INSIDE: Looking for a fun and easy engaging sensory bin idea for Earth Day? Check out this amazing and super easy sensory play idea for toddlers and preschoolers using dried chickpeas!
Earth Day
April 22 is Earth Day but really every day should be earth. This easy to create sensory activity was a lot of fun for my 3 year olds twins. I find it hard to believe that this is the first time that I have tried using dried chickpeas in sensory play. But if I was ever going to use it, making small mini earths for Earth Day was the absolute perfect way. This was really a beautiful and engaging sensory activity. It was really easy to set up and had my preschooler engaged for quite a while!
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How to Dye Chickpeas for Sensory Play
I used acrylic paint to dye my chickpeas but if you don’t have acrylic paint you can use tempera paint or even food colouring however, if you use either it may transfer to your child’s hands during play. The method to dye chickpea is the same for which ever colouring tool you use.
Grab a bag a chickpeas and divide it into half and pour the dire chickpeas into separate ziplock bags. Add couple of squirts of paint, seal the bag and shake and massage until evenly disturbed. My 3 year olds helped to make it with me. Open the bag and check the colour has been distributed evenly and add more paint as necessary.
Once your chickpeas have the desired colour, open the bag and spread our your chickpeas on a sheet of parchment paper or plastic bag to dry. Let the chickpeas air dry for about 15 mintues (it may take less time). Once they are dry they are ready to play with!
How to Set up the Earth Day Sensory Bin with Coloured Chickpeas
Grab your coloured chickpeas and create an earth scene with pockets of green surrounded by blue. Then add bowls and spoons. I tried to choose green and blue tools but it doesn’t matter what colour they are and then let your little go!
How they Played
We have been talking about the Earth recently so my guys immediately saw this and said “Its the earth mommy!” They absolutely loved this idea and had their hands in the chickpeas scooping, piling, filling and dumping over and over again. This kept their attention far longer than I had expected. I think was due to the beautiful colours, the sounds the chickpeas made, and their fun round shape! We will definitely being doing more chickpea activities in the future!
Supplies
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- Sensory Bin or Sensory Table
- Dried Chickpeas
- Green and blue acrylic paint
- Ziplock bags
- Bowls
- Scoopers
- Spoons
WILL YOU TRY EASY EARTH DAY SENSORY BIN WITH YOUR TODDLER OR PRESCHOOLER? PIN IT FOR LATER!
