Fall Sensory Bin

Posted on September 20, 2012 by happyhooligans

It’s time for some a Fall sensory bin! I don’t know who has more fun with these: me, putting them together or the Hooligans, playing with them.

I assembled this one yesterday and surprised the Hooligans with it this morning. If you’ve never made a sensory bin for your child before, I want to tell you how simple it really is to put one together.

Everything in this bin, I already had in the house, and it’s all been used for assorted bins and seasonal play before. That’s the beauty of it. You can re-use these treasures over and over again, every time using a different combination of materials so you’ll never have the same activity twice. You don’t have to spend big money; go through your cupboards, your craft supplies, holiday ornaments, the kitchen drawers, your fabric stash, the toy box… You’ll likely find lots of stuff once you start looking.

The artificial flowers and wooden gourds were thrift shop finds from a long time ago. Some items, like the pumpkins and the gemstones, I purchased a few years back, at the dollar store.

The pasta and rice have been used for sensory play many times. I just bag it up and store it in between uses.

Until recently, the apples decorated my Christmas tree every year for the past 2 decades. Butterflies – dollar store.

The pinecones and seed pods, I collected in the yard this morning.

The pods were fun to take apart and remove the seeds from.

Raid your cupboards and think outside the box when you’re looking for items to add to your bin. I filled this little wooden bowl with large vintage buttons.

Scoops, wooden bowls, jars and muffin tins are perfect for pouring and sorting and organizing. Ice cube trays work too. Tongs are always fun and they’re great for fine motor development and preparing little ones for using scissors. Our favourite scoops are the little meatball-makers. We have two sets, both thrift shop finds.

I set the Fall Sensory Bin out in the yard on my SIX DOLLAR (!!!) thrift shop coffee-table. It’s one of my best 2nd hand finds ever! It’s the perfect size for spreading an activity on, there’s plenty of room for everyone to gather around and it’s super-light so I can easily move it around the yard. The plastic/faux wood surface doesn’t get damaged when we play with water, and paint and messy-play ingredients wipe right off. If you’re using your bin inside and don’t like the idea of a rice and pasta mess, simply put a vinyl table-cloth on the floor and let your little ones sit and play on that. Voila! Clean up’s a breeze.

So much exploration and discovery in one little bin! What do you say? Will you make one? If you need a little more inspiration, click here and here to see our Fall Sensory Bins from last year.

Don’t forget to visit our Facebook page and follow the Hooligans there too! I post lots of goodies there daily that don’t make it to the blog, and I wouldn’t want you to miss out!

https://www.facebook.com/happyhooligansblog

construction bin

Posted on June 15, 2012 by happyhooligans

A small world construction bin provides hours of play for little ones…

We’ve been having a field day with our bins lately, which you can check out here, here and here. Yesterday I set up this construction bin in a foil roasting pan that has held many sensory bins and small worlds in its time. It kept the hooligans busy, off and on, all morning.

Look for interesting items to add to your construction bin:

It was fun and easy to put together. I just looked through the toy bins and around the yard, and put together a few items that seemed perfect for a construction site: a few blocks, some rocks and sticks, several coloured glass beads, a couple of construction figures and some vehicles.

We had this out again today, and it was just as popular as it was yesterday. I have a feeling we’ll be playing with this one for a while.

cloud dough!

Posted on May 22, 2012 by happyhooligans

Cloud dough is something I’ve waited all winter to make! I’ve seen it done on plenty of other blogs, and every one mentions the mess-factor so I was waiting until the weather was good and warm so we could take it outside.

Cloud dough (also known as moon dough) is silky and mold-able and takes just two ingredients to make. It’s amazing stuff! The Hooligans absolutely loved it. I’m not kidding when I say it kept them engrossed for well over an hour.

You’re going to love how easy it is to whip up:

Add one cup of baby oil to 8 cups of flour. Stir well. I used a pastry cutter to mix mine, but a spoon or whisk would be fine. Transfer your dough to a bin or basin (I purchased this kitty litter box at the dollar store, and it’s perfect for sensory activities), and that’s it. You’re done!

Set out some containers, scoops and molds and let the little ones at it.

There’s something so soothing and relaxing working with this dough. The Hooligans were so QUIET while they played with it.

You’ll want to wear old clothing or an apron (you can find my tutorial for my aprons here. I make them out of the legs of our old jeans). It’s definitely messy play, and I personally wouldn’t suggest doing this inside.

I had another activity set up as well. I filled the wagon with warm soapy water, and added containers, spray bottles, sponges and some farm animals.

The Hooligans went back and forth between the two activities but the Cloud Dough bin was by far the most popular place to be today.Store in an air-tight container for future use.

For your convenience, I’ve included Amazon Affiliate links in this post:

On a side note, I am often asked what kind of camera I shoot with. About a year and a half ago, I bought myself a Canon Rebel XS, and I absolutely LOVE it! It’s an entry-level DSLR camera, and it’s my baby! I do not digitally alter or enhance my photos except to add a title and my blog name to the feature photo in each post. The photos that appear on my blog are straight out of the camera. You can get the details on the Canon Rebel XS here:

playing with the rainbow rice

Posted on March 26, 2012 by happyhooligans

Well, the rainbow rice that I made on the weekend was a HIT with the Hooligans! To make your own, click here.

I spread it out in rainbow fashion in a plastic bin, and added colourful bowls, plastic eggs, , scoops, glass jars, craft sticks, glass beads and cotton balls.

I’ve had a couple of people ask where I get my containers for my sensory bins. You really don’t need a fancy container. I often use my large 9 x 15 pyrex (glass) baking pan, or a large foil “turkey roasting pan” that I picked up at the dollar store. When I’m making a sensory bin that’s really big, I use a shallow storage container with a lid – the kind that you get at Walmart or the Hardware store. You can even use a shallow cardboard box as a sensory bin. This one, I picked up at the dollar store for a few bucks. It’s supposed to be a kitty litter box.