One of our absolute FAVORITE ways to practice for school time is through preschool sensory activities! For years now, LG has loved sensory bins and has really worked up a good stamina for playing with them independently. So when we first began homeschool preschool, I knew it was time to add a little academic twist!
Today I’m excited to share with y’all some of our favorite sensory play activities! I LOVE working with seasonal materials, but one of my favorite things about these activities is how versatile they are for all year long! So let’s get going!
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You can find more information about how to prepare your sensory bin by CLICKING HERE!
First, your kiddo will choose a sensory bin card from the bin. Then, they’ll count the gum balls on the matching mat to find the correct amount. You can find this resource by CLICKING HERE!
Second, split up a piece of paper into 4 sections. Place one of each shape sticker in the 4 sections and label. Then, student choose shape stickers from the sensory bin to sort. I found these puffy stickers at Hobby Lobby! They come in a huge bag and last forever!
Finally, use the shape stickers from the same bag found at Hobby Lobby as a color sort! Split up a piece of paper into 6 sections this time and place one of each color sticker in the sections for your little one to sort the rest of the stickers!
Color Matching and Alphabet Magnets Sensory Bin
This bin is another fun one with multiple uses! First, toss in some dry black beans. Then add your crayon sensory bin pieces and alphabet magnets! (Aren’t those colors beautiful against the black background?!) Finally, write the alphabet in a sheet of paper (I did uppercase on one side and lowercase on the other) and grab a magnetic surface like a cookie sheet!
Your kiddos will love searching for their matching crayon colors or hunting down the correct upper and lowercase alphabet magnets!
You can find the color matching mat by CLICKING HERE! And you can find the alphabet magnets at Target!
Shape Match Sensory Bin and Color Magnets Sort
Oh, man. This is definitely one of our favorites! The bin is filled with more dry white beans, our shapes matching mat and lots of little magnet disks! For the first activity, kiddos choose shape sensory bin pieces from the bin and to match to their correct shape on the matching mat. And for the second activity, your little one will have so much fun using the magnet wand to collect magnets to sort by color!
You can find the shape matching mat in my store by CLICKING HERE and the color sorting math by CLICKING HERE! Then you can find the magnets and wand on Amazon by CLICKING HERE!
Counting Sensory Bin Activity
If you’ve followed me on Instagram for very long, you probably know that these FREE counting cards from my TpT store are an absolute favorite of ours. We’ve used them with jelly beans and Goldfish, or Target mini erasers like these cuties! They’re so simple to use with any sensory material just like with this bin!Grab these FREE counting cards by CLICKING HERE!
Alphabet Stamping and Molding Activities
This bin is FULL of ways to practice the alphabet! I like to keep all of these materials stored together because their uses are so interchangeable! The bin includes kinetic sand, PlayDoh, PlayDoh alphabet stamps, a rolling pin, and our alphabet sensory bin task cards!
You can find the alphabet sensory bin task cards by CLICKING HERE!
For the first activity, your kiddo will spread out the kinetic sand in the bottom of the bin. Then allow them to use the PlayDoh stamps or their finger to create the alphabet in the sand! If your little one is moving on to CVC or word building, this is a PERFECT way to combine that with fine motor skills practice!
For the second activity, have your child choose an alphabet stamp to stamp into the PlayDoh. Practice identifying the letter names and sounds together!
The last activity will really give your kiddo some major fine motors practice! Using the PlayDoh, make tiny dough balls to cover or smash on top of the dots building letters of the alphabet!
You can find the kinetic sand on Amazon by CLICKING HERE and the PlayDoh alphabet set by CLICKING HERE! I purchased the rolling pin at WalMart!
Alphabet Sponges Sensory Bin
Looking for a way to beat the heat? Or maybe you just have a kiddo like mine who absolutely LOVES playing in the water? This bin is for you! I grabbed a large contain, filled it up with water and dish soap, then threw in some alphabet sponges I found in the Target Dollar Spot! Y’all. My 3 and a half year old happily played with this activity for well over 30 minutes! That’s GOLD if you ask me!
JOIN US!
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I love all of these!! I need to be better at setting up sensory bins for daily use. I love that yours have more than one activity so there is choice and repeated use! Thank you for sharing all of these with us! 🙂