Coffee and Flower Sensory Bin

My preschool students, my babysitting kiddos, and Engineer all enjoyed this coffee and flower sensory bin! A sensory bin with flowers and pretend dirt isn’t a new concept by any means, but all of my kiddos enjoyed our little “twist” on it.

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Flower Sensory Bin Materials

To set up this sensory play experience, I searched through my supply closet for some inspiration. And the children sure were happy I did! I found everything I needed from previous activities and from the kitchen cabinets.

Here’s what we used (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):

Both at home and at school, the children came right over to check out the sensory bin. A few asked me what I was doing, but most of them delved right in! I didn’t give an explanation beyond, “here are some things I thought you might like to play with”. I wanted to see what the children would do without any preconceived notions.

I rather enjoyed sitting back and just observing the kids as they played.

I saw children just playing with the play dough, squishing it in their hands.
Some of the children pushed the flowers directly into the play dough.
A few children set about adding beans to the play dough in a detailed manner, one-by-one.
Still others took lumps of play dough and rolled the play dough in the beans.
Quite a few of the kiddos enjoyed placing their hands and arms in the bin of beans over and over again.

I definitely had fun listening to the children as they explored the materials, too.

“I don’t like how this smells! It’s yucky!”
“Why do these beans look different than the other beans?”
“Oh, my mommy drinks coffee in the mornings.”
“I’m making a giant flower in the play dough.”
“Look, it’s an alligator!”
“Hey, listen while I pour them all out!”

Even though this was an incredibly simple activity, I loved it for a variety of reasons. The kids all had fun with the coffee and flower bin, which is the most important reason to me. 🙂 Beyond that, it allowed them to explore using their eyes, their hands, their noses, and their ears. The bin included different textures, especially when comparing the play dough and the beans. What about you? Have you done something like this with your kids before? How did they like it?

If you’re interested in more flower ideas, please check out my Flowers & Plants Pinterest Board.

Shared at Empty Your Archive Party, Creative Learning, Link & Learn, The Kids Co-op, Crayon Freckles’ 60+ Sensory Bin Ideas for Preschoolers, Discover & Explore: Flowers

Preschool Gardening and Outdoor Tools

One of the most important things we can allow young children to explore, in my opinion, is the great outdoors. Whether that means letting the children explore the woods by the preschool, the mulch around the playground, the field of grass outside, or the school garden, the children will get so much out of exploring natural things.

With that in mind, I’ve created a list of some great items to keep on hand for your class of little outdoors people. Some of them are on the pricier side, but they can be used for years to come! Check out the list below.

I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Done-for-You Preschool Resources

Planning meaningful lessons for students week after week while balancing other teaching responsibilities and a personal life can be a daunting task. That’s where Preschool Teacher 101 comes in to save you time!

Preschool Teacher 101 has created some amazing preschool lesson and activity plans that will be perfect for your classroom. Click on the images below to learn more about some of our hands-on lesson plans!