Sensory tubs are one of my students' favorite centers in our classroom. They can range from being just fun to fully academic. I really wanted to up my game during the farm unit I was teaching my students, so I came up with these 6 farm themed sensory bins. Be sure to download the free Sensory Bin Response Sheet here!
In this sensory station, we decided to focus on one-to-one correspondence. In our sensory tub we put dry oats and the Learning Resources® Snap-N-Learn Counting Cows. The students have to pull out two of the cow "parts" and either identify the number or count the dots. Then they have to find the corresponding cow part. This is easy for the students to self-check, because the numbers have matching colors.
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In this sensory tub you need three things: bird seed, Farm Animal Counters, and the Free Response Sheet Printable. The farm animals come in a mix of 6 colors and 6 different animals. Depending on what you choose to sort by, your students will use the response sheet to sort by colors or farm animal. Once you have printed the free response sheet and placed the animals in the birdseed, the student needs to pick out 10 random Farm Animal Counters. Then they will put them in the correct column. After they have them all out, they can analyze which has the most, which has the least, and compare the graphs.
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In these sensory tubs, the sensory fillers are interchangeable. It doesn't matter which one you use. For this specific bin I went to a feed store and bought some Deer Corn. I then put both the Forest Animal Action Figures and the Farm Animal Figures in the corn. After mixing them all up, the students pulled each figure out one at a time. I printed off the free response sheet download and used the sorting mat. The students had to decide if each figure was a farm or forest animal.
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In this center I also used corn and the Farm Animal Figurines. Except this time, instead of sorting the animals, the students find a farm animal and match it to the beginning sound using the free downloadable response sheet.
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This next center is perfect for working on direction following skills. I put some bird feed in a sensory table along with the Following Direction Farm Educational Game. The students have to pull a card out of the bucket. They then align the card pieces on the wooden block in the order that the card shows. These cards are high quality and stand up well to tiny hands. Not only do they have to follow the directions on the cards, but students also have to use their spacial reasoning to figure out where the cards go.
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This last sensory activity is one of my favorites! It gets messy, but the kids love it. You take chocolate pudding, tooth brushes and Pig Football Stress Balls. This sensory is pure sensory fun. Set the tubs up with a container of water and a container of pudding. Burrow the Pig Football Stress Balls in the pudding, and the toothbrushes in the water. The kids can have the pigs roll in the mud and clean them with the toothbrushes. Just know that this is a one day center, otherwise the pudding molds. Be prepared to have a lot of extra pudding on hand as well since the kids love to lick their fingers!
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