More than 50 of our favourite non-food items to add to your sensory bins to encourage rich hands-on play in Early Childhood.
Many of you already know how much we love using sensory bins for play but sometimes it's just not practical to use food stuffs as a sensory bin base. It might be because you're in a classroom setting with too many germy hands or because it attracts pests but this doesn't mean your children have to miss out on rich sensory play, it just means looking for non-food alternatives.
Here you will find more than 50 of our favourite materials for non-food sensory play that are simple to find and store along with a FREE printable poster to keep you inspired!
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Of course, cooking with your kids is a fantastic way to experience hands-on play with food in a respectful manner.
1. PLAY DOUGH
Some preschoolers may disagree but play dough is not food. It does allows for plenty of different ways to play. Why not set up a pretend environment to encourage play? A handful of Schleich animals and your preschooler will want to play all afternoon.
2. PAPER PULP
Paper pulp is easy to make from recycled shredded paper and provides such a rich sensory experience. You can't help but touch it and mush it together again and again it's feathery texture is so inviting. It's a great way to stay cool on hot days too.Why not make some of your own paper after play? Here's how to make your own paper.
3. CLEAN MUD
Or try making some clean mud. It's silker than paper pulp and can be turned into beautiful artwork after play making it a more sustainable choice of material than some.
4. ROCK SALT
Rock salt is available in bulk and was perfect for creating this 'Frozen' inspired terrain. We need to create a suitable setting for our DIY Anna and Elsa.
5. ROCKS
Rocks we love! Easy to find, simple to store but so many different ways to play. Perfect for making invitations to play! Check out these DIY projects to try.
6. KINETIC SAND
Kinetic sand is a new favourite here. Expensive to buy but ours has lasted well and no-one can keep their hands out of it! And it so versatile, we keep finding new ways to play with our supply.
7. SOAPY BUBBLES
We loved recreating these rainbow soapy bubbles like Fun At Home With Kids.
8. SHAVING FOAM
Shaving cream - so simple and the clean-up is surprisingly easy considering the mess. Play with just the foam or add some food colours to turn it into paint.
Hot weather? Shaving cream and ice are a great way to spend a hot afternoon.
9. ICE + SHAVING FOAM
10. JUST ICE
11. FAKE SNOW
Fake snow offers another alternative for warm weather days. Add some glass gems and some animals to recreate to Arctic small world.
12. FABRIC SCRAPS
Use some fabric scraps to create your own small world like Little World Big Adventures has done to create their day at the beach.
13. PAINT
14. FOUND OBJECTS
15. SHREDDED PAPER
16. BIRDSEED
Again this one was super easy to clean up when played outside and the birdseed made such a lovely sound being poured from one container to another.
17. CUT STRAWS
This sensory bin filler proved a big hit with my students. With many still learning how to use scissors correctly, I had created a cutting invitation using plastic straws not realising that that cut straws would prove to be the perfect sensory base for many other invitations in class. They feel lovely running through your hands and make a lovely sound too.
18. I SPY OBJECTS
All of the objects in our I Spy sensory bin were chosen to build math rich language during our play.
19. SLIME
Slime can be used as a based for your sensory bins and the choices of what can be added to your basic slime recipe is endless. Little Bins for Little Hands is my go to place when it comes to slime recipes like their rainbow slime.
20. POM POMS
Possibly the quietest of all the sensory bin materials to chose. Perfect for promoting early maths skills and building language as shared by Let Them Be Little.
21. WOODEN BEADS
This might take a while to collect this many wooden beads but just imagine the type of play it would encourage! I love this idea from Rubberboots and Elf Shoes.
22. WATER BEADS
Another quiet sensory rich material to try except for the squeals of delight when children start to play!
Just add water and watch with amazement as the water beads grow and grow right before your eyes. These things are super bouncy and shouldn't be used around any child still prone to mouthing objects.
They are a fantastic sensory material for play as And Next Comes L shows us.
23. WATER BEAD + SHAVING FOAM
Adding water beads to our shaving foam made for the perfect invitation to pretend as you can see from our icecream sundaes we made.
24. SAND + SHAVING FOAM
This sand foam recipe from Paging Fun Mums is simple enough to get your kids making it.
25. AUTUMN LEAVES
Use what the seasons provide and add some Autumn leaves to your sensory play. Picklebums did just that with engaging results.
What has been your favourite non-food base for sensory play? There really is more that could be in this list - shells, glass gems, fresh glass clippings, sand, pop beads, mud, water, lids, buttons, cotton wool, tinsel, bells, fake jewels, petals, packing peanuts, coloured sand.... What would you add?
We created this helpful FREE printable to keep as inspiration in your classroom!
You can grab your copy here.
