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Home » preschool » Wetlands & Water Play Sensory Bins for Science

Wetlands & Water Play Sensory Bins for Science

Crafts and Activities

This post may contain affiliate links, view my disclosure policy.
 

I LOVE using sensory play to strengthen what we learn in science like this Wetlands & Water Play Water Sensory bin. It’s a great way to learn on multiple platforms and levels! Plus it’s easy to change up and alter slightly giving the kids a whole new sensory bin to play with!

Wetlands Water Play with Ellie the Explorer: Water Sensory Bins

My daughter is 3 years old and this is SUCH a fun age! Everything is a new adventure for her and she just LOVES learning and exploring! Frogs and dinosaurs have been some of her favorite animals lately so I decided to put together several different frog sensory bins for her to play with.

This is a fun way to incorporate learning numbers, colors and letters too! 

Water Play Sensory Bin Material Suggestions:

Container
Water

Optional:
rocks
water beads
animal toys
moss
scoops/cups
faux grass
ice
dirt / sand
food coloring
craft foam (for lily pads)

Wetlands Water Play with Ellie the Explorer: Water Sensory Play

The great thing about water play is that you can absolutely do it indoors and outdoors – no matter what the weather is like! Since it’s still winter and quite cold here we decided to feature indoor water play bins. I stopped in at the dollar store and picked up a bunch of supplies and ordered the rest (like faux grass and water beads) on Amazon.

The same container for water play can be changed to different habitats and animals OR you can pick up different containers dedicated to each habitat! (rainforest, ocean, etc.)

Wetlands Water Play with Ellie the Explorer: Water Sensory Play

I had been saving a good sized bag of water beads to fill my daughter’s sand & water table with when the weather warmed up but I grabbed a handful to use with our sensory bins! She went CRAZY over these water beads! If your kids are older you can use water beads to represent algae, tadpoles, or anything else you’re studying!

Wetlands Water Play with Ellie the Explorer: Water Sensory Play

We made several different habitat bins. The first was our river sensory bin! I used green craft foam and cut out a circle, then cut a small pie shaped wedge out to create lily pads. On the bottom of the lily pads I write numbers on to incorporate counting and math games.

Wetlands Water Play with Ellie the Explorer: Water Sensory Play

The awesome thing about the craft foam is that is floats on water and the Sharpie marker on the bottom doesn’t rub off when it gets wet! We started out playing with just the water, rocks, lily pads and frogs. This sensory bin above (minus the lily pads) was great play with an otter and/or a seal! You can add some sand too to make it more realistic!

Wetlands Water Play with Ellie the Explorer: Water Sensory Bins

When my daughter seemed to be tiring of it then I added the water beads! That provided hours more fun and she has been constantly going back to her water play bin every single day to play.

Wetlands Water Play with Ellie the Explorer: Water Sensory Play

Once we get a bigger container (or use her sand & water table) I picked up these larger ocean animals to play with!

Wetlands Water Play with Ellie the Explorer: Water Sensory Play

Next we decided to move on to the rainforest! This Rainforest Sensory bin is super fun because it provides an additional sensory experience – moss! The moss is squishy and weird feeling for little kids and provides a great exploration for older kids. I used the poison dart from our TOOB and added a few smooth river stones too.

TIP: Take a plastic cup and poke small holes in the bottom. Then fill it with water and you have created rain as the water pours out of the bottom! 

 

 

 

Other Water Play Sensory Bin Ideas:

Penguins – water, container, penguins, blue food dye & ice!
Ocean – water, container, seashells, salt, sand, animals, boat, blue food dye
Swamp – water, container, moss, alligator, fish, sticks, water beads, green food dye
Cranberry Bog – water, container, moss, cranberries, turkey baster (for adding and removing water)
Pond/Lake – water, container, fish, sand/dirt, boat, lily pads, sticks, water beads

 

After watching Ellie the Explorer on the Wild Brain YouTube channel and learning about wetlands we decided to make some wetlands of our own!! This fun water play sensory bin was made with a container and toys from the dollar store, water beads, and water of course! #ad #ontheblog #ellietheexplorer #wildbrain #sensory #sensoryplay #preschool #totschool #water #waterplay #educational #education #handson #learning #sensorybin #animals #nature #momlife #teach #edutainment #play #fun #kids

A post shared by Crystal Rapinchuk (@theteacherswife) on Feb 25, 2018 at 10:17am PST

Another FUN WildBrain Video we Love:

Head over to WildBrain right NOW! 

Looking for even MORE sensory ideas for kids? Check out the Sensory Ideas for Kids Facebook page or:

Sensory Ideas for Kids GROUP

Sensory Ideas for Babies GROUP

 

Share with your friends!

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Shared by Crystal @ Surviving a Teacher's Salary

Comments

  1. Annie says

    March 3, 2018 at 9:22 am

    This is such a good idea. I have a granddaughter that would love learning about wetlands by using these ideas. Thank you!

    Reply
  2. sian ryan says

    March 3, 2018 at 11:02 am

    What a fantastic idea with so many possibilities!! This would keep my niece entertained for hours

    Reply
  3. Cia Black says

    March 3, 2018 at 1:14 pm

    This is fabulous and one I’m going to have to share with a toddler time coordinator. I think the children will love to have this available for them in the water table.

    Reply
  4. Quirky Homemaker says

    March 4, 2018 at 1:18 pm

    These are great ideas for water sensory bins. Love all of the different ideas you’ve listed. My kids are too old for these now, but I’ve loved that you’ve listed different video ideas for older children.

    Reply
  5. Noelle Lynne says

    March 4, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    What a wonderful idea, my niece would really really love this! Going to pass this along to my sister and hopefully she will do it when the little one is old enough!

    Reply
  6. Jennifer Prince says

    March 4, 2018 at 8:21 pm

    This is such a great idea! And I am sure it would keep the kids entertained for hours and be fairly inexpensive, too. So fun!

    Reply
  7. Miljana says

    March 5, 2018 at 5:01 am

    Yesterday, my son and I were giving bath to animal toys too. 🙂 They love this game so much! Anything with water – and they can play forever…

    Reply
  8. Melinda says

    March 5, 2018 at 5:01 am

    What great, fun ideas! As a homeschooling mom I’m always looking for ways to make learning more hands-on. I love the idea of the sensory one!

    Reply
  9. Journa Ramirez says

    March 5, 2018 at 9:10 am

    Perfect way to let your kids learn and play at the same time! I’ll let my children play with these!

    Reply
  10. Doreen Pinto says

    March 5, 2018 at 9:17 am

    Looks fun especially for kids. Great way to keep them busy and learn a skill at the same time.

    Reply
  11. Kelly Edgar says

    March 5, 2018 at 9:21 am

    I love this! What a great idea, a great way to explore and learn about animals and the environment, my nephews and nieces would love this 😀

    Reply
  12. Elizabeth O says

    March 5, 2018 at 10:25 am

    I love this creative idea, it is great for sensory processing and learning through play.

    Reply
  13. Razena says

    March 5, 2018 at 11:04 am

    This looks like so much fun, especially the frog bin. What is the minimum age for this because I have a niece who is little over a year old now.

    Reply
    • Crystal @ Surviving a Teacher's Salary says

      March 5, 2018 at 11:13 am

      The biggest concern would be little ones putting things in their mouth and choking. You could skip the moss and rocks and just do the large toys with water!

      Reply
  14. Lisa Rios says

    March 5, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    This is a great idea! I remember when I was younger I loved water beads LOL… this looks like a great learning tool, it’s important to get them started early with math

    Reply
  15. Twinspirational says

    March 5, 2018 at 4:32 pm

    What a fun activity. Our niece and nephew would love this. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  16. Jazmine says

    March 7, 2018 at 12:32 am

    Great fun ideas, il be sure to try them out with my kids. Thanks.

    Reply
  17. Angel says

    March 7, 2018 at 10:52 am

    What a great idea for little ones! Fun and educational at the same time.

    Reply

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My name is Crystal - I am the passion behind the site and I am so glad you've stopped by! Whether you're a teacher or parent you'll find educational crafts, reviews, deals, printables and other great resources! Read More..
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