I love teaching concepts and skills using sensory bins! The bins are a wonderful way for little ones to learn using hands-on experience. Creating these bins for your classroom or for at-home learning can be so easy and fun! Coordinate sensory bins with different seasons, holidays and themes. Kids will be so excited to learn with this springtime sensory bin. I find that kids grasp certain concepts a lot quicker when they can touch and explore with their hands.
Gather all things SPRING! Mini toys make perfect learning manipulatives. Try to include different sizes and textures in your springtime sensory bin. I love bunnies, chicks, eggs and pretty flowers. The green plastic grass is fun for kids to sift through as well. Grab some mini Easter baskets for the sorting, counting, and other learning activities. The mini craft sticks are a perfect way to incorporate alphabet and number learning into the sensory bin. Now to share some wonderful teaching ideas! Here are seven learning activities that kids will love. 1. Finger Plays Attach craft sticks to the bottom of the finger puppets or let little ones use their finger. Act out kids' favorite finger plays. We love using spring finger plays that teach counting, rhyming and music. 
2. Alphabet Match Game Kids love to find hidden treasures in the bright plastic eggs. Write down the letters of the alphabet, upper and lower case, on the craft sticks. Hide the letters in the plastic eggs. Kids can open the eggs and find the letter matches! 
3. Numeral and Number Sequencing Using a Sharpie® marker, write down numbers on the craft sticks. I like to include dots that represent each number on the craft stick. Kids can put the numbered craft sticks in order from 1-10. It's fun to hide the numbered craft sticks in the sensory bin. 
4. Counting Place a numbered craft stick in each Mini Pastel Easter Basket. Let kids count out objects to match the numeral, and place the objects in the baskets. This is a great way to visually assess if students are grasping counting and matching the right amount of objects to a numeral. 
5. Sorting Kids love sorting! Have them sift through the spring items in the sensory bin and sort by type, color, and size etc. All of the fun and colorful spring toys make sorting fun with this sensory bin! 
6. Patterns With all of the different toys in the springtime sensory bin, kids can create a multitude of patterns. Let them line up AB, ABC, AABB, ABA, etc. patterns. For younger kids, you can create a pattern and have the child copy yours. Have them repeat the pattern with you verbally. This is a fun way to learn patterns! 
7. Guess Who? Kids love guessing games! This is a great way to work on oral skills and vocabulary development. Let children take turns hiding objects from the springtime sensory bin in the plastic eggs. Either the teacher or students can try to guess what is in the egg by asking questions, using descriptive words and communicating with each other. 
I hope you can make a spring-themed sensory bin for your little ones, at school or home. Let the springtime fun begin! 
Check out some other fun sensory learning bins throughout the seasons: Fall Sensory Bin, Summer Sensory Bin, Winter Sensory Bin
