Must-Have Sensory Bin Accessories | tactile activities, hands-on learning, sensory materials, learning through play, sensory exploration

If you have young children, you may have already seen their natural love for sensory play!

 

At your house, sensory play might look like:

  • getting messy with food
  • splashing water in the bathtub
  • digging in the dirt outside

17 Must-Have Sensory Bin Accessories

In this sensory play series, we cover:

 

Must-Have Sensory Bin Accessories | tactile activities, hands-on learning, sensory materials, learning through play, sensory exploration

The good news for parents is this: sensory play doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive! In fact, you can set up a simple sensory experience in three easy steps.

  1. Get a large container, a small bin, a wading pool, or a water table. Decide if you want to play inside or outside. (If you’re inside, put down a large sheet first to make clean-up a breeze!)
  2. Choose a filler. We reuse our food materials for many years, but there are a lot of non-food options as well. You can see a list of our favorite fillers in this post.
  3. Add some accessories and let your children get to work!
Sensory Play Gift Guide for Kids

We have slowly added to our sensory bin accessories over the years. Here are a ideas to get your wish list started!

(Reminder: Rolling Prairie Readers uses affiliate links at no additional cost to you. You can see our full disclosure policy here.

  • IKEA has many wonderful materials: colorful bowls, metal cookware and utensils
  • You can recycle many tools from your kitchen: empty jars, funnels, measuring cups, ice cube trays, creamers, muffin tins
  • Dollar stores often have small containers with screw-top and flip-top lids
Must-Have Sensory Bin Accessories | tactile activities, hands-on learning, sensory materials, learning through play, sensory exploration

 

 

Want more sensory play ideas? Be sure to follow our Sensory Play board on Pinterest!

Do you have a child who likes to get messy? What are your favorite sensory bin accessories?