Pumpkin Water Bead Sensory Bin
I love sensory play and sensory bins. Yes, they can be a huge mess and sometimes they are not. But we love having the simple idea of a bin they can play in when they know they need that extra sensory input.
Several years ago we did a pumpkin and rice bin. And my girls always ask for simple bins and something fun. So the pumpkin water bead sensory bin came about.
A fun prek and kindergarten sensory bin idea for the fall. You can use it for fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving.
The Pumpkin Water Bead Sensory Bin is a great addition to the pumpkin activities and sensory bins on the site.
What is a sensory bin?
A sensory bin is typically a plastic tub or container filled with carefully selected materials and objects to stimulate the senses of children in preschool.
Sensory bins might have rice, water beads, corn, beans, or other types of filler with small items.
Pumpkin Water Bead Sensory Bin
One thing I love about simple sensory bins is that they could take very little time to make or put together. This bin does take some time, but only to grow the water beads. After that, it is fun to play with all day.
This is a fun sensory bin for the fall, and you can use it for several weeks if you want to. We keep ours in a lidded bin to help the beads stay fresh longer.
We also wash our hands before we use the bin, when possible. This helps keep the sensory bin from smelling. And yes, I do play in the bin with my girls.
We have included links to some of the products and resources we have used with this activity. If you purchase via the links we may earn a small commission.
Pumpkin Book to Read With the Sensory Bin
A fun book to read with the sensory bin is Too Many Pumpkins. Kids will love the story and find a sensory bin with lots of pumpkins fun.
What we used to make the Pumpkin Water Bead Sensory Bin
When using water beads makes sure kids are not going to put them in their mouth. And ALWAYS monitor kids when using a water bead sensory bin.
Ways we played in the Pumpkin Water Bead Sensory Bin
Here are some ways we played in the sensory bin.
Just Play in the Pumpkin Sensory Bin
One of my favorite activities with sensory bins is to just let them play in the bin. You don’t have to do anything crazy or come up with an idea. The open play is always loads of fun.
Scoop and Count Pumpkins
One fun activity we do a lot with bins is guessing how many of something you can find in a scoop. Well, it is always fun because you never know. My girls scoop up the bead and pumpkins and then count them. This is great for working on counting and fine motor. Plus you can tally about their guesses if they had too many, too little or just about right on.
Color Search in the Pumpkin Sensory Bin
Another fun activity is search for just one color of pumpkins. The clear beads can make it tricky but it is fun to see what they can find. Plus they dig in a little more to find the. Our set of pumpkins had several colors it in. They held the pumpkins in one hand and searched with the other hand.
Pick Up Pumpkins by the Stem
One fun fine motor trick which is hard because of how wet everything is, try and pick up a pumpkin by the stem. It is really hard but fun to watch everyone try it.
Place the Pumpkins on Top of the Water Beads
Another fun fine motor activity they did was to pull all the pumpkin out from the beads and place them on top of the water beads. They dug up more pumpkins as they went working hard to keep all the pumpkins on top and not let them go back under the beads. It was loads of fun to watch.
And remember to Just Play in the Pumpkin Sensory Bins
Sensory bins are always fun and great play for kids! I love having it as an option for them to play in. And if all kids every do is play in the sensory bin that is okay.
Check Out these Fall and Pumpkin Sensory Bins For Kids:
Pumpkin & Kinetic Sand Sensory Bin has pumpkin and kinetic sand and lots of fun. You can count pumpkins, burry and find pumpkins, make shapes in the sand with pumpkins. It is super simple to set up and play in.
Fall Rice Sensory Bin has lots of fall themes like leaves, acorns and pumpkins in a rice filler. A great bin to use for all of the fall.
Red Yellow & Orange Sensory Bin is a simple sensory bin with fall colors of red, yellow and orange in a rice fill. Simple to set up and easy to use.
Pumpkin Sensory Bin with Rice is a great fall rice sensory bin for kids. It has different colors of pumpkins and the rice makes for a fun filler for the sensory bin.
Halloween Sensory Bin is full of different Halloween themes like spiders, pumpkins, bats, ghosts, and bones. And is super simple to set up.
Check out all the fun Pumpkin Activities & Printables on 3 Dinosaurs.
Check out all the fun Sensory Bin Activities on 3 Dinosaurs.
Cassie – 3Dinosaurs.com
