20+ Halloween Sensory Bins

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Halloween is the perfect time to get creative with sensory play, and sensory bins are a fun, hands-on way to engage kids in the spooky spirit of the season! With a Halloween-themed sensory bin, you can let your child explore textures, colors, and objects that are all about the thrills and chills of Halloween—think squishy eyeballs, crunchy leaves, or sticky “spider webs.” Sensory bins are fantastic because they stimulate a child’s senses and encourage imaginative play, all while helping with fine motor skills and problem-solving. Plus, kids love the chance to get their hands into something fun!

Why You’ll Love These Halloween Sensory Bins

You’ll love Halloween sensory bins because they’re simple to set up and offer hours of play. They engage your child’s senses, spark their imagination, and allow them to explore and discover in a low-pressure environment. Plus, sensory bins are a fantastic way to practice fine motor skills as kids pick, scoop, and sort items in the bin. Whether it’s a spooky-themed sensory bin or a more playful Halloween setup, these bins are sure to be a hit with your little ones!

Basic Steps to Setting Up a Halloween Sensory Bin

  1. Choose a Bin:
    Start with a shallow plastic bin or container that’s large enough for your child to explore but small enough to easily manage. Make sure the sides are low enough for your child to reach in comfortably.
  2. Pick a Filler:
    Select a sensory filler that matches your theme or activity. Some great options include rice, pasta, dried beans, water beads, sand, or shredded paper. You can even use natural materials like leaves, pebbles, or small rocks for added texture.
  3. Add Objects and Tools:
    Place small toys, themed items, or tools like scoops, tongs, and cups in the bin. These items encourage your child to explore and interact with the filler. If you’re doing a Halloween bin, for example, you could add plastic spiders, pumpkins, or ghost-shaped toys.
  4. Set Up a Play Space:
    Lay down a mat or towel under the sensory bin to catch any spills. This helps keep the area clean and makes it easy to gather up stray pieces when playtime is over.
  5. Encourage Exploration:
    Invite your child to dig, scoop, pour, and sort items in the bin. Sensory bins are all about open-ended play, so let them lead the way and explore the textures and objects at their own pace!

Tips for Saving Sensory Bin Fillers

Store in Reusable Containers:
After playtime, transfer your sensory bin fillers (like rice, pasta, or pom-poms) into airtight containers or resealable bags. Label them with the type of filler so you can easily reuse them for future sensory bins or other activities. This keeps everything clean and organized while extending the life of your materials.

Clean as You Go:
If your filler materials get a little messy during play (especially with things like sand or flour), sift through them and remove any larger debris before storing. For items like plastic spiders or small toys, a quick rinse and dry can keep them fresh and ready for reuse in other sensory bin setups.

Rotate and Recycle Fillers:
Instead of tossing out used materials, rotate your fillers from one theme to another. For example, colored rice from a Halloween bin can be used in a fall-themed bin, and dried beans or pasta can be reused in different setups by adding new toys or seasonal items. This way, you’re getting more mileage from each sensory bin while keeping things fresh for your child!

Halloween Sensory Bins

Jack-O-Lantern Sensory Bin

Filled with pumpkin containers to fill and tools for scooping, this sensory bin lets kids create a Jack-O-Lantern from the inside out. It’s an exciting way to explore and learn about pumpkins while having hands-on fun.

Halloween Sensory Bin

Filled with a variety of Halloween-themed objects like plastic spiders, bats, and pumpkins, this sensory bin encourages exploration and sorting. It’s a fun and easy way to bring the holiday spirit into playtime. 

Bat Sensory Bin

Filled with bats made from bow tie pasta, this bin is perfect for little hands to practice grabbing and sorting while feeling their way through Halloween fun. Add scoops and tongs to enhance fine motor skills as kids play with the bat shapes.

Halloween Chickpea Sensory Bin

Colored chickpeas make a great sensory bin filler that’s easy to scoop, pour, and explore. Add in some Halloween-themed items like plastic spiders and skeletons to turn it into a playful Halloween sorting game.

Spider Web Rescue

In this bin, kids will work on fine motor skills as they “rescue” small spiders tangled in fake webs or yarn or string webs. It’s a fun challenge that combines sensory exploration with problem-solving.

Pumpkin Scoop

Let your little one explore the texture of real mini pumpkin guts in this sensory bin as they scoop their way through the water filled with pumpkins. It’s a hands-on way to explore and learn about pumpkins while practicing fine motor skills.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Playdough

This pumpkin pie spice-scented playdough brings the scent of fall to your sensory play, making it both a sensory and olfactory experience. Kids will love molding and shaping pumpkins while enjoying the cozy, fall-inspired aroma.

Pumpkin Rice Sensory Bin

Orange-dyed rice becomes the perfect base for a pumpkin-themed sensory bin, offering a fun scooping and pouring experience for kids. Add some mini pumpkins for extra festive flair and let them explore with their fingers and tools.

Halloween Worms Sensory Bin

Pasta “worms” in this sensory bin give kids a chance to feel different textures and build gross motor skills while playing with these spooky critters. The sensory experience of “worm hunting” will captivate young learners.

Pom Pom Pumpkin Patch Sensory Bin

This sensory bin is filled with soft, colorful pom poms that kids can gather and sort as they pretend to pick pumpkins from the patch. It’s perfect for developing fine motor skills and color recognition.

Spaghetti Pumpkin Cutting Activity

Slippery, cooked spaghetti makes for a delightfully messy sensory bin where kids can practice their scissor skills by “cutting” pumpkin strands. It’s a great way to develop hand strength while enjoying a fun, squishy texture.

Pumpkin Guts Slime Recipe

This slime brings the gross factor in the best way, allowing kids to dig through “pumpkin guts” while exploring a stretchy, gooey texture. Perfect for sensory exploration with a Halloween twist.

Halloween Candy Grab

This bin filled with candy and Halloween treats offers an exciting way for kids to practice fine motor skills while sorting through their favorite sweets. It’s a fun twist on sensory play that adds a little sugary incentive!

Halloween I-Spy

With plastic eyeballs hidden in a bin full of beans, this activity turns a classic game of I-spy into a tactile adventure. Kids can sift through the filler to find eyeballs and other spooky surprises.

Eyeball and Pom Pom Sensory Bin

This sensory bin combines squishy pom poms with plastic eyeballs, giving kids a mix of soft and smooth textures to explore. Perfect for practicing sorting skills while getting into the Halloween spirit.

Bubbles & Spiders Spooky Sensory Bin

This sensory bin features bubbly foam with hidden spiders for kids to dig out, offering both a fun sensory experience and an exciting Halloween challenge. The soft bubbles mixed with creepy crawlies create a perfect Halloween combo.

Monster Oobleck 

Get messy with monster-themed oobleck that changes texture between liquid and solid! This sensory bin is a hands-on way to let kids explore science and spooky fun at the same time.

Oobleck Spider Rescue

Kids will enjoy pulling spiders out of the sticky, goopy oobleck in this sensory bin while working on fine motor skills. The mix of science and sensory fun makes for a perfect Halloween activity.

Halloween Goo Sensory Bin

This bin is filled with stretchy, squishy goo for kids to dig into, perfect for sensory exploration with a Halloween twist. Add some spooky toys to make it even more exciting for little hands.

Flowers and Pumpkins Sensory Soup

Mixing fall flowers with mini pumpkins in water creates a fun and calming sensory experience for kids. It’s a perfect blend of seasonal elements for a hands-on “sensory soup” adventure.

Ghost Beans Sensory Bin by Happy Toddler Playtime

What You’ll Need: Navy beans and clear plastic containers. Draw a ghost face on the containers using a dry erase marker or a washable black marker. Add spoons and scoopers to sensory bin. Invite child to scoop and fill the containers to make ghosts

Shaving Cream and Pumpkins Sensory Bin by Happy Toddler Playtime

What You’ll Need: Shaving cream and mini pumpkins in a sensory bin. Add a smaller sensory bin with clean water and invite child to cover the pumpkins in shaving cream and then clean them off

Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers

Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers image

There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!

But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.

Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.

Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again! 

These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!

Click here for more information: Play2Learn

Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids

Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids image

Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon

Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.

Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.

Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids

Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids image

Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more. 

Find out more and grab your copy here.

Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.

Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids

Big Book of Riddles for Kids image

Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.

  • 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
  • Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
  • Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.

Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!

Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.

TV Show: Curious Crafting

I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.

Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!

Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.

In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create. 

Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.

This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up. 

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2 comments on “20+ Halloween Sensory Bins”

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