This super low-prep spring sensory bin needs to be added to your spring activities for preschoolers today! You only need a few ingredients for it, and the bin will keep your students engaged for hours.
Kids explore important early learning concepts with this spring water sensory bin, all while playing and having fun. Multiple senses are engaged as the children explore the soapy sensory materials, which enhances the learning.
In addition to being very easy to assemble, the spring sensory play can easily be changed as needed. So you can make adjustments based on the needs and interests of your students, as well as the units you’re teaching.
Related: Simple Sensory Activities
I don’t know about you, but I LOVE setting up simple activities in the classroom! I can set them up with little or no fuss, but they’re still fun and meaningful for the kiddos. And simple definitely doesn’t mean there’s any less learning taking place. In fact, sometimes the simplest ideas lead to the most learning!
Spring Sensory Bin
Back in September, the students had a blast with an incredibly easy apple sensory table. We’ve done a variety of water-based play since then, but we hadn’t used scented water in a while. So I updated that bin a bit by adding some spring flair. Based on the kids’ reaction, you would have thought I’d reinvented the wheel! 
How to Prep the Spring Water Sensory Play
As I mentioned earlier, this sensory invitation is incredibly easy to put together. Super duper easy to prep. It’s probably going to take me longer to write about it actually!
First things first, gather the materials you need. Here’s what we used (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):
- Flower-scented shampoo (ours was on sale for $1 at the grocery store)
- Warm water
- Measuring scoops
- Funnels
- Sensory table
- Waterproof mat (or shower curtain)
Once you have everything you need, place a mat on the floor underneath your sensory bin. Then fill up your sensory table with warm water. Next, add a dash of scented shampoo (check for any allergies ahead of time, of course). You can mix things up a little bit ahead of time if you want to. Or you can let the kids discover what happens when they do so!
Finally, add some sensory tools near the spring sensory bin. We used just a few items – scoops and funnels. You can add the tools your students prefer, of course.
Playing and Learning with a Spring Sensory Bin
The water sensory bin is an open-ended activity. That means the kids get to make most of the decisions regarding how to play with the materials. I recommend explaining and modeling your expectations beforehand. For example, “The water stays in the sensory table.” Other than those basic rules, let the kids play and explore!
Some things you might observe at the spring sensory bin:
- Kids exclaiming, “Oooooh, bubbles!” as they mix up the scented water.
- Using their hands to play with the bubbles.
- Scooping, pouring, and funneling the soapy water.
- Attempts at measuring the bubbles.
- Lots of laughter and conversation!
My students were content with the soapy bubbles and sensory tools during the first day. The next day, they remembered that I have a stash of little animal toys. So sharks, dogs, snakes, and even some trains joined the soapy fun the next day. This led to some great stories about muddy trains that needed to be cleaned, sharks playing hide-and-seek with snakes, and dogs barking because they didn’t want to be washed.
I recommend emptying the water each day. Then clean the sensory table, the toys, and the tools. You can start fresh the next morning! We ended up using the spring sensory bin every single day for over a week. And the children put in requests for more soon.
Would your students enjoy the spring-themed soapy sensory bin? Give it a try and let me know what they think!
More Spring Sensory Activities
If the spring sensory bin was a hit with your students, try some of these ideas next:
- Bee Sensory Bin
- Flower Squish Bag
- Butterfly Sensory Bin
- Robin Sensory Bin
- Garden Messy Play
- Tulip Sensory Bin
- Carrot Garden Sensory Bin
Spring Lesson Plans
Save time and jump right into hands-on, multi-sensory learning with done-for-you lesson plans. Click on the image below to get our spring lesson plans. If you find yourself loving our products, I highly recommend joining The Pack, our membership program for preschool and kindergarten teachers. Members get our resources at a greatly reduced price.
Each of our preschool lesson plan packs come with:
- A weekly overview
- Detailed daily plans
- Whole group ideas
- Small group activities
- Center time ideas
- Book suggestions
- Related printables (read below the photo for specific printables)
- Blank, editable lesson plan outlines in case you want to rearrange a few things on your own!
The spring lesson pack has over 220 pages, including the following printables:
- 10 Little Kites (in color and b/w)
- Flower Shapes (in color and b/w)
- Get Dressed for Spring (in color and b/w)
- Color Sorting (in color and b/w)
- Spring Counting Puzzles (in color and b/w)
- “Spring is Here” Emergent Reader
- Spring Letter Puzzles (in color and b/w)
- Spring Number Cards (1-35, in color and b/w)
- Spring Rhyming Cards (in color and b/w)
- Spring Read-Write-Make mats (5 versions, in color and b/w)
- Spring Dice Game (in color and b/w)
- Spring Number Puzzles (in color and b/w)
- Vocabulary Cards (in color and b/w)
- Real Photos
- Additional Activities
You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Originally published March 2014.
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