Toss out the sand – make an Animal World Sensory Bin today.
I’m just not a sand box kind of gal. Actually, let me correct that. I’m a sand box gal minus the sand because I can make one heckuva fun activity in our sand table – like this Animal World Sensory Bin.
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Grab a shovel.
You’ll need a shovel to start this activity – doesn’t that sound reasonable?
I went to our backyard where our beloved never-used-for-sand sand table lives. I dumped out the water that had been part of yesterday’s play and started filling it up with dirt instead.
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Not fancy dirt.
Just the same, normal dirt that my children play with every day in our backyard.
But then I did something a little extra…
I started pulling weeds. You know, the same weeds I should be pulling all the time but actually never have time to get to.
Those same weeds…I pulled them up and added them to the now dirt-filled-sand table as “trees” and “plants” for the animals.
Last step: add the animals
The last step for this Animal World Sensory Bin was to add in my daughter’s animals.
Some kids how outdoor trucks to play with.
She has outdoor animal toys specific to her outside play.
They aren’t anything fancy – many are from the dollar store – but they are loved and that’s what matters.
I set the animals in the table amid the dirt and weeds as an “invitation to play” – a small world set up specifically tailored to my four-year-old.
She played with her Animal World Sensory Bin for A WEEK
This simple set up lasted ONE WEEK at our house.
Everyday, I found her back in this animal world having some deep imaginary play with those animals. More was added to the table eventually: some rocks, water for drinking, and a few construction vehicles because #obviously.
What if your child isn’t into animals?
I picked animals for this dirt bin small world because that’s what my daughter likes.
It’s so important to tailor activities to the taste of the child because (say it with me) ALL KIDS ARE DIFFERENT.
It would be crazy to think they’d all like the same set up.
Maybe your child is into cars or construction trucks or Little People or Hatchimals.
Find what they love and build a world around that. You don’t have to do the exact same thing as that blogger you get activity ideas from (wink).
The Animal World Sensory Bin was …. Out of this World!
What a perfect use for our “no sand table sand table”. This made exactly the kind of play world that my daughter craves.
Turns out her love language is dirt and plastic animals – but of course, I already knew that.
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