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It’s Harvest Time! This Fall Sensory Bin is an easy and affordable way to entertain and engage toddlers and preschoolers this season, and it only takes about 5 minutes to put together!
Sensory bins are such a great way to keep the little ones busy! You can tailor the activitiy to suit your child’s interests, or choose a theme based on an upcoming holiday or season. By pulling together a bunch of different objects in a variety of shapes, colors, textures, and sizes, it offers an opportunity for even the youngest children to explore, learn about a topic, and have fun while doing so!
Since we live in a rural community in Central Virginia’s Piedmont region, late-summer/early-fall definitely means Harvest Season!
The kids have had fun watching the tractors baling and moving hay on the surrounding farms, we’ve gone apple picking at the nearby orchard more than once, and on Monday of this week (while Gibbs was at school) we visited our neighbor’s dairy farm to watch them filling the silos with the harvested corn.
Spencer and Rebekah
With that in mind, I collected as many appropriate (and affordable) items as I could grab on our quick run through the craft store last week. So what went into my box?
I filled the base of my plastic bin with a combination of straw and corn kernels. Use your judgment here: if your child is really young or if you have a kiddo who likes to put little things in his mouth, you should probably skip the corn, which could be a choking hazard. Plain straw would work just fine on its own!
The tractor, which we already had on hand, was the biggest hit (no surprise)!
Fall-colored pom-poms (pumpkins? hay bales? apples? whatever!);
felt and foam fall-shaped stickers (pumpkins, leaves, etc.);
fake leaves from the 40% off bin in the floral department;
and little pinecones.
Even big brother Casey joined in for a few minutes.
And just as Spence was pushing his tractor along the table on the front porch…
look what drove past! I had to snap a picture…such perfect timing!
And it made this little guy very happy!
[Tweet “Cheap and easy independent #play for #toddlers: a Fall Sensory Bin!”]
Looking for other fun Fall activities? Check out these favorites:
 Fall Bingo
Autumn Tree Cork PaintingÂ
Candy Corn Counting GameÂ
What a fun idea! And your boys look like they’re having the best time playing and checking out the tractors! I can’t wait til fall starts to hit here…Phoenix thinks its still summer!
Thanks, Anna! Don’t get me wrong…we had a few cooler days, but this week it’s still 90 degrees. UGH!