If you’ve got a bin, some water, and a few wine corks hanging around, this Cork Boat Sensory Bin is about to become a favorite backyard or kitchen floor activity. It’s simple, fun, and perfect for warm days when your kids want to splash and play—but you still want to sneak in a little learning and creativity.
This cork sensory bin is part boat-building challenge, part imaginative water world, and part fine motor magic. Bonus: the boats actually float, and kids love testing how fast or far they can glide across their DIY ocean.
Why You’ll Love This Cork Sensory Bin
- You get to upcycle corks into something your kids can actually play with.
- It combines STEM concepts (like buoyancy and balance) with hands-on art and design.
- Kids can build, create, splash, and explore—all in one activity.
- It’s great for mixed ages and open-ended enough to revisit again and again.
What You’ll Need
- Corks (3 per boat is ideal)
- Rubber bands or elastic bands
- Toothpicks
- Foam sheets or cardstock (for sails)
- Scissors
- Water
- Large sensory bin or shallow tub
- Blue food coloring (optional)
- Sea shells, sea creature toys, or pebbles for added play
How to Set Up
Step 1: Make the Cork Boats
Grab three corks and line them up side-by-side. Wrap two elastic bands around them—one near the top and one near the bottom—to keep them together. Cut a triangle or rectangle sail out of foam or cardstock and thread it onto a toothpick. Carefully push the toothpick into the center cork, upright like a little mast.
Step 2: Fill Your Sensory Bin
Add water to your bin and a drop or two of blue food coloring to make it look like the sea. Toss in a few sea shells, pebbles, or toy sea creatures to bring the ocean theme to life.
Step 3: Float and Play
Let your child place the cork boats into the water and push them around, race them, or sail them through “stormy” seas. They can pretend they’re sailing to rescue sea animals or stopping by island ports (aka the edge of the tub) to collect treasure (aka pebbles or shells).
Ways to Extend the Play
- Add pouring tools like cups and ladles to encourage more water exploration.
- Set up a “dock” using a cardboard tray or plastic lid for docking and launching.
- Challenge older kids to build different styles of boats and test which floats best.
- Use real leaves or paper for sails to mix things up.
This Cork Boat Sensory Bin isn’t just fun—it’s full of learning, too. Your child will be practicing problem-solving, experimenting with materials, and developing fine motor skills while they play. And you’ll be sipping that next glass of wine guilt-free, knowing those corks are headed for something way more fun than the recycling bin. Cheers to that.
Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers
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
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
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
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.
