One of our favorite ways to celebrate the holidays is by making a themed sensory bin! This Easter sensory bin is such a fun one, with colored rice, Easter grass, plastic eggs, little bunnies and chicks and a silicone egg mold, my kids are keeping very busy!
Tip: I like to stock up on items after the holidays so I can get them at a discount!
This Easter sensory bin uses a colored rice base and fine motor ideas for play. Before using the rice for sensory play, check out this fun method of coloring Easter eggs with colored rice!
To make the rice bin
What you need:
- Dry rice
- Colored rice (see below)
- Fine motor tools
- Plastic eggs
- Tray or bin
- Fuzzy Easter chicks or colored pom poms
Colored rice
The colored rice is a favorite of my kids! It lasts forever and they get a ton of use out of it. My kids especially enjoy any activity involving food coloring and color mixing!
There are many variations for how to make this rice, we simply put the rice in a ziplock bag, add a drop or two of food coloring or washable kids paint, along with a squirt of hand sanitizer and give it a good shake! It smells so fresh too.
I keep a bin of various scoopers, spoons, etc. for our sensory bin play. I think all toddlers love anything having to do with dumping and scooping!
Add your contents to the bin and let children explore! Tweezers are great tools for pre-handwriting practice! They strengthen little fingers, getting them ready to hold pencils and pens in the future.
If you can’t find these little chicks, see how we’ve made some similar ones with pom-poms in our counting chicks busy bag.
After a while the rice will all be mixed together, creating a beautiful rainbow mixture!
Katie Chiavarone holds a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology from NY
U and is a mom to three young children. She co-authored the book The Undeniable Power of Play. This post is adapted from her blog, Views From a Step Stool.
