Sensory Bins Archives - Sensory Play for Kids

This pot of gold St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck is perfect for young children to engage in play-based learning. The gold rocks and pots of gold add a fun dimension to a classic oobleck recipe.

Yesterday, my kids had a sensory play-filled day. First, we went out and played in the forest. They threw rocks, stomped in mud puddles, and splashed in the river.

Then, we made St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck. And finished off and cleaned up by making soap foam.

The St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck had them squealing with joy and playing for over an hour.

This morning, my two-year-old headed outside to play with the oobleck again.

We love this St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck because it:

prompts scientific discovery,
is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day,
has all the benefits of sensory play,
is soothing to play with,
is taste-safe for one-year-olds,
can have essential oils (like peppermint) added to it.

What you need for St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck

4 cups of cornstarch
2 cups of water
Green food colouring
Small rocks
Terracotta pots
Black acrylic paint
Gold acrylic paint

How to Make St. Patrick’s Day themed oobleck

Paint rocks 1-2 coats of gold paint on rocks.
Let paint fully dry.
Paint terracotta pots black.
Mix water and food colouring.
Add coloured water to cornstarch.
Mix well.
Add gold rocks and pots.
Have fun!

Store oobleck in an airtight container. Add water if it has started to harden. It can be kept in a fridge and reused for months.

When we made this, I had a warm bowl of water and a towel nearby. The clean up was easy.

Other awesome St. Patrick’s themed activities

Find out how to make the best glitter slime recipe. It’s fail-proof and such fun sensory play. Plus there’s a fun add-on for St. Patrick’s Day. Click here to see more.

This digging for gold edible sensory play set up is perfect as a St. Patrick’s Day activity for kids. Baby-safe edible play is so much fun! Click here to learn more.

This shamrock slime uses a gold slime base with an addition of green glitter. Adjust the recipe to make the slime moldable and kids can make shamrock shapes. Click here.

We hope you enjoy these St. Patrick’s Day themed activities as much as we did.

This pink and red colored rice sensory bin adds heart and fine motor tools for a fun and educational themed sensory bin perfect for kids.

Sensory bins are a really fun and inviting way to display new material or themes to children. Engaging the senses in play helps children remember material better.

This pink and red colored rice sensory bin uses dyed rice as a base with some pink hearts and fine motor scooping tools for play.

This pink and red colored rice sensroy bin adds heart and fine motor tools for a fun and educational themed sensory bin perfect for kids. #sensoryplay #redsensroybin #coloredrice #preschool

How to Make Colored Rice

Dying rice is super simple to do, and tons of fun for kids to help with! The shaking of the bags is always a huge hit in our house (bonus points if you do it during a dance party!).

What you need:

plain white rice (uncooked)
vinegar
red and pink food coloring

What to do:

Separate the rice into zipped plastic bags to dye.

Add the desired amount of rice to the baggies and add food coloring, and a splash of vinegar.

This is the fun part, secure the bags and SHAKE!

Once all the rice has been colored, lay on a baking sheet to dry.

To assemble the pink and red colored rice sensory bin:

Once the colored rice has dried, add it to a plastic bin for play.

We like to use these plastic scrapbook containers for play as they are wide enough for a few children to play in, but also contain the mess. And, they have a lid so the rice can be stored away after play to bring out another day.

To the colored rice bin, add some heart shaped buttons and fine motor tools.

Kids love scooping and dumping, and this transferring skill is an important one for kids to practice and develop.

A silicone baking tray like this heart shaped one is perfect for the theming of this sensory bin. It also gives the sensory bin a fun Valentine’s day feel, making this the perfect February activity for kids as well.

We found these heart shaped felt stickers in our craft stash and placed them into the hearts on the mold for more discussion on colors and shapes with the kids!

Example, “oh, I see you filled the yellow heart!” or “the pink striped heart is half full”.

Sensory Bins

Pot of Gold St. Patrick’s Day Themed Oobleck