45+ Awesome Water Sensory Bins for Toddlers & Preschoolers - Happy Toddler Playtime (2024)

FAQs

Are sensory bins good for 2 year olds? ›

Sensory bins for 2-year-olds encourage exploration of materials and promotes creative, imaginative play time for kids. At my toddler art classes, I always include a sensory play station in addition to the main art activity. The kids are drawn to that table and it's so fun to watch the magic unfold.

Sensory bins are growing in popularity—and for good reason! Parents are realizing sensory play is crucial toward enhancing child development. Sensory play is great for neurotypical children and children with sensory processing disorder and autism.

Water play develops motor skills and sensory exploration

Water play also provides children with so many opportunities to explore their senses and experience different sensory experiences.

From birth, children are ready for sensory play. Children are natural explorers – they're constantly learning and taking in what's around them. Sensory activities can be adapted for different ages, needs and abilities.

Some tips include counting to ten, walking away, listening to music, or watching a calming video or reading a book. Develop an exit strategy in the event of sensory overload. Talk to your child about ways he or she can stay calm or change environments if they start to feel overwhelmed.

Your toddler also will begin to differentiate colors and shapes. So choose toys that are bright, colorful, and fun for little hands to hold. By age 2, most toddlers can kick a ball, scribble with a crayon, and build towers four or more blocks tall. By age 3, they can do simple puzzles and pedal a tricycle.

Pour water into different size bottles, jugs, cups and containers and set them up in a bathtub or on a large tray. Add food colouring to enhance the experience. The idea is to get children to pour water from one jug to another, mixing colours and also learning fine motor skills at the same time.

Additionally, some people with autism may experience sensory overload as they get older. This can make it difficult to tolerate loud noises, bright lights, or crowded spaces. They may also become more sensitive to certain textures or smells.

Some kids grow out of these issues completely. Some kids, especially autistic kids, have them their whole lives. But as they get older, they usually learn to cope with many of the things that bothered them as young kids. Sometimes as people grow up, they're more able to handle distress than they were as kids.

Provide one part water for two parts cornstarch. I love to make TONS and the children get so much joy out of mixing up a huge batch of this goopy, drippy mixture. Feel free to add a few drops of coloring, but I really like to keep things simple and natural and typically go without the coloring.

Why do toddlers love water? ›

Playing in water is like playing in a brand new playground where even the simplest activities, like clapping your hands or jumping, are a whole new sensory experience. Children can experiment without worrying about falling or crashing into hard surfaces.

Typically, we'd think of sensory play as any kind of play-based activity that engages at least one of the five senses – touch, taste, sight, sound and smell.

Oversensitivity in a child will lead them to avoid sensory input, known as sensory avoiding and it occurs because their senses are too overwhelming for them.

It sounds (and can be!) messy, so you may often be inclined to cut this type of play short. But in fact, sensory play – play that stimulates any of a child's senses – has an important role in a child's health and development. Through it, your child builds cognitive skills and learns about their world.

Sensory bins are good for children over 18 months of age. Before they're 18 months old, sensory bins are not developmentally appropriate because the possible hazards outweigh the benefits.

It's not unusual for your child to be sensitive from time to time. But if these behaviors are impacting your child's everyday life at home, school and in the world, your child may be exhibiting signs of sensory processing disorder (SPD), formerly called sensory integration dysfunction.

Sensory play encourages learning through exploration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity. It helps to build nerve connections in the brain and encourages the development of language and motor skills.

Developmentally appropriate practice would probably recommend sensory tables in a classroom setting for children up to age five (or preschool level). Why use a sensory table? Children learn through their senses. Sensory tables improve children's sense of touch which helps them perceive their environment accurately.