5 Tips on Introducing Your Toddler to Sensory Bins
I made a lot of mistakes when it came to introducing Lee to sensory bins and it led to some epic cleanups: filling the entire container with dried beans, keeping the water pitcher within Lee’s reach, and turning away for a millisecond while Lee had a fistful of Rainbow Rice.
What was I thinking?!
Learn from my mistakes. Here are my tips on how to introduce your toddler to sensory bins that will minimize the mess and maximize your little one’s experience:
1. Make peace with the inevitable mess.
Dribbled water, thrown dried beans, or over-spilled Rainbow Rice are par for the course when it comes to sensory bins-- ergo, prepare yourself for lots of sweeping and vacuuming once your toddler is done playing.
And, as tempting as it can be to tidy up as your toddler goes, that can have its drawbacks: Your toddler may confuse your cleaning with a game, “Whenever I throw this, Daddy picks it up and brings it back! Let’s do it again and again!” Similarly, your toddler may enjoy getting a response from you and repeatedly spill water out of the sensory bin to keep getting that reaction. So, just let the mess happen and remain in the moment with your child.
2. Start with larger and comparatively easier-to-clean materials.
A mistake I made was starting with a sensory bin filled with itty-bitty Rainbow Rice right out of the gate. Lee excitedly sank his little hands into the rice and picked up hearty fistfuls of rice and flung them across the room. The teeny-tiny grains of rice took weeks to completely vacuum up.
Learn from my facepalm moment and fill your sensory bin with larger (and therefore more manageable) materials like crafting pom-poms, large Rainbow Pasta, or strips of ribbon to acclimate your toddler (especially toddlers 1-2 years old) to the activity.
3. Establish a clear “play zone.”
Set up a designated sensory bin area and lay out a blanket, towel, or plastic shower liner to visually cordon off the play zone. Explain to your toddler, “We play on this blanket and our materials stay on the blanket.” Of course, your toddler is not going to immediately recognize these borders, but they will (eventually) get the hang of it if you repeat this across several play sessions.
4. Use a smaller container and gradually increase the size with your child’s age and ability.
When we first introduced Lee to sensory bins, I filled a large Rubbermaid cold food pan (the kind restaurants use in their walk-in freezers) with dried beans because I thought it would make the activity more appealing. More is more, right?
Turns out, that larger container and the pile of dried kidney beans was overwhelming to Lee and he immediately started emptying the container onto the floor. So we scooped out some beans into a smaller vessel and, nearly immediately, Lee was more interested in the activity.
If your little one seems daunted by the sensory bin or if they’re just manically throwing everything out of it, consider down-sizing for a little while and then reintroducing the larger container once they’ve become more accustomed to sensory bins.
5. Show your toddler something to practice or do within the sensory bin.
When I introduced Lee to a sensory bin, I pretty much just plopped him in front of it and was like, “Well? Have at it!” I imagine he was skeptical and thinking, “What exactly am I supposed to be doing here?” He had no idea where to begin and I naively assumed he’d just jump right into the activity.
The first few times, sit opposite from them and demonstrate what they can do with the materials: run your fingers down the fabric scraps, scoop up the fresh cranberries with a spoon, pour the popcorn kernels into different containers. This gives your little one a general framework to get them interested and started and leads them to ultimately experiment independently: This fabric is rough, but what does this one feel like? How many cranberries can I pick up at once? How many kernels can fit in the container until it overflows?
For more suggestions on what to fill your first sensory bins with, check out our blog post 10 Sensory Bin Ideas Our Toddler Loves to get yourself started!