Looking for a simple, hands-on activity that will spark your kids' imagination and keep them busy? A DIY forest sensory bin is a perfect choice! It's easy to make, fun for kids to explore, and brings the outdoors inside. Here's how to create your forest-themed sensory bin in just a few steps!
Sensory bins represent nearly limitless possibilities for child's sensory development. Mixed with imaginative play, no two sensory bins will have the same life. Have a look what happened to our 'forest sensory bin'.
This post includes affiliate links. Thanks for your support. Looking for more easy and fun sensory play activities? Check out these too:
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- sensory play with corn, beans, and sand - this popular farm sensory bin - easy!
- sensory play with snow
What You'll Need:
- A large plastic bin or shallow container
- Pinecones, twigs, leaves, and small rocks (grab these from your yard or local park!)
- Mini toy animals like squirrels, bears, deer, or birds - or dinosaurs!
- Moss or faux greenery for that lush, forest floor effect
- optionally, small pebbles as the base layer
- A small scoop or spoon for digging
How We Built This Forest-Themed Bin Activity
Following last-year's winter forest disaster in our country when many trees bent and fell under a thick layer of glaze ice, there is still an occasional tractor to be seen pulling tree trunks out and clearing our local forest. While on a walk, I just couldn't resist the heavenly smell of the freshly chopped branches of spruce and pine trees, and ended up carrying out a large bunch of spruce tree branches, some pieces of pine bark, a few sticks, and green moss. These ended up in our apartment:
I offered these natural materials to our kid, together with a transparent Ikea bin, to form a living environment for his toys for the day:
See how it all ended up on our kitchen floor, just to be reassembled into a beautiful 'ancient forest' with an addition of our toddler's current favorites - DINOSAURS, of course!
It was a rewarding process to observe the toddler playing and to listen to his story-line of dinosaur friends, who according to the kid's explanations, kept falling from bridges (sticks) and had to be 'rescued' by their (dinosaur) friends, about making friendships and about heroic jumps from one part of the 'forest' into another.
Tips On How to Play
Let your kids explore the sensory bin! They can dig through the base layer, move the animals around, or create little forest scenes. It's a great way to encourage imaginative play, improve fine motor skills, and enjoy a little bit of nature-without leaving the house!
This DIY forest sensory bin is the perfect rainy-day activity, providing endless hours of fun and learning! Plus, you can customize it to suit your child's interests, adding new elements whenever you like.
Top Tip:
I'd suggest you to place an old bed sheet under the sensory bin already at the beginning of the activity, if you'd like to avoid running around with a vacuum cleaner.
And this is how nearly every play activity ends these days: with our kid's favorite Cat digger. It came to help clean the mess at the end of the activity.
And yes, if you are thinking about the way I brought these materials, it's waaaay more interesting if you go gathering them TOGETHER with your TODDLER. In which case you'd probably like to try out this idea, too:
Daily Momtivity says
I love sensory bins! This is a great one! Thanks for the ideas 🙂
Damjana at AppleGreen Cottage says
Thank you!