My favorite current activity to use in my preschool special education classroom is sensory bins! Sensory bins are fun and engaging for my students and most importantly they are motivated to learn when we use them. I use sensory bins for a variety of purposes; engagement, turn taking, academic skills, learning vocabulary words, and fine motor skills.
I use a variety of textures in my sensory bins. Some examples include:
- rice
- sand
- beans
- corn
- shaving cream
- cut up pieces of paper
- Floam
- pine cones
- seasonal items
Some of my students are working on engagement. This means that I am just having them explore the sensory bin and engage with me or with another student. I may add pictures of different vocabulary we are working on in the class and reinforce those words while engaging with the sensory materials. Other students may be working on turn taking and may take turns finding hidden items in the sensory bins. I have some students that are ready for academic skills and I may hide objects or pictures of colors, shapes, numbers, or letters in the bins.
You can make your own sensory bins for your classroom by buying a small bin, adding sensory materials, and adding any objects or pictures to your bin. Have fun and your students will love them! I have created a bundle of yearlong centers using sensory bins that focus on vocabulary, colors, shapes, numbers, letters, and more! See link below if you are interested.
Happy teaching!
