Day 1: Ice Cube Sensory Bin

I’ve been wanting to try a sensory bin with Barnaby (21months) for awhile now. The first time I saw one was when we went to a Gymboree Open House and they had a giant bin filled with dried pastas and bean. The kids (including Barnaby) crowded around this bin and raked and shoveled this giant “sand”. Brilliant.

With all the craziness going on and schools being closed. I now have a toddler at home all day. Originally I had wanted to limit this blog just for sewing tutorials. However, for the time time being, I will be focused more on DIY toddler activities. You can read more about my thought process here.

Today, since it was my first time trying a homemade sensory bin, I decided to start small and use something easy: ICE! There isn’t much preparation except taking the ice out of the fridge, and cleanup is relatively easy. Yay!

MATERIALS:

ice cubes
Ladles
Large spoons
Measuring cups
Tongs
Plastic takeout containers
Wooden spatulas
Loaf pans
Muffin tins
round baking pans
large bin (I used a baking pan)
anything you like!

Barnaby helped me take out ice cubes from the fridge into his containers, which was fun for him, and I showed him how to scoop and pick up ice cubes with tongs. Within seconds he was shoveling ice cubes from container to container.

Trying to pick up ice cubes with tongs (high difficulty level!) Once the ice started melting it became harder and harder to pick up the pieces. Don’t be surprised if you start hearing frustrated yelling!

(I decided to add a few drops of red food coloring to the ice cubes later on…but my husband did not like that idea as he was worried the food coloring would stain the hardwood, so that is a no go).

This activity kept Barnaby entertained for 20 minutes! Unfortunately we had to leave to try to see what what we can nab at the grocery shelves. Barnaby complained as he still wanted to play, so I think he can probably play for a good 30 minutes.

Another plus of this sensory bin is that once the ice cube runs out you can show your toddler “no more! we play tomorrow!”. The con is that melted ice cubes all over the floor leads to wet floors, but I think for all sensory bins it will always be messy until you “train” your toddler how to play with it.

I hope your toddler enjoyed this as much as Barnaby did 🙂