How to Create a Winter Sensory Bin:
Winter can be a challenging time for both parents and children. If you live in Minnesota, you know how harsh our winters can be as they transform our yards into winter wonderlands. However, it's also a beautiful time because it forces us to slow down and spend more time at home with our loved ones. As the temperature drops and the snow reaches 10-12 inches at times, as parent’s, you may be thinking about activities to do as a family indoors. Finding a fun activity to do with your children in the winter can be tough especially for children with a sensory processing disorder. With chilly days ahead, we wanted to share with you how you create a winter sensory bin with your kiddos at home as getting outside is not always a viable option with our Minnesota winters!
The supplies you will need for this project will depend on how many things you want to incorporate in the sensory bin and what you have access to in your home. This project will depend on the size of bin you choose as well! We recommend choosing a bin size large enough to fill plenty of things in there.
You will need:
Large bin
Blue pebbles (will serve as the frozen lakes)
White pom poms (will serve as snow)
Blue and silver chunky glitter (will serve as snow flakes)
Polar bear figurine (or any other snowy themed animal figurines)
Sensory bins like this one introduce children to different textures, shapes, and colors. They stimulate a variety of senses at the same time including, touch, vision, and proprioception. Our tactile system, which is the sense of touch, is stimulated as the child uses their hands to play with the different objects inside the bin. As they dig their tiny hands into this winter sensory bin, they will be met with the smooth feel of the blue pebbles and the light fluffy textured pom poms. This sensory bin encourages them to work on their tactile discrimination skills, which is the ability to know what you’re touching using your sense of touch. The visual system, which is our sense of sight, allows children to work on their visual perceptual skills. This includes visual scanning, the ability to efficiently and quickly look for things, and figure-ground, the ability to filter out irrelevant visual input and focus on what matters. This sensory bin introduces a variety of different colors and objects which can be a visually stimulating activity for children of all ages. The proprioceptive system, the body’s ability to sense location, movement, and action is also stimulated. This system allows children to use the right amount of grip strength in order to pick up and hold the different objects. They can work on their grip strength as they pick up the pebbles and other objects inside the bin.
Winter limits outdoor play on days that are too cold to get outside, but that doesn’t mean it has to limit indoor play as well. Keep your child entertained this winter with this fun and easy sensory bin activity!
Enjoy making a winter sensory bin at home!
Winter photo - https://www.farmersalmanac.com/extended-forecast