When I first started teaching, I hated the idea of sensory bins. I thought to myself “Why would I want to have a bin of small things to throw?” I didn’t see it as a meaningful activity and it was more of a hassle then what it was worth.
That was because I didn’t know how to use sensory bins or how to make them functional in my classroom. Once I found the right materials and the right ways to use them, they became the ideal activity!
If you don’t know what a sensory bin is, it is a bin filled with materials to stimulate the senses. You might have a bin with a base of rice, beans or other simple material. You can add trinkets and objects that correspond to holidays or student preferences. Use these in your classroom to get students excited about learning! Not sure how to use them? Here are three ideas!:
Idea One: Use it as an independent activity
I love using these bins in independent work settings because it is so customizable to particular student’s needs and interests. You can use sensory bins to target specific IEP goals. If your student has an IEP goal working on matching, add it to the sensory bin. Take the pieces from the file folder and hide them in the bin. Students can root through the bin to find the pieces and match them on the file folder. It can be a more fun way to work on the skill and it helps generalize the skill to a new setting!
If that is too advanced, you could make the sensory bin itself be an activity. Maybe for Halloween, you could dye your rice purple (check out this tutorial from Teaching Special Thinkers). Add plastic black spiders to the bin as well as other trinkets. Show the student a picture of the spider and ask for them to find all of the spiders in the bin. It’s easy to set up, fun for the student and works on a TON of independent work skills!
Idea Two: Use it in instruction
I loved to pull sensory bins into my instruction. I could add materials to the bin to match the lesson if I wanted to. A simple example is to add blue rice and plastic whales, dolphins and fish for an ocean lesson. I could also turn the bin into a group lesson. Another simple example is to classify solid, liquid and gas. I would take 15 visuals total (5 solid items, 5 liquid items and 5 gas items). I would hide the visuals in the bin. As a group, we could go through the bin, find the pictures and sort them based on their category. Using sensory bins in academic lessons can help make the content more engaging. It also works on turn-taking AND we are still targeting academic lessons-a win-win.
Idea Three: Use it as a social skills activity
If you are trying to find simple activities to get your students to work together, a sensory bin can be the perfect fit. I might take a sorting file folder and hide all of the pieces in the bin. I could have students complete it together by taking turns searching through the bin, finding the items and sorting them together. In this example they are working on teamwork, turn-taking, being patient and being respectful of their peers. I might even invite my speech therapist join to work on expressive communication skills and articulation goals.
Need more support setting up your sensory bins? Autumn has a whole sensory bin round-up with 4 blogs recommending what to fill your bins with, how to save money making them and how to store them! Click here to read her blogs and click here to listen to the podcast I recorded with her!