Tree & Kinetic Sand Sensory Bin
Sensory bin are great for sensory play. The tree and kinetic sand sensory bin is excellent for Arbor Day and Earth Day. You have a simple sensory bin for kids in preschool, PreK, and kindergarten to explore.
It is a bin you can leave up for the spring and summer. It has trees and then the kinetic sand is the filler for the bin.
A simple sensory bin to set up for kids.
The Tree & Kinetic Sand Sensory Bin is a great addition to the tree 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 filled with small items.
Tree & Kinetic Sand Sensory Bin
The tree and kinetic sand sensory bin is simple and easy to assemble. It contains different types of trees, green kinetic sand, and blue rocks. This sensory bin is a fun way to do sensory play for Arbor Day or a tree theme.
This tree sensory bin is great for kids in preschool (ages 3 to 4), PreK (ages 4 to 5), and kindergarten (ages 5 to 6). But older kids can play in the sensory bins as well.
Books to Read with this Tree Sensory Bin
Here are a few books suggestion to read with this tree sensory bin.
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.
The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-Ups has loads of details about trees from the types to seeds and where they grow.
The Book of Amazing Trees has loads of information about trees and the fact that they have been around since the dinosaurs.
Tree Full of Wonder: An educational, rhyming book about magic of trees for children is a fun picture book with rhyming and information about trees.
Tall Tall Tree: A Nature Book for Kids About Forest Habitats has tree information with counting and forest information. Plus it has some STEM ideas as well.
What we used to make the Tree & Kinetic Sand Sensory Bin
- Tree toob (we are using two sets of the toob)
- green kinetic sand
- blue acrylic rocks
- paper bin with lid
Ways to Use the Tree & Kinetic Sand Sensory Bin
You will see a few sensory play ideas and activities you can do in the tree and kinetic sand sensory bin.
Play in the Tree Sensory Bin
Sensory play is what sensory bins are about. You can just play and explore the trees, rocks and kinetic sand. It is an easy way for kids to have a sensory play that is easy.
Talk about the Different Types of trees
You can us the sensory bin to talk about the different types of trees. It is nice to have the tree toob because the names are on the bottom of the trees.
You can even sort the trees base on the leaf type or coniferous or deciduous trees.
Ponds and Streams in the Sensory Bin
You can make fun woodland scenes with the trees, sand and rocks.
You can see below a river running through the trees. You could also add woodland animals to the bin if you wanted.
You can also make a pond or lake in the sensory bin. You can do a pond and put the trees around it. You can also let kids decide how big or small the pond or lake is with the blue rocks. You can keep extra blue rocks around if they want to add them in.
Make Prints in the Sand
One fun activity to do is to make prints using the tree. I just happened to catch them doing this one. You roll the tree on it side through the sand. And each tree makes a fun print in the sand.
Write Letters in the Sand using the Trees
You can also pick a tree and then flatten the sand and use the tree for writing letters. A different tool to write using different muscles in the hand. A fun change that you can do with letters, numbers and shapes.
You can see the letter A below.
Finally Remember to Just Play
And finally just remember to take time to play in the sensory bin. The sensory bin can be left out for a period of time. They are great for calming down and getting extra sensory input as well.
And don’t limit it to just younger kids. Older kids might need sensory play as well.
More Tree Activities for Kids
Paper Roll Green Tree is a fun craft made with watercolors and paper rolls. You can paint the tree trunk with watercolors and then make the leaves of the tree with a paper roll. We used green glitter for the top of the tree.
Tree Weekly Packs are fun no-prep packs that are great for homework, morning work and more! They have 6 grade level options: PreK, Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade, Third Grade, and Fourth Grade. These are easy to use arbor day and Earth Day printable packs.
Tree Fine Motor Mat Printables has tree template, tree tracing, tree dot markers and tree playdough mats for kids to use. It is great for spring trees and fall trees.
Yarn Green Tree Craft is a fun tree out of green yarn. We used light and dark green yarn and then made this fun tree for Arbor Day.
Watercolor Process Art Green Tree is a great Arbor day painting for kids. You can mix watercolors and see the color spread in the tree. A fun painting idea for Earth Day as well.
Check out all the fun Sensory Bin Activities on 3 Dinosaurs.
