DIY Dinosaur Sensory Bin

Hey you guys! Welcome to MP! Today the my 5 yr old and 9 yr old did a sensory bin for my little crew! If you haven't heard of a sensory bin then let me break it down for you. A sensory bin is basically in the simplest meaning: a tactile experience contained in a small area. Our small area is usually a bin. I've been using a bin for years and for all of my children.

You can get this kind of bin at Wal-Mart, Target and at some craft stores (though it may be smaller?). My son loves dinosaurs and so we put these stickers from the Dollar Tree on it. The stickers been on this bin for several months but pretty neat how it worked out with our sensory bin project!

I've done so many types of sensory bins! My favorite sensory bin fillers are normally: Sand, Dirt, Rice & Beans. The bin should be large enough where the child or children can explore without having to take the filler and its items out of the bin. What you can do with a sensory bin is endless. Today we worked with dirt and things found in our backyard to get this adventure started.

It was fun and it's always a joy to see the kids use their imagination! 
You are probably wondering what is the purpose of a sensory bin?

• Children can learn by using their senses. 
• It encourages the world of discovery and imagination 
• Its a fun way to learn about various things. For example today we learned about dinosaurs, this bin is an opportunity to expand on unit themes and lesson plans
• "Playing in dirt may actually play a role in lifting depression. Live Science reported on a 2007 study that showed "Exposure to friendly soil bacteria could improve mood by boosting the immune system just as effectively as antidepressant drugs." That friendly soil microbe is Mycobacterium vaccae.
  
  This same microbe has another positive effect: it just may make you smarter. The Register reported in 2010 on research looking into the effect of the microbe on mice, noting that, "We found that mice that were fed live M. vaccae navigated the maze twice as fast and with less demonstrated anxiety behaviors as control mice," though the benefits seem to be short lived, lasting only a few hours. Still, it could potentially mean kids may do better in school after coming in from a play ground not only because they burned off excess energy but also because they ingested a little M. vaccae."
  
• It's fun!

How do you make a sensory bin?

• Pick a bin ~ I personally like the bin in the picture above. It was enough room for over two kiddos to play in
• Pick a filler ~ Several fillers can be used - but I pick mine based on the theme. You can use dirt, sand, water, rice, beans, pasta and craft sand.
• Sensory bin items ~ If you don't have things at your home for your sensory bin then take a look at your local Dollar Tree. I've used wood, rocks, dinosaurs, bugs and all kinds of items based off the theme.
• Theme ~ I pick my themes based on how I feel lol and the children just love it. I also base my themes off books, items in the home, lesson plans and anything that my children find interesting.

Even though the bin is suppose to keep the sensory been filler and its items contained it can still get messy. For me that's ok because I expect a little mess but if it's something that may bother you then try doing your sensory bin outside like we did today.

For our bin we used:

• dinosaurs (items my son has had for months now)
• wood
• acrylic paint
• dirt
• sand
• wood chips
• leaves that fallen off the trees

And it was so much fun and it is something the children spent hours playing with. I think the blue piece of wood was nice to add because it made me think of water for the dinosaurs to drink from :). Hey! I used my imagination too!
If you do sensory bins I would love to see a pick of them so link your pictures in the comments so I can see and get some inspiration.