loose parts

Colors of Fall Sensory Bin

October 13, 2025 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Fall is full of bright and bold hues, and so is this Colors of Fall sensory bin. Brilliant flowers and vibrant, plentiful leaves star in the gorgeous sensory invitation. The autumn sensory bin celebrates the end of our growing season, as the weather is about to become a lot colder, and leaves and flowers will soon dry out.

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Supplies in the Fall Sensory Bin

The following are the supplies used in this autumn-themed bin:

fall leaves
flowers
small rocks
twigs
squirt bottles
liquid watercolors
pitchers of water
mortar and pestle sets
eye droppers
bowls and spoons
cups

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The Colors of Fall Sensory Bin

As displayed in many of my other sensory invitations, the bin for this fall sensory activity is a large active world tray. It’s great for a group of children to explore together. The activity would work equally well in a smaller bin, with children taking turns to participate.

The many leaves in the octagonal bin come from the trees and plants in my yard. Lots have turned red, orange, yellow, or brown. Others remain green in the fall season.

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The flowers are also from my yard, picked just before the freezing nights that end their growing season.

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Clear squirt bottles hold water with a little orange, magenta, green, or blue liquid watercolors mixed in.

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Paired with the squirt bottles, pitchers filled with water offer many opportunities for color mixing and potion making in bowls and clear cups.

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Including eye droppers allows for more fub colored water squirting.

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Mortar and pestle sets are always a hit.

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Beautiful red and yellow Bergenia leaves are quickly set aside by some participants as treasures to keep.

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Magenta-hued water and bright flowers prove to be a highlight of the sensory experience.

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After a long time of engaging in sensory bin exploration, the colored water becomes a drawing tool for transient art on nearby pavement.

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A rock border adds a finishing touch to a heart-themed transient art creation.

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This Colors of Fall sensory bin is an awesome nature-themed activity, and is one of the most economical play-based learning ideas. The natural materials are a free filler. Most of the other supplies are reusable for other sensory play activities and are suitable for dramatic play setups.

What do you think?

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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More Fall Activities

Fall Drip Ice Cake

Fall Pom Pom Tree Craft

Fall Tablescape Pretend Play

Fall Leaf Salad Spinner Art

Fall Scissor Skills Activities

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[Read more…]

Apple Theme Sensory Tray

October 11, 2025 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Fall is apple season, and there are so many apple-themed activities to choose from. This simple, super fun apple theme sensory tray with an oatmeal base is one that I’ve wanted to try for a long time. It is sure to be a hit with little learners.

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Supplies in the Tray

The following are the supplies in this gorgeous apple sensory tray:

apple-shaped strainers
measuring spoons
apple-shaped acrylic gems
gold apple ornaments
metal tins
apple cookie cutters
pompoms
apple ice cube tray molds
spoons

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The Apple Theme Sensory Tray

The base for this eye-catching apple sensory tray is rolled oats. This base fits the theme since it is an ingredient used in tasty fall treats such as apple crisp, apple bread, and apple cookies.

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The round cake pan, loaf pan, apple coolie cutters, and measuring cups encourage dessert baking activities.

Sparkling gold apple ornaments and apple-shaped acrylic gems add a major dose of glam and are baking ingredients along with the rolled oats.

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Bright green, yellow, red, and pink pompoms in various sizes are additional “apples”.

Apple ice cube tray molds encourage sorting activities.

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And apple-shaped strainers add interest to the bin.

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All supplies are set in a large, deep green active world tray, suitable for four to six children to explore. The accessories work equally well in a smaller bin if two to three children are participating in the sensory activity.

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Have you tried an apple theme sensory tray? Share in a comment below.

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning activities.

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More Apple Theme Activities

Apple Playdough Tray

Watercolor Apples With Markers

Apple Print Art and Activities

Apple Toothpick Sculptures

Apple Fruit Stand

Apple Theme Activities

Scented Playdough Recipe and Activities

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[Read more…]

Three Dinosaur Sensory Bins

September 7, 2025 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Dinosaurs are an oh so popular topic among young children, and they absolutely LOVE sensory bins. This post combines the two interests. featuring three dinosaur sensory bins that are bound to captivate your little learners. A bonus is that the activities are super simple and quick to set up.

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Children adore anything dinosaur, so I try to include dinosaur activities in my yearly rotation of themes. It’s not hard to do, as there are thousands of activities to choose from.

Sensory activities are also a favorite of children and offer a host of benefits. They provide multi-sensory learning through play experiences.

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Dinosaur Rice Bin

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The sensory bin for this first activity is a white kitchen bus tub, which accommodates two or three children at a time. If you’ve seen some of my other sensory blog posts, you’ll know that this is one of my favorite choices for bins. An under-the-bed storage tub also works fantastically. It is slightly bigger in size and accommodates more children.

Rice is an economical sensory base and is reusable. Brown rice is the base for this first sensory bin.

Other supplies in the bin include:

large and small dinosaur figurines
glow in the dark dinosaur skeletons
dinosaur skull figurines
marbles
fillable eggs

Exploring rice is a calming activity, and children love to pour it, bury items in it, and create shaker musical instruments using it as a filler.

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In addition to adding rice to the fillable eggs, children eagerly hide smaller dinosaurs and marbles in them.

Larger dinosaur figurines, dinosaur skulls, and glow-in-the-dark dinosaurs contribute to the theme and add excitement to the bin.

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning activities.

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Dinosaur Egg Rice Bin

This second dinosaur sensory bin is simpler and features a few variations.

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White glutinous rice is the base. Its bright white color helps the accessories stand out.

An edged, square metal serving tray is the bin. It is smaller in size than a kitchen bus tub, accommodating one to two children at a time.

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Fillable eggs with dinosaur spikes were the inspiration for this bin, and are a feature supply.

Various sizes of rocks are natural materials in the bin.

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Dinosaur Noodle Bin

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This third sensory invitation is similar to the one above. The only difference is that the base in the bin is thin, yellow noodles. The bright, cut uncooked noodles add a pop of color and novel texture to the bin.

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Benefits of the Dinosaur Sensory Bins

Sensory bin invitations are non-threatening, open-ended activities for children to participate in. There is no right or wrong way to explore them, and that means zero pressure to meet certain standards.

The rice in the first two bins is relaxing for children to touch, sift, and pour. This helps children regulate their emotions.

As children add little dinosaur figurines and marbles to the fillable eggs, they gain hand-eye coordination and fine motor control.

Children take delight in making shaker musical instruments by adding rice to the eggs. This includes a musical component.

When two or more children play in the same bin, they practice sharing and turn-taking. Their discussions during the play enhance social development.

The sensory invitations have a collection of unique accessories that are new to the children. This encourages the little learners to be creative and use their imagination.

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More Sensory Activities

Flower Planting Sensory Play

Flower Potion Sensory Tray

Airplane Rice Sensory Bin

Cozy Gingerbread Sensory Bin

Plaid-themed Christmas Rice Bin

Chinese New Year Chickpea Bin

Easter Bunny Lentil Sensory Bin

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[Read more…]

Castle Theme Pretend Play

August 26, 2025 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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Pretend play is one of children’s most-loved activities, and loose parts are my favorite things to include. This castle theme pretend play setup includes many sparkling loose parts, perfect for little princes and princesses to dramatize with.

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Castle Pretend Play Supplies

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The following supplies are in this castle-themed dramatic play invitation:

clear plates, jars, and trays
play forks and spoons
star-shaped dessert cups
clear silver-edged goblets
silver serving bowl
gold tongs and silver serving spoons
muffin tin and cookie pan
large and small jingle bells
gold buttons
silver bead balls
metallic bead necklace strips
sparkly pompoms
transparent jewelry connectors
cube-shaped reusable ice cubes
transparent acrylic pebbles
transparent dive gems
metallic tinsel spray centerpiece
light pink tablecloth

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Castle Theme Pretend Play Set Up

When introducing new supplies in a dramatic center, I often arrange them in a tablescape design in the play kitchen. Children then pick up, rearrange, and dramatize with the supplies as they wish.

As you might expect, there are a lot of metallic, jewel-toned, and silver and gold supplies in this royal pretend play setup.

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In the center of the tablescape is a fancy metallic tinsel spray centerpiece. This showy centerpiece also shines in my Space Restaurant Dramatic Play and Outer Space Pretend Play blog posts.

Jewel-toned dive gems, set on a cookie pan, are repurposed as cookies or other things children imagine.

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Metallic bead necklace strips make decadent spaghetti noodles, and small gold jingle bells are tasty pretend meatballs.

Large silver jingle bells placed in a muffin tin make marvelous muffins.

Gold buttons, silver balls cut from bead garland, shiny pompoms, transparent jewelry connectors, light pink transparent acrylic pebbles, and jewel-toned reusable ice cubes are additional loose parts to imagine with.

Supplies are displayed in silver bowls or clear bowls and jars.

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Plates and silver-edged goblets are also clear, allowing the loose parts to take center stage.

Star-shaped dessert cups add additional glitz.

A light pink tablecloth provides a soft background for the treasure-laden supplies.

All set up, little princes and princesses will be eager to engage in this castle theme pretend play center.

Note: This is the third of three blog posts about castle-themed activities. Some of the loose parts in this post are also in my Castle Theme Light Table post and/or my Castle Theme Playdough Tray post. Loose parts are super versatile!

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More Pretend Play Centers

Fall Tablescape Pretend Play

Pumpkin Tablescape Pretend Play

Thanksgiving Tablescape Pretend Play

Kid’s Winter Wonderland Tablescape

Gingerbread Theme Pretend Play

Penguin Pretend Play Tablescape

Chinese New Year Tablescape

Valentine’s Day Pretend Play

St. Patrick’s Day Pretend Play

Spring Bunny Play Tablescape

Lemon-Inspired Play Kitchen

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[Read more…]

Castle Theme Light Table Activity

August 25, 2025 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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A light table is one of my favorite classroom centers, as it adds a glowing ambience to the room. It’s a goal of mine to add one or more light table activities to every theme. A set of bubble bottles inspired a castle theme light table activity.

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Castle Light Table Supplies

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The following supplies are in this royal-themed light table set up:

castle-themed bubble bottles
metallic pompoms
metallic bead necklace strips
gold jingle bells
cube-shaped reusable ice cubes
interlocking necklace connectors
acrylic crystal ice rocks
ombre erasers
clear egg tray
clear bowls, trays, plates, and serving scoops

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning activities.

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The Castle Theme Light Table Activity

A variety of interesting loose parts that complement the castle theme are featured in this light table play invitation.

A jewel-toned set of empty transparent bubble containers is the highlight. I was excited to spot the bubble containers while on a routine shopping trip one afternoon.