Halloween Sensory Play

 The spookiest night of the year is only a few weeks away, so we’re kicking the holiday off with a little Halloween sensory play.

I love making sensory bins for my daycare kids. You can see all of our favourites here.

The hooligans really enjoyed our Fall Sensory Bin, but I dismantled it this past weekend and used many of the pieces to decorate my Thanksgiving table. 🙂

Then I dug out our Hallowe’en daycare goodies and handed them over to Andrew (seen above, in his jammies), and he put this sensory bin together for me.

He started with orange lentils and dried black beans (I picked up both at the Bulk store about a month ago).

Everything else, I either had on hand here, or had picked up at the Dollar Store: beaded necklaces, witches fingers, plastic skulls, foam bats, Hallowe’en rings and erasers, a large pipe-cleaner/styrofoam spider, and some awesome battery-operated flicker candles.  

I love adding battery operated tea lights to a sensory bin, and was really happy to find some in orange.  

When you dim the lights, these “candles” give the bin a wonderfully spooky glow, and the kids are always fascinated with them.

Today, just before the Hooligans arrived, I added some scoops, and containers.

The Hooligans LOVED IT.  We went to the beach for the morning, but before and after the beach, after lunch, and after naps, there was always someone, or several “someones” digging and playing.

I’m always amazed at how even the youngest ones grasp the concept of playing OVER the bin so we don’t end up with half the beans on the ground.

 A reminder every now and then helps, but for the most part, they just do the scooping and pouring over the bin.  

This morning, I just swept any strays into the garden, as I’d had it set up on the front porch, but this afternoon I put a plastic table-cloth underneath it.   At the end of the day I just picked up the tablecloth and tipped any spilled beans back into the bin.

There’s rain in the forecast for tomorrow, so I think we’ll take our play downstairs to a darkened room, where the tea lights can really do their thing.

You may also like our:

• Haunted Hand Activity Bin
• Halloween Crafts for Toddlers and Preschoolers

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