1, 2, 3 ~ Counting Sensory Bin

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With all the craziness of summer, we've taken the past few weeks to just relax and spend some unstructured playtime outdoors.  It's been a while since we've tried any new sensory bins or small worlds, so I thought it was about time to get back into the swing of things and take sensory play outdoors while it's still nice out.

Lately you've been starting to learn how to count!  It began while we were teaching you to walk down the steps (while holding hands with a parent) and we counted your steps off by "one, two." You picked up on it very quickly and I just love hearing your little voice say "one, two" each time you go down another step.  We eventually added three on whenever we count things around the house and the past few days you are counting anything you can get your hands on.  

A few weeks back I saw an amazing post by Small Potatoes where she created Imagination Bowls for her little ones.  Imagination bowls are scaled down sensory bins that are simple to put together whenever the need arises.  I loved that she arranged them according to skill level and incorporated learning in them as well.  So, today I decided to make you one based on counting with the numbers 1, 2, and 3!

I found a large Tupperware bowl for this sensory bin and it was just big enough to add a few items that you could manipulate.  The base of this bin is made up of red beans, which is a new one for you! In addition to the base I added the following:

3 rocks ~ 3 seashells ~ small cups and plastic spoons labeled with the numbers 1, 2, and 3 ~ cookie cutters ~ a counting book

There are so many ways that you can incorporate learning into this sensory bin.  Here are a few pictures showing what we did during our outdoor playtime.

We grouped all of the items together that had the same number and put the corresponding number of beans in the cup.

We counted items in the bin with the cookie cutters.

We scooped the proper number of spoonfuls into each labeled cup ~ one scoop into the #1 cup, 2 scoops in the #2 cup, and three scoops into the #3 cup.

We also just had some fun playing with the beans and items in the tub, as well.  I think I had just as much fun as you did.  There's something so relaxing about playing with beans!

After a while we read the book that went along with our bin then took everything inside and had some lunch.  Once lunch was over I added a couple of small bowls and you played for another hour hiding the rocks and filling the bowls from top to bottom.  The best part is, since these bins are so small, there isn't a big mess to clean up!

Additional Inspiration for Sensory Bins with Learning Concepts:

Counting and Sorting with a Critter Imagination Bowl from Small Potatoes

Letter Discovery with a Cornmeal Sensory Box from Dirt and Boogers

Teaching Coin Value with a Glowing Sensory Bin from Train Up a Child

Learning about the Summer Solstice with a Day and Night Sensory Tray



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