Fun indoors with children: Sensory bins

Between my lower energy levels and the cold outside, Milo is not getting as much outdoors playtime with me at the moment. Luckily he is still getting time at the playground with his dad but I've been thinking of new ways to keep him entertained during our weekends together. With this in mind, I decided to try something I've been seeing lots of on Pinterest in the last months: sensory bins.

For those who haven't heard of them before 'sensory bins' come in many differing types. All you need is a theme, a few materials and away you go. Milo's first sensory bin had an insect theme. I used a small, deep plastic container from Ikea and filled it with play sand I bought from Amazon. I then hid plastic insects of different types amongst the sand (also ordered from Amazon) and then used one of Milo's sand shovels.

Milo looked really excited when I brought the box in to the room and told him there were things inside to find. I explained that he was not to throw the sand around but that he could use either the scoop or his hands to find the hidden insects. Each time he found one we would take the sand off, I would tell him what the insect is called and ask him about how it looks. I wanted the sensory bin to provide some educational stimulation too.

The insects were then gathered in to a little box and once Milo had found them all, he spent another 30 minutes or so playing with them in the sand. All-in-all this box kept Milo entertained for just over an hour and we both had great fun with it.

There's all sorts of themes you can explore with a sensory box so why not give it a try?

Have you ever tried out sensory bins with your child(ren)? If so, what did you use? 

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