February Sensory Bin

I have to admit that I am now addicted to searching my favorite blogs for activities for Ethan and Jacob.  I love being inspired by others, and have seen sensory bins or tubs on almost every site.  During OT on Wednesday, Ethan played in their sensory tub for a while.  I was standing a ways away, so I think that there were just beans in it.  He didn't want to stick his hands all the way down at first.  He would just pat the top and then clap for himself.  After he got used to it, he was able to sink his hands down further and seemed to enjoy the activity. 

I decided that it might be a good idea for me to have a sensory bin at home so that I can reinforce what they do at therapy.  I knew that I wanted a valentine theme for February, to make it a little more interesting than just plain beans.  So, this morning, the boys and I headed to Walmart to see what we could find...  I found all kinds of great inexpensive things in the holiday section.  I plan on hitting the dollar stores later.

All of these items were between $1 and $2.

I also purchased a red bin with a lid to store it all in.  I just poured all of the beans in the tub and then opened the trinket packages and dumped them in.  Gave it a big stir with my hands, and there you go!

At first, Ethan was putting his hands in and letting the beans run off .

Next, he started pulling items out to inspect them.  The different textures are good for him.  The heart shape is foam which is soft and spongy, while the faux rose petal is scratchy.

Finally, he was amazed that he could look through the sides of the bin and see everything in a different color.

Ethan is really enjoying this new activity.  He likes to push the toys down and then dig for them to see what he can find.  I have to supervise this activity because some of the items are choking hazards.  Jacob is too young to play with the bin, because he would definitely try to eat the beans and the foam.  Instead, I put some beans in the little conversation heart boxes and let him use them as shakers.  He loves it!