his sisters so we are combining the two this month.

• Green rice
• Fish aquarium plants
• Pom-poms for rocks - Our rocks are under a few feet of snow and frozen to the ground.
• Blue petri dish - lake
• Big rock - mountain
• Blue paper - river
• Pipe cleaner - waterfall (Mister's idea)
• Dinosaurs
• Funnel
• Spoon

I was informed that I forget the source of all energy: the sun.

January Sensory Bin - It's All About Money

In our house we don't call coins money, but "lucky day(s)" and it makes me smile every time.  Mister and Ladybug are interested in "lucky days" and how we are able to buy things.  I am sure it stems from me asking them if they remembered to bring their money when they want to buy a new toy or candy.  This month we are going to revisit money.

What's Inside

• Coins (real and pretend)
• Piggy bank
• Items to buy with price tags attached
• "Credit cards"
• Zipper coin purse
• Paper money

Ladybug took the sensory bin and created a store on the table for our shopping pleasure.

It's a Winter Wonderland - December Sensory Bin

One of the thing I love about living in the tundra is the four seasons.  Sadly we are stuck in 3.5 season since the last three years have been disappointing for snow.  My husband isn't complaining, but it's hard to get in the season when it's cold and there is no snow.  I put together a sensory bin of what I think it should look like around here minus the penguins.

What's Inside:

• Clear pony beads
• Pom-poms (green, white, and red for Rudolf's nose)
• Evergreen trees
• Snowpeople
• Penguins
• Christmas balls
• Horn pick
• Lights
• Santa
• Kids playing in the snow

October Sensory Bin - What's Inside?

The spark and bang are still haunting me, so this photo is brought to you by Blackberry.  I know, it's nothing compared to the new generation of phones, but considering my husband and I are considering returning to a landline, it's what ya get.

This month is all about the inside of our bodies.  

• Elbow macaroni (clever) dyed orange and black
• Black and orange pom-poms
• Googly eyes
• Skeleton parts (wooden and plastic)
• Skeleton rings
• Cauldron
• Spoons
• Strawberry hauler

My word it's worse than I thought.

I hope to update when I get a camera.

September - A is for Apple

• Yellow lentils
• Apples
• Pom-poms
• Safari LTD squirrel
• Apple bag
• Tongs (used as a crow by Mister and Ladybug)
• Leaves
• Letter a's
• Scarecrows
• Acorns
• Spoon
• Fork

August Sensory Bin - Desert

This summer has me feeling like we live in the desert, so to honor all our sweat we have a desert sensory bin.  Safari Toob is the answer to most of my sensory needs and I used one again this month.  I did get a little hung-up that the animals aren't from the same desert, but enough can be found in the same desert that I overlooked it.

The blue is oasis.

July Sensory Bin - Our Nation

This sensory bin is a take on last year's sensory bin and is all about America.  This time I included a few surprises for the kiddos.  Can you figure out why I put them in?

• Blue and red dyed pasta (use vinegar and food color)
• Stars
• Red and blue bracelets
• Pom poms
• Flipper
• Keys
• Bus
• Horse
• Pineapple
• Ice cream
• Bucket
• Spoons

May Sensory Bin - Holy Frijoles

This month is brought to you by El Skippito Friskito and Mexico.

Mister and Ladybug were given SkippyJon Jones for their 3rd birthday and it has sat on the shelf mostly unread.  A few times we have tried to get through the book, but it wasn't until we listen to the audio version with Judith Schachner that Miser and Ladybug that they fell in love with series.  Even the Wee One walks around saying, "Not your beans!" I am taking their love for El Skippito Friskito, as he is known around here, we are doing a country study of Mexico.   It's time to dust off the Spanish (four credits shy of my degree) and take a trip to Mexico.

Edit - Never, ever try to take a picture and do a post before your first cup of coffee while your children are recovering from being sick. 

April Sensory Bin - E-I-E-I-O

I am not a farm kind of gal.  Dare I say I can't stand going to the farm babies at the zoo and often tell the kiddos we just don't have time.  In my defense I am allergic to all things farm, so we just stay away.  That being said I have deep respect for people who farm and I want my children to know where their food comes when they find a tasty dinner on their plates.

Behold the farm!

Mister and Ladybug were the creators (minus the letters) of their sensory bin.  I started out singing "Old McDonald" and then read a farm animals book.  Then, we made a list of things found on a farm and went on a hunt in our playroom for farm animals and farm related objects.  I gave them a choice between beans (I am forgetting which ones) or lentils and they picked lentils.  I am happy they made that choice because we haven't used them a sensory bin and they have a soft texture.

Mister and Ladybug have a tendency to go all out on their sensory bin and then peter out by the second week, so I have a farm words hunt that I will put on the shelf to encourage them to use their sensory bin more.

March Sensory Bin - What's the Weather?

The Wee One helped me put this together while Mister and Ladybug were at preschool.  She insisted we needed a lot of "hail" or little balls.  There is no reasoning with a toddler.

• White and blue rice - rain
• Sun - Michaels
• Rainbows- Michaels
• Cotton balls - Clouds
• Pom-poms - Hail
• Pipe cleaners - Lightening
• Snowflakes
• Bells - Thunder
• Scooping and pouring

February Sensory Bin - Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales

• Dry Oatmeal (Porridge)
• Humpty Dumpty - White cracked wooden egg
• There Was an Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe - Rain boot and Playmobil kids
• Jack and Jill - Oatmeal hill, miniature pail, Playmobil girl and boy
• Three Little Pigs - Wooden house from train set, pig, wolf
• Mary Had a Little Lamb - Lamb from animals
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Wooden stars
• Hey Diddle Diddle - Spoon, dish, cow, little dog, cat
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears - Three small plush bears

Mister and Ladybug would like me to add Three Blind Mice, so I need to either find an old clock or three mice.

January Sensory Bin - Brrr, It's Cold!

I like to joke that we live in the tundra when people ask me what the weather is like where we live.  It's cold, so cold that sometimes the snow sounds cold.  I can only imagine what it would be like to actually live in the tundra...actually I don't want to imagine.

Since we are in the coldest month of year, it's only fitting to have an Arctic Sensory Bin. 

What's Inside:

• Clear beads - pony and decorative
• Arctic Toob
• Pom-poms - white and blue
• 4 Snowmen - S-N-O-W
• Cotton balls
• Snowflake bucket - Target $ bin
• Mini bells
• Spoons
• Tongs

I love when the sun shines in the bin sparkles like ice and how many of the animals are camouflaged.

Edit :  Ladybug suggested we add silver sparkly pipecleaners for icicles. 

Let's Find It!

Yesterday I wrote that the Nutrition Sensory Bin included identification cards for finding words, vegetables, and fruits, but did not include a picture.  I wanted to give you an idea of our card, so here are a few of the identification cards for our November sensory bin.

I think they felt a little overwhelmed by the small letters, fruits and vegetables hidden in the bin because they gave up rather quickly. 

November Sensory Bin - Nutrition

This month Mister and Ladybug are working on Health and Nutrition at preschool, so I decided to carry the theme over at home. 

• Corn
• Buttons (Varies fruits and vegetables)
• Felt vegetables (carrot, green bean, potato)
• Plastic fruits (pear, apple, orange, cherry, grapes lime, lemon)
• Banana stickers
• Letters for FRUIT
• Letters for VEGETABLE
• Letters for EAT
• Bowl
• Pan
• Tongs
• Ladle

Attached (not pictured) are identification cards for finding the words, fruits, and vegetables.

October Sensory Box - Nocturnal Animals

Last year we did a classic Halloween Sensory Box and it was a huge hit, but since we have been there, done that, I wanted to do something different.  This year we have our Nocturnal Animal Sensory Box.  They are in love with this one.

• Spoon
• Tongs
• Black dish (cave)
• Black beans (night sky)
• Yellow pom-poms (moons)
• Stars
• Deciduous trees
• Leaves
• Coniferous trees
• Bear
• Bear cub
• Raccoon
• Red fox
• Badger
• Wolf
• Rat

When I introduced this box we discussed how all these animals are nocturnal or awake at night.  I also told them that all of them could be found in the deciduous forest in our state.  We went outside and found deciduous and coniferous trees and talked about how they were different and the same.



Septemeber Sensory Box - Hut, Hut, HIKE!

This sensory box/sensory box is all about football and our Alma mater the GOPHERS!

• Pinto beans (I thought they looked a little like footballs, but husband informed me I was stretching it.  Don't use kidney beans as uncooked ones can be toxic if swallowed.)
• Mini footballs
• Wilton football player cake toppers
• Megaphones
• Cowbell (Because who doesn't need more cowbell?)
• Maroon pom-pom
• Gold necklaces
• Gopher cup
• Spoons

I may add a few more Gopher related items as I find them.

August Sensory Box - Ocean

This month we are all about oceans.  If you do a search you will find many ocean sensory bins and there are some great ideas, but I wanted to do something a little different.  This another sensory bin that should be kept outside.  Happy Playing!

• two aquarium plants ($.99 at the Pet Store)
• sand
• water tinted with one drop of blue food coloring
• sand"pearls" from a broken bracelet
• two nets (already owned)
• shells (already owned)
• pretend fish ($1 for pack of 6 at the Dollar Store)
• Safari Toob coral reef figures (already owned)
• Grow capsules - sea creatures ($1)

July Sensory Bin

Since this is the first 4th of July we have celebrated with meaning, the sensory bin has to be patriotic.