Number Hunt Math Sensory Bin

You’ve got to try this math sensory bin!

There are two things my daughter loves: rice, and things buried in rice.

It’s become a running theme at my house – burying various items in rice – and today, we found another “toy” we could hide in our beloved rice bin. And that, my friends, is how this easy math sensory bin was created.

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I bet you have all the supplies to make this!

There’s nothing I love more than seeing an activity online and having all the ingredients to try it right then and there.

I bet you can do that with this super easy toddler activity.

Materials:

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• Small storage container
• 2lbs or so of rice
• Construction paper
• Playing cards

Let me tell you a little something about playing cards

Cards are magic to toddlers. Heck, they’re magic to all kids and perfect for activities. Don’t over look the power of a simple deck of cards!

A deck of cards is such a versatile item: the numbers, the shapes, the counting, the sorting, oh the math! See? Playing cards are amazing.

My simple little set up

I grabbed a deck of cards and pulled out the numbers 2-10. Aces are confusing to toddlers so we’ll just forget about then for today. I repeated this step again – I wanted to hide TWO sets of 2-10.

In the storage container, I poured in a bag of rice then buried my cards. [ps: I save this rice – it’s actually about six months old. It’s one of my sensory bin basics and I always have it on hand.]

Alongside the container, I set a “key”: I wrote the numbers 2-10 of construction paper sheets so my daughter (2.5 years old) could keep track of which numbers she had found.

This activity was perfectly challenging for her

My daughter (2.5 years old) is doing great with her numbers, counting and recognizing them but once we go past 5… things get a little hairy.

That’s why this activity was so great.

It let us work with bigger numbers together, counting and learning together, and in a fun play-based way. Play-based learning is where it’s at.

I didn’t drill and kill, we didn’t use any flash cards, I just helped and encouraged when she got stuck – that number 9 is a tricky guy!

And what did she do when she was done?

Well, first, she played it again. Set it up herself and buried the cards on her own. How cute is that?

Then she just played with the numbers in the rice. She played with the numbers. This was such a valuable activity for her – to interact, play and learn with the numbers in such a simple, but engaging way. Because…playing cards are magic.

I’m so glad my daughter loved this activity so much – of course she would! It’s everything she loves all in one activity. It’s so important to tailor your activities to what your toddler loves –  for us, rice and burying things…we do it all day long around here!

Will you try this easy math sensory bin with your toddler?