Christmas can be an overwhelming time for kids, not to mention busy. So, I like to keep things simple when it comes to sensory activities for the kids during this time.
In other words, activities that require next to no preparation, if possible. Seriously, if I can just dump it and play, then awesome.
Well, this little Christmas sensory bin is just that. You simply grab some materials, dump them into a container, and it's ready for play. Not to mention, it's festive, sparkly, and super engaging. Your kids are going to love it!
A version of this post originally appeared on the CBC Parents website.
What You'll Need for this Christmas Sensory Bin
This sensory bin is made with a variety of materials from the dollar store. Materials that I like to keep handy in my sensory materials cupboard at all times. Here's what we used:
- Glitter foam Christmas shapes - They don't have to be glittery if you can't find them, but they're a bit more fun and offer a unique texture. I found these at Dollarama and they came in stocking and tree shapes.
- Large jingle bells in a variety of colors - Ours were silver, gold, red, and green.
- Cotton balls - However, you can use a white sensory bin filler of any kind, depending on what you have on hand. That could be white rice, white beans, white pom poms, or epsom salt.
Simply add the cotton balls (or whatever substitute you are using as the base) to a large plastic container. Then add the foam shapes and jingle bells on top. It should look something like this:
Considering how simple this sensory bin is, it's pretty, isn't it? There's so much glitter and sparkle mixed in with the white fluffy snow balls!
Most of the time I like to present sensory bin activities with some kind of fine motor tools, cups, or bowls. For this particular activity, I set out some scissor tongs (my boys love them!) and a cup. Feel free to use what you have on hand or skip entirely. It's up to you.
Toddlers & Preschoolers Will Love this Christmas Sensory Play!
This sensory bin offers a variety of textures: soft, gritty, smooth, metal, foam, fluffy.
And the addition of jingle bells offers a fun auditory component. Especially when you seal them up inside the purple and green scissor tongs. Once the tongs are closed with a jingle bell inside, you can shake them like a rattle. It's super fun!
However, my youngest son K mostly focused on scooping up the cotton balls - or "fluffy marshmallows" as he called them.
There are, of course, lots of other ways to explore this sensory bin beyond scooping materials up with some tongs or spoons. You could count jingle bells or foam shapes, sort them by color, decorate the trees with cotton balls and bells, and so on.
I really love how this Christmas sensory bin turned out and my youngest son had a lot of fun exploring it. So much so that we also made a winter sensory bin just like it.
