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When autumn whispers through the trees and pumpkin-spiced everything fills the air, it’s the perfect time to dive into sensory play that captures the essence of the season. Our Pom Pom Pumpkin Patch sensory bin offers an enchanting playtime experience, intertwining the magic of fall with the vibrant colors and textures kids adore. Not only will little hands revel in the touch and feel of this playful pumpkin patch, but they’ll also be honing crucial skills every step of the way. Ready to set up a miniature pumpkin wonderland? Let’s get started!

WILL YOU MAKE THIS POM POM PUMPKIN PATCH SENSORY BIN WITH YOUR KIDS? PIN IT FOR LATER!

Materials Needed

Sensory bin
Green rice (Find our special instructions for green rice right here on the blog!)
Orange pom poms
Leaves (either real or artificial)
Small bowls and scoopers
Mini Pumpkins
Mini pumkin buckets

Setting Up Your Pumpkin Patch

Start by pouring the green rice into the sensory bin. This will serve as the grassy ground for our pumpkin patch.
Scatter the leaves around to give it an autumnal feel.
Place the mini pumpkin buckets or mini pumpkins around the bin, ready to be filled with our pom pom pumpkins.
Finally scatter the orange pom poms, our ‘pumpkins’, through out the field.

Skills Developed During Sensory Play

Engaging in sensory play not only provides tactile experiences but also enhances fine motor skills, cognitive growth, and problem-solving abilities. By scooping, pouring, and picking up pom poms, kids work on their hand-eye coordination. Moreover, recognizing colors and matching pom poms to corresponding buckets nurture their observational and sorting skills.

Ways to Play

Hide and Seek Pumpkins: Bury the orange pom poms in the green rice. Have the kids search for them and place them in the mini pumpkin buckets.
Pumpkin Scoop: Using the scoopers, children can practice transferring pom poms from the bin to the bowls, and vice versa.
Color Sorting: If you have pom poms of other colors, they can sort the pumpkins and place the orange ones in the pumpkin buckets and others in separate containers.

Keeping Things Neat

Containment is key with sensory play!

Always set up your sensory play in an area where cleanup is easy, like a tiled floor or on an outdoor table.
Lay a tarp or a big sheet under the sensory bin. This makes the post-play cleanup much faster – just gather up the sheet and shake off any spillage.
Having a dedicated play space or mat can also limit how far the rice and pom poms can wander.

The Pom Pom Pumpkin Patch sensory bin offers an interactive play session that combines the joy of autumn with skill-enhancing activities. Not only do they get to indulge in the fun of a pumpkin patch at home, but they also harness essential developmental skills in the process. So, roll up those sleeves and dive into this sensory delight!

Age Suitability

This activity is good for toddlers aged children 3 years old and up with adult assistance.

Mess Level

The mess level for this activity is medium.

Difficulty to Create

Low.

Skills Developed

Language development, shape recognition, color recognition, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, imaginative play, creativity.

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.