These spring sensory bins are engaging ideas to add to your spring activities for preschoolers and kindergarten kids! The colors and the themes are sure to entice young kids to play and learn.
You’ll find a variety of spring sensory bin ideas below, centered around all things spring. Butterflies, worms, and flowers are just a few of the concepts the spring sensory activities touch on.
Some of the bins are super easy to set up, while others take a little bit more planning and prep. But all of the spring-themed sensory bins can be tweaked based on the interests and needs of your students. AND you can explore a wide variety of early learning skills with the spring sensory fun.
This collection of spring sensory bins offers a wealth of rich sensory experiences that have a multitude of benefits! There are individual links for each idea. So sort through the list and choose a few favorites. Then follow those links to find specific information about each individual activity.
Table of Contents
What are the Benefits of Sensory Bins?
Open-ended activities are so great for young children. They are free to play and explore as they see fit, learning about things that interest them as they go.
Sensory bins are the ideal open-ended activity. They give kids the opportunity to use their senses to learn about the world around them. And they’re the perfect example of a self-guided learning experience.
On top of all of this, sensory bins can promote a multitude of early learning concepts and skills. Here are a few things the kids can practice and learn with the spring sensory bins:
- Sensory exploration
- Colors
- Visual perception and discrimination
- Cause and effect
- Counting
- Patterns
- Letter/number identification
- Imaginative play
- Self-regulation techniques
The list above just barely scratches the surface. There are so many things the kids can learn with sensory bins. Especially if you change them up with various themes throughout the year!
Spring Materials for Sensory Bins
Here are some items you can keep on-hand in preparation for creating your own spring sensory bins (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):
- Flowers, leaves, and sticks
- Dry beans
- Artificial flowers
- Plastic eggs
- Feathers
- Aquarium pebbles
- Rocks
- Artificial flower petals
- Water
- Soil
- Liquid watercolors
- Dry pasta
- Flat glass marbles
- Kids tongs
- Scoops
Now, this list is only a few things that I have found useful for my students. You can probably take a look in your supply closet and come up with a list of your preferred go-to spring materials!
Spring Sensory Bins
There are so many topics that relate to spring – too many to list out! So, with that in mind, I’ve decided to split the list of spring sensory bins into two main sections: animals and plants/flowers. New life and new growth! The perfect depiction of spring.
Spring Animals Sensory Bins
Let’s kick the spring sensory bins off with some animal-themed ideas!
Engage the kids in water play, and talk about pond life, with a super simple pond sensory bin!
Use the counting caterpillars spring sensory bin to practice math and fine motor skills.
Put together a chicken sensory bin after reading all about the chicken life cycle.
Create a soft and fuzzy bee sensory bin as part of an insect or bee unit.
Explore the lifecycle of a butterfly with this engaging butterfly sensory bin. You can see it in action here:
Use natural materials to set up an insect small world that the kids are sure to love!
Create a rabbit sensory bin and carrot patch around Easter, or as part of a preschool rabbit theme.
Add printable ladybug letter puzzles to colored rice for a literacy twist.
Encourage the kids’ love of all things messy with a wiggly worm sensory play activity! Cater to those who don’t enjoy messy play by filling a gallon bag with sensory materials for the kids to squish.
Work on some important early math skills while meeting students’ sensory needs with the spring robin sensory bin.
Spring Plants and Flowers Sensory Bins
From plant growth to blossoming flowers, this section is dedicated to the new growth of spring.
Scalloped baking cups make such cute containers in the alphabet flower sensory bin. And writing letters on rocks is a genius idea for literacy practice!
Kids can spend hours in the water playing with bubbles. And that’s why this scented spring sensory bin needs a place in your rotation of sensory play ideas. The olfactory input adds something special to this easy water play idea!
The carrot garden sensory bin is a great choice for a variety of preschool themes. But this combination of colors and textures is perfect for spring!
Flower sensory soup is a simple water play activity. But simple activities always end up being some of the kids’ favorite. And they leave room for lots of creativity!
The spring garden sensory tub is full of lots of sensory materials for the kids to explore. It reminds me of a rock garden – in the best way!
There’s something so enticing about getting your hands dirty in some fresh soil! And that’s why kids will love digging their hands into this garden messy play activity!
Gather some flower petals, and leaves from the garden or a bouquet (preferably nearing its last days). The petals, leaves, buds, and stems make the best ingredients for your flower soup!
Mini pots, popsicle stick flowers, and flower sequins round out the materials list for the cutest spring-themed sensory bin.
The gardening for numbers sensory bin is great for practicing number identification and counting skills. It teaches students how math skills are important to so many practical things, even gardening!
Which ideas are you most excited to try with students? Be sure to share your class’ spring sensory bin experiences with us in the comments below!
Even More Spring Activities for Kids
These spring sensory bin ideas are going to be so much fun for your class. But they might need a few other spring resources to round out daily lessons.
Here are some of my favorite spring-inspired activity ideas:
- Spring Handprint Art
- Flower Painting with Marshmallows
- Flower Sensory Bottles
- Leaf Veins Experiment
- Spring Math Activities
- Fine Motor Activities for Spring
- Spring Cutting Strips
There is such a wide variety of spring activity ideas out there! Take some time to sort through them to find activities that will work best for your specific group of students. And it’s probably best if they fit nicely into your teaching style as well!
Spring Lesson Plans for Early Childhood Classrooms
Having the ability to help shape a kid’s love of learning as a preschool teacher is the highest honor. It is such a rewarding career. Preschool Teacher 101 can make it even more rewarding by taking back your personal life with less planning to do! We have hundreds of done-for-you preschool products, including lesson plans, activity packs, classroom resources, and more!
Explore spring through a variety of engaging lessons spanning from literacy and reading to math and science lessons. Click on the image below to learn more about our Spring Lesson Plans.
If the Spring Lesson Plans product interests you, take a look at these other preschool resources, perfect for learning about the new life and new growth that comes along with spring. Click on the images below to learn more about each product.
Do these products seem like they’d be a good match for your teaching style? If so, consider a Preschool Teacher 101 membership. Members get regular access to our products at a steeply discounted rate!
You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers.
