If you’ve been around here long enough, you know I have a pretty solid love of sensory bins. I love them for so many reasons, and I can’t wait to share many of those reasons with you another day. But today I want to focus on one of my favorite things about these preschool skills sensory bins – how simple it is to sneak in academic practice!

Long before I introduced academic skills to LG, she could sit with a sensory bin for a good 30 minutes so I knew I had to take advantage of that kind of attention span! This set of preschool skills sensory bins was the first I created, and still probably my very favorite!

Set Up Your Sensory Bins

To set up your bins, first think about what level of fine motors practice your kiddo is ready for. If you’re working with a little bitty, you may want to print the resource at its original size. However, now that LG is ready for smaller objects I chose to print this resource 2-per-page. This gives her some extra practice since the pieces are smaller, and also allows the task cards and matching mats to fit into a pencil box! (I got this idea from my genius pal Rachael at www.texasspeechmom.com!)

Regardless of the size of your task cards, setting up this bin is super simple! Grab the bin that best fits your child’s needs and fill ‘er up with your favorite manipulative! (We love using dry black beans and pom poms!) Then laminate your resource for extra durability, and get ready for some fun!

Enjoy Your Practice Time!

There’s something about digging through a bunch of beans that completely distracts LG from the fact that she’s learning! Ha! She loves getting to run her hands through the sensory bin filler to find the cards she needs. She doesn’t even realize that she’s practicing the following skills… colors, counting, numbers, 2D shapes, beginning sounds, letters rhyming, patterns, CVC words.

Mix It Up!

This bundle includes practice in two ways. The first is by using pom poms (or your other favorite manipulatives) to build uppercase letters and numbers! Each task card has one uppercase letter or number created with dots. These dots serve as a guide for your little ones to place their manipulatives on top.

The second way to practice is with the matching mats! We LOVE these! Simply place the cards in the sensory bin. Then, give your preschooler time to hunt for the pieces they need for their matching mat. (To add some extra practice and make storage easier, I use Velcro to attach the sensory bin pieces to their matching mats.)

To learn more about how I set up and store our sensory bins, check out my blog post by clicking HERE!

You can purchase these sets individually or as a bundle by clicking the images above!

Try the counting cards from this bundle FOR FREE by clicking the image above! These cards have been some of our absolute favorites because you can change out the manipulatives for any occasion!

JOIN US!

Want to see more Preschool ideas like sensory bins, resources and activities? Be sure to follow me @thestayathometeacher on Instagram by clicking HERE!