Has your child started to notice any signs of falling? Fall happens at different times of the year, depending on where you are. There are places with beautiful red, yellow, and orange leaves in cooler weather; in other areas, fall changes are more subtle.
Your elementary school students will have the opportunity to participate in sensory activities this fall. Setting up a fall or Thanksgiving sensory bin theme at home or in your preschool classroom is easy.
What is a toddler sensory box?
Sensory bins are not only fun, but they are an important part of any toddler’s learning experience. Young children learn best when they can touch and feel something, and sensory play provides children with opportunities to learn in meaningful ways.
Sensory bins are not meant to keep children busy. Instead, sensory bins provide children with opportunities to succeed, regardless of their language or cognitive abilities.
The secret to a successful sensory play experience is not overthinking what to put in or how the children should use it. The simpler the sensory bin, the more fun your child will have playing and learning.
What are the benefits of sensory bins?
Sensory play is open-ended, meaning there is no clearly defined outcome for playing or exploring materials inside the bin.
Children use their senses and creativity to explore the materials provided in the sensory bins on their own, without any expectation of a final product.
Overall, sensory play is meaningful for young children and provides opportunities for open-ended play.
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How your child learns from a fall sensory bin
If the concept of sensory bins is new to you, I encourage you to learn more about what they are and how they work.
The most engaging types of sensory play are open-ended experiences without any predefined consequences for playing or exploring the materials within the bin.
Children use their senses, imagination and creativity to freely explore the materials within the sensory bins without any expectation of a final product.
Provide students with sensory play and opportunities to engage in meaningful learning activities as they touch and explore materials within the sensory bins.
What do you put in your fall sensory bin?
To set up this fun fall sensory bin experience, first you’ll need to gather materials.
- Unpopped corn kernels
- Fake leaves (dollar store)
- Tweezers (alligator clips)
- Fake Acorns (Dollar Store)
- Bubble forceps (hand-held spoon)
- Mini Baskets (Dollar Store)
- pinecone
- branches
- small hand broom
I used corn kernels for this particular sensory bin activity, but there are many other sensory bin tools and filler options to choose from – use the fillers that work best for you and your students.
Trust me, you need those little hand brooms because if the corn falls on the floor (it will!) it can be slippery. Just let the kids sweep the floor with brooms and you’re good to go!
How to use a fall sensory bin
Introducing students to tweezers and showing them how to use them to pick up leaves and place them in a basket is great for developing fine motor skills.
Invite your children to use bubble wrenches to place pine cones and acorns into the basket for extra counting and one-on-one practice.
Your children may choose to play in the cornfield, but don’t be discouraged! They still get plenty of fine motor practice as they manipulate spoons, tweezers, and items in the bin.
The most important thing with any sensory experience is that your child has fun while learning through play!
Thanksgiving Sensory Bin Changes
If you want to make this fall sensory bin more gratitude-themed, you could try adding more themed items or small toys, such as:
- plastic toy turkey
- Thanksgiving related food toys (pumpkin pie, corn on the cob)
- fresh cranberries
- plastic pilgrim
More fall sensory bins to explore
More fall events
Are you looking for more fall ideas? See these activities below!
Farm sensory bin
Acorn Science Activities
Colorful Corn Art Mosaic
Scarecrow sensory box
The best books about autumn
More fall ideas
