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I put this sensory bin together to go along with the classic book ‘Play with Me’ by Marie Hall Ets, as a possible activity for the Poppins Book Nook, but Caden didn’t have as much fun with this as he did with the ‘Play with Me’ Puppet craft. But I am really proud of how this sensory bin turned out so I wanted to share it with you all anyway!
To make this sensory bin we used:
- fresh green grass from our yard
- small Safari, LTD & Schleich animals
- a nature block
- small blue gems
First, I had Caden come outside and help me cut some grass with scissors. This is a fun way to work on fine motor skills! Caden was into it for about a minute… this should have been my first clue that he wasn’t going to be into this sensory bin.
First, I tried to invite him to play by setting up all the animals and other elements in the bin of grass, but he wasn’t interested. After leaving the bin out for a bit with no interest from Caden I decided to take all the animals out and have Caden play with them and add the to the bin while I read the book.
This method of sensory play worked a bit better, but he still wasn’t really into playing with it. I guess he had better things to do. I left the bin out for another day but it didn’t see much action. I’m not sure why, I thought it was really cute!
Sometimes what I think are great ideas and would be lots of fun are not what Caden has in mind. I’ve learned to let it go in the past year and not get hung up on it. I try to present the activity in a different way and if he still isn’t interested we move on to something else. It’s smart to always have a back up plan!
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I love the use of the grass for the sensory bin – not only is it free, but it adds to the nature theme!
Thanks Emma!
What a great sensory bin! Loved it!
Super cute bin! I have often thought about having my kids go cut the grass with scissors just to keep them busy!
Ok, I first have to say, you have the prettiest green grass! I wanted to touch it, lol. (Our grass here in Florida is not as soft/fluffy.) I agree with you; I think your idea was really cute and a great sensory play idea for that book. However, I absolutely LOVE 1) your approach with your son on giving it a couple of tries, then letting it go and 2) the fact that you shared the “real life” aspect of it not going as planned. Even if your little one didn’t take to this particular activity, I’m sure there’s another family out there who’ll be blessed by this idea 🙂
Thank you for your kind words! And don’t be fooled by the grass, that was freshly grown grass. When we first moved here the front yard was mostly dirt & weeds. Most of our yard is weeds. My husband has been working really hard this spring & summer to get some decent grass to grow.
Isn’t Play with Me the sweetest little book EVER? I’m looking forward to exploring it later this year as part of our B4FIAR fun.
Thanks for linking up with The Thoughtful Spot. I’ll have to remember to come back and share our dinosaur sensory dig next week!