Fall has officially arrived. Soon we will be raking the fallen leaves and jumping in them until they are crumbles. Until then we will enjoy this fall sensory bin.
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I was recently at Walmart and spied a display with several little bags of fall items: leaves, pumpkins, gourds, pine cones, and acorns. They were the perfect size for a small fall sensory bin. I love that these are artificial and can used over and over.
I got out one of our smaller storage bins and layered the leaves in the bottom and then added the pumpkins, gourds, pine cones, and acorns.
I let my 3 year old daughter sort through the bin as I named each of the items: Acorns,
We then incorporated some learning into our sensory bin. I gave her a pair of tongs and asked her to find the following:
- Yellow leaf
- Red leaf
- Orange leaf
- Large, small, and medium item
- Pumpkins that look alike
- Pumpkins that look different
- Big pumpkin and small pumpkin
- Pumpkin with stripes
- Pumpkin without stripes
- Big gourd and small gourd
- Gourd with stripes
- Gourd without stripes
- Big pine cone and small pine cone
- Big acorn and small acorn
- Something with a rough surface
- Something with a smooth surface
- 2 of each item
- 2 things that are big and 2 that are small
- 2 things that are smooth and 2 that are rough
This is a great activity incorporating aspects of development and learning. We strengthened fine motor skills by using the tongs. We worked on comparative and descriptive skills. We worked on colors and counting. We explored textures. We also plan to use the pumpkins, gourds, pine cones, and acorns and practice patterning.
You could also look for items to use in your fall inspired sensory bin at dollar stores and/or craft stores.
You might also like these fall themed activities for young children:
- A Fun Apple Sorting Activity for Young Children
- The Best Part of Harvest: Playing in Corn Sensory Bin
- Fine Motor Color Matching Apple Sensory Bin
