St. Patrick’s Day Sensory Bin
Can you find all of the colors to make a rainbow? Kids will go on a fun rainbow search with this festive St. Patrick’s Day sensory bin!
Hello Crafty Friends! Today I’m excited to share a cute sensory bin activity for St. Patrick’s Day. Sensory bins have always been a favorite in our house – especially for holidays. This particular St. Patrick’s Day sensory bin has made its appearance no less than 5 times over the years! My youngest still looks forward to it each year!
When my kids were younger, preschool age, we did this sensory bin as a rainbow search and it was the cutest activity! Today I’m finally sharing the printables I created. This rainbow hunt can be done any time of year but is an especially fun activity for St. Patrick’s Day.
The printables feature a checklist for with each color and the number of pom-poms they will need to find to make their rainbow. It’s a fun opportunity for counting, color recognition, reading (if your child is at ready) and more. After all of the pom-poms have been found in the sensory bin, the child can complete the rainbow by adding them to the worksheet!
How to Make a St. Patrick’s Day Sensory Bin
Supplies Needed:
- Free rainbow printables – Grab the free files by filling out the purple form at the end of this post.
- Rainbow-colored pom-poms
- I used these POP! 1/2″ Tinsel Poms. They have a great texture but can be more difficult to set down on the rainbow worksheet. These Pom-Poms on Amazon also look like they include all of the rainbow colors and are softer. Since true indigo can be tricky to find, look for a set that includes a light and dark blue.
- Sensory bin filler
- Green crinkle paper also called paper shred. I mixed a few bags together with different colors of green. You can find it lots of placed like Party City, Joann Fabrics, or Amazon. How much you need will depend on the size of your bin. It does spread out quite a bit once fluffed up!
- Plastic pot of gold buckets – fun to collect the pom-poms in!
- Toys (optional) – look around your house for rainbow or St. Patrick’s Day themed items. I sometimes add rainbow rings and gold coins to ours.
- Plastic Bin
- My favorite sizes for sensory bins are the Sterilite Clip Storage 11″x14″ bin that are great for table top activities or a long 41 QT under the bed storage bin that is perfect for the floor. I like that it is shallow and long, perfect for multiple children!
- Glue – optional, for gluing pom-poms to the rainbow
Choosing a Size for the Sensory Bin
This sensory bin can be made as large or small as you want, depending on how many kids plan to do it. I have made it in a small 14″x11″ bin, as well as a larger under-the-bed storage bin. These are my go-to sizes for sensory bins. The smaller size is perfect for the table or floor and 1 child. It’s easy to quickly put away and bring out when your child is ready to play.
Under-the-bed storage bins are great because they are long and shallow – making it easy for children to play at. They are also great when multiple children will be playing at the same time. We have one under-the-bed storage bin that is designated for sensory bins. I keep multiple fillers in smaller bins in a cupboard and just pour them into the large bin when my children are ready to play.
Setting up the Sensory Bin
Setting this bin up is nice and simple once you have the supplies!
- Pour the filler in the bin and fluff up the crinkle paper. It will grow in size once fluffed up!
- Hide the rainbow pom-poms among the crinkle paper.
- Print the free rainbow search printables.
- Optional – add cute toys like green cauldrons or rainbow rings.
- Cut out the rainbow list using a scissors or paper trimmer.
Hide the exact number of rainbow pom-poms needed to make the rainbow to make it more challenging or hide lots of pom-poms in each color. After my child did the activity, I poured all the pom-poms in and she had fun playing with them.
How to do the Rainbow Search!
Now the fun part! Give the child (or children) the list and ask them to search in the sensory bin for the rainbow colors. The list lets them know what color pom-pom to find and how many of each color are needed. My little ones likes using the green cauldrons to collect pom-poms. Hiding other objects in amongst the pom-poms can make it extra fun. We had these cute rainbow and shamrock rings leftover from cupcakes that I hid inside the crinkle paper.
Once they find all of the pom-poms needed, they can complete the rainbow. Kids can glue the pom-poms down, which is great glue practice. Remember to repeat, “Just a dot, not a lot” if your kids are like mine who love to go crazy with the glue. When they were really little I sometimes added the glue dots myself and they would place the pom-pom. Another fun way to practice fine motor skills!
If you don’t want to glue the pom-poms down to the rainbow they can set them in place. Once the rainbow is filled, pour the pom-poms back in the sensory bin, mix it up and let them play.
I hope you enjoyed this cute sensory bin activity! Sensory bins have been such a huge hit with my children over the years, especially my youngest, who could spend an afternoon playing with one. Since she loved them so much I had a lot of fun coming up with cute activities that could be incorporated with sensory bins. I thought I would start posting some of the activities we did and sharing the printables :)
Get the Free St. Patrick’s Day Sensory Bin Files!
Fill out the purple form below with your first name and email address! The free file will be sent straight to your inbox! If you have already filled out the form below, don’t worry – you won’t be added to my list twice! This freebie is for personal use only. I hope you enjoy crafting something special. Please let me know if you have any questions :)