This week we have spend some time celebrating the upcoming Independence Day holiday. Among our activities was this Fourth of July Sensory Bin, which the kiddies loved, loved, loved!
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It really is a simple bin to put together. It is dyed rice in the colors of the United States flag, jumbo tweezers and star buttons to match. The star buttons I purchased for a few bucks at Walmart.
Unlike other sensory activities and sensory bins I have introduced my children to before, I gave my kiddies and preschoolers a few tasks to try while they were exploring the textures and sounds of the rice filler and the stars.
Tweezing Stars
The first task was to use the jumbo tweezers to tweeze the stars from the bin and onto various sorting mats.
Sorting Stars By Color
The second task was to sort the star buttons by color. I gave the students come colored foam in red, white and blue to serve as sorting mats.
Sorting Stars By Size
The third task was to try sorting the stars by size. Typically it is more difficult for preschoolers to sort by size rather than color, and being that many of the preschoolers in my summer class are three year olds, I traced the shape of each size star into a sorting mat. If they weren’t sure where the star should go, they could place the star onto the traced version to see if it fit or not.
Beading Buttons Onto Pipecleaner
The fourth and final activity I wanted my preschoolers to try was to bead the buttons onto some coordinating colored pipecleaner. This was difficult for the three year olds, but manageable for the four year olds in my class. You can also add another task and challenge students to make patterns by color or size.
With only a few simple materials, you can create a wonderful sensory bin that has several learning applications, all centered in math and fine motor skills, but also celebrating the Fourth of July. Even Kent enjoyed it…don’t worry, I was supervising his play the whole time!
Enjoy!
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I am Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home mama of five! I am the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught range of levels, including preschool and college, and a little bit of just about everything in between. Right now, my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction
What a fun 4th of July sensory bin. I pinned it. Please share this on Artsy Play Wednesday (open through Sunday).
Thanks for pinning! This sensory bin was so easy to put together, and my kiddies not only loved playing in it, but they also enjoyed the tasks I’d given them.