These New Years Sensory Bins are the perfect way to ring in the new year with your toddler or preschoolers. There are two amazing ideas here with two very different fillers.
Celebrating the new year with a toddler or preschooler can be difficult. For 2020 my twin toddlers were only 22 months old so they weren’t quite old enough to even understand what all the fuss was about.
When I pulled out all the materials for these sensory bins they may not have fully understood why they were playing, but they thoroughly enjoyed themselves!
We did two very different types of sensory bins but both were very fun for both my toddlers and my five year old kindergartener. The New Years bin was filled with colourful hats and noise makes while the New Years countdown bin was filled with colourful rice and lots of numbers.
These two sensory activities were very different but both a lot of fun. The learning goals of each were also quite different and you can also adjust the countdown sensory bin to meet the learning goals of your child.
New Years Sensory Bin
Here’s what you’ll need to create this colourful and shiny New Years sensory bin.
Supplies
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- 41 Qt, Clear Sensory Bin (Large) or a IKEA FLISAT Children’s Sensory Table
- Red, Silver or Gold Tinsel
- Bows
- Noise Makes
- Party Hats
- Plastic Champaign Glasses
- Party Necklaces
Start by placing tinsel in the sensory bin. Add the sparkly bow, noise makes, party hats and party necklaces. Lastly, add a few plastic glasses.
My kids immediately wanted to dive right in. They tried on the hats and tried to blow the noise makers. They loved playing with the tinsel and trying to stuff it into the glasses.
New Years Countdown Sensory Bin
Here’s what you’ll need to create this fun learning New Years countdown sensory bin.
Supplies
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- Rainbow Rice (see below for instruction on how to make)
- Foam Numbers
- Gift Bows
- Plastic Champagne Glasses
- Foam Star Stickers
How to Make Colored Rice
What You’ll Need
- 1 Cup of White Rice
- 1/2 tsp White Vinegar
- Several Drops of Gel Food Coloring
- Large Ziploc Bags
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheets or Tupperware containers
How to Make
- Combine the rice, white vinegar and food coloring in a Ziploc bag.
- Seal it carefully and mix the contents throughly.
- Repeat for each color.
- Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet or line a Tupperware container.
- Spread the colored rice out on the parchment paper and allow it to dry overnight.
Troubleshooting
If you don’t have gel food coloring, regular food coloring will work fine. If you want your rice to be more vibrant add more than just a few drops of food coloring and a small amount of white vinegar. Although the instructions calls for 1 cup of rice I usually make between 6-7 cups of rice for a sensory bin.
Make your coloured rice and add it to the sensory bin. Don’t mix the colours. Let your little one do this! Add foam stars and foam numbers, plastic glasses and colourful sparkly bows.
This was a really fun sensory that my twins absolutely enjoyed. They poured, scooped, dumped and transferred the coloured rice using the cups. They counted stars and identified numbers!
To further the leaning with this sensory bin, grab a sheet of paper and write numbers from 10 to 1 and have your little one match the foam numbers in the sensory bin with the numbers on the sheet. This is a great way to practice numbers and counting backwards!
Happy New Years!
WILL YOU TRY THESE NEW YEARS SENSORY BINS WITH YOUR LITTLE ONE? Pin it for later!!!
