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Are you ready to create a miniature icy world that’s both fizzy and fun? Today, we’re going to make a Fizzy Penguin Sensory Bin, where our little plastic penguin friends will have a bubbly adventure. This activity isn’t just a blast – it’s like a mini science experiment right in your home, and you get to be the scientist!

Imagine a tiny, chilly penguin habitat, where when you add a special ingredient, it starts to fizz and bubble like a mini-volcano! That’s what we’re creating with our Fizzy Penguin Sensory Bin. It’s perfect for those days when you can’t go outside but still want to have some frosty Arctic fun indoors.

What You’ll Need:

Baking soda
Vinegar
Blue food coloring (to make our icy water)
Small plastic penguin toys
Eye droppers (for our fizzy experiments)
A sensory bin or large container
Clear gem rocks (to make our bin look like a real penguin habitat)

The Science Behind the Fizz

So, what makes our Fizzy Penguin Sensory Bin bubble up when we add vinegar to baking soda? It’s all thanks to a cool science reaction! When you mix baking soda, which is a base, with vinegar, which is an acid, they react and create bubbles of carbon dioxide. That’s the same gas that you see when you open a soda can and it fizzes up. It’s like our penguins are having a fizzy soda party in their icy world!

Tips for a Splashing Success

Protect Your Space: This can get a bit messy, so make sure to set up your bin on a surface that’s easy to clean.
Start with Less Vinegar: You can always add more vinegar to see more fizz, so start with a little and add more as you go.
Use the Eye Droppers: They’re great for fine motor skills and control how much vinegar you add to the baking soda.
Experiment with Colors: Add different food coloring to the vinegar for a colorful, fizzy explosion.

Skills Learned from the Fizzy Penguin Sensory Bin

Scientific Thinking: Understanding the reaction between baking soda and vinegar is a great introduction to basic chemistry concepts.
Sensory Play: This activity engages various senses – sight, touch, and smell, which is great for sensory development.
Fine Motor Skills: Using eye droppers helps improve hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.
Creativity and Imagination: Building and playing with the sensory bin encourages creative thinking and imagination.

Let’s Get Fizzy!

Now that we know what we need and the science behind it, it’s time to create our Fizzy Penguin Sensory Bin. Start by pouring ins a box of baking soda into your sensory bin and spreading it out on the bottom of the sensory bin. Arrange your clear gem rocks and penguins in the bin. In a separate glass or container, mix blue food coloring and vinegar for ‘icy water’. Finally get your eye dropper ready.

Then, let the fizzy fun begin! Watch as your little penguins experience the bubbly wonders of their new habitat. Add the blue vinegar with the dropper and see the reactions happen. It’s like watching tiny geysers erupt in the Arctic!

This Fizzy Penguin Sensory Bin is not just about watching bubbles. It’s about exploring, asking questions like “What happens if I add more vinegar?” or “Does it fizz more if I add the vinegar quickly?” It’s all about discovery and play. And the best part? You’re learning cool science stuff without even realizing it because you’re having so much fun!

Whether you’re a budding scientist or just love playing with penguins, this activity is sure to bring excitement and learning to your day. Share your fizzy adventures with us; we can’t wait to see your penguins having a bubbly blast. Keep exploring, keep questioning, and most importantly, keep having fun!

Age Suitability for Fizzy Penguin Sensory Bin

This sensory bin is good for toddlers aged children 2 years old and up with adult assistance.

Mess Level for Fizzy Penguin Sensory Bin

The mess level for this sensory bin.

Difficulty to Create

Easy.

Toddler and Preschooler Curriculums, Books & TV Show!

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

Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.

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.

The Best Sensory Play Kits for Kids

Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.

Our Sensory Play Kits are some fun and easy ways to keep your child engaged while at the same time using sensory play to nurture their mind!

Shop our ready made play kits here.