The now-famous “sensory bin activity” has become wildly popular in our household – in case you didn’t know they have recently spread like wildfire online – they are all over Pinterest and can easily become any toddler’s favorite past time. I had my eye on them and was thinking about how I could get Gabi set up with them, and then, the magic happened. IKEA came out with a super cute, super useful convertible bin table and we HAD to get one. It allows your toddler to have a flat smooth table surface for arts and crafts, but then converts to a science-lab-esque bin table with recessed compartments so your toddler can reach down into plastic bins and play with any type of messy, fun, stimulating substance you can think of. Needless to say, after I saw them it didn’t take long until one magically arrived at our front door. Another hilarious instance of my husband coming home and saying “Babe, WHAT did you order!?” He came around quickly once he saw how much Gabi LOVED it. We’ve done lots of different activities on it, but the four I’m about to share with you have been our favorites for the past few weeks. These are perfect for Halloween and will be sure to keep your toddler entertained for the rest of this spoooky season. I recommend trying one per week so you can have 4 activities to do throughout October.
The absolute best part of these activities is that you can find all the ‘material’ at the dollar store and recreate them in under $15! I’ll put a list at the bottom so you can get it all. Let’s get started!
Activity #1 Spiderweb Rescue
You’ll need:
- Spider webbing
- Spider/bat rings
- Tongs or tweezers
Stretch out the spider webbing around the bin starting at the bottom and working your way up. Then spread out the spider or bat rings. Some may intertwine with the webbing. Gabi needed a bit of help with this one since the webbing would get stuck to the rings.
Activity #2 Eyeballs & Zombie Brains
You’ll need:
- Colored spaghetti
- Plastic eyeballs
- Tongs, tweezers or a scoop
Place your colored spaghetti in the bin, separate it by colors if you’d like and hide the eyeballs. Using a scoop or tweezer pick up the eyeballs and place them inside the cauldrons. Colored spaghetti recipe at the bottom!
Activity #3 Monster Mash
You’ll need:
- Black beans
- Plastic vampire teeth
- Halloween erasers
- Plastic snakes, bones etc
- Tongs, tweezers or a scoop
Pour out your beans into the bin and spread out, then add all of your Halloween goodies. Have your toddler use tweezers or a scoop to get the items out and put them into a mini caldron or pumpkin.
Activity #4 Witch’s Brew
You’ll need:
- Shaving cream
- Food dye
- Plastic eyeballs, spider rings, Halloween erasers
- Tongs, tweezers or a scoop
Spread out shaving cream in bin and add food coloring of your choice. Using a toothpick, blend in the food dye into the shaving cream. Then place all your Halloween goodies in the bin and have your child pick them up with the tongs or tweezers. You can use another bin with water to rinse the items from the shaving cream
Shopping list from Dollar Store:
- Halloween trinkets – eyeballs, erasers, vampire teeth, spider rings, mini skeletons, window clings
- Spider webbing
- Mini pumpkin buckets
- Mini black caldron buckets
- Shaving cream
- Black beans
- Spaghetti
- Food dye
Recipe for colored spaghetti:
In a large pot bring water to a boil and cook your spaghetti until al dente. Drain the water and set aside to cool. While the spaghetti is cooling, mix equal parts water and vinegar; add a few drops of food coloring of your choice. Once spaghetti is cooled, place inside a plastic/silicone bag or container and pour your vinegar/water/food coloring mixture in. Allow for the spaghetti to absorb the color for about 10-15 minutes, then drain the rest of the liquid. You may store it in the same bag/container for about 10 days or so.
