Time to break out your cozy sweaters & all things pumpkin spice…fall is here! Do you know what you’re putting in your fall sensory bin yet? Keep reading to learn all about setting up an Apple Pie sensory bin for your preschool & pre-k littles. This fall sensory bin is easy & fun…plus there’s a freebie included at the end of this post!
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THE IMPORTANCE OF SENSORY PLAY
Sensory play is so important for our little ones’ brain development. We want to stimulate their senses of touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing as they explore the world around them.
Sensory play comes very naturally to preschoolers, and it allows them to play, create, investigate, & explore!
As both a preschool teacher & mom, I LOVE setting up new sensory bins to go along with our theme, season, or holiday. This gives my preschoolers the chance to explore different materials and tools while also building, creating, & playing make-believe with their friends!
Keep reading to see how to set up our favorite fall sensory bin that your preschooler is sure to love!
Looking for some hands-on fall activities to practice math & literacy skills? Check out this post!
APPLE PIE SENSORY BIN FOR PRESCHOOLERS
This Apple Pie sensory bin is a classic for a reason…it’s a blast to play with! This one is super easy to set up because it only requires a few supplies (which you might already have in your pantry!)
Supplies:
- Rolled oats
- Small pie pans
- Cinnamon sticks
- Red and green pom poms
- Measuring cups and spoons
Directions:
- Choose the bin you’re going to be using for your sensory play. We use this IKEA FLISAT table in my class. It’s the best!
- Pour your oats into the bin, then add real cinnamon sticks.
- Add red and green pom poms as the apples. If you have fake apples, feel free to use those, too!
- Then add measuring cups, spoons, and pie pans, and let your little ones start making their pie-licious creations!
Does this Apple Pie sensory bin get messy?
It sure does!
BUT…I can’t tell you how long my preschoolers were entertained by it. They were obsessed & it was totally worth the mess (which really wasn’t bad to clean up…thank goodness for vacuums!)
What I love most about this experience is that my students were practicing so many important skills without even knowing it.
Just from this one Apple Pie sensory bin, my preschoolers were:
- Working on fine motor skills
- Developing oral language
- Using rich vocabulary words
- Working on measurement
- Comparing & contrasting
- Sorting & differentiating
- Creating patterns
- Working on executive functioning skills
- Showing respect for materials
- Showing interest in trying new things
- Sustaining attention
- Expressing opinions & ideas
- Using their imagination to generate play ideas
- Connecting to prior knowledge
- And MORE!
These skills come directly from this Pre-K Goals freebie, which is what I want my preschoolers to know & be able to do by the end of Pre-K. I love that this fall sensory bin gives them the chance to practice so many skills at once!
Want to pair this sensory bin with a great fall-themed book? Check out this post!
APPLE PIE SENSORY BIN FOR TODDLERS
This fall sensory bin isn’t just for preschoolers…it entertains littles of all ages! My toddler son (18 months) LOVED playing with this sensory bin. It kept his attention for over 30 minutes!
He was scooping, pouring, using his fine motor skills to pick up the pom poms, smelling the cinnamon sticks, and more!
If you try this sensory bin with your toddlers, please make sure you’re with them the entire time…adult supervision is required to make sure they stay safe!
APPLE PIE SENSORY BIN FOR OLDER KIDS
I know many of us believe in the magic of sensory bins, but for some reason, people tend to think they’re only for toddlers or preschoolers. That’s SO not true!
My 6 year old daughter LOVED playing with this Apple Pie sensory bin! Together we made different types of pies, and she created names for each one like “Cinnamon Apple” and “Red Delicious.”
Then we opened our own pie shop in the living room called “Mommy and Daughter Pie-ilicious Pies.” She priced each pie and had to figure out how to make change for her customers (aka my husband and son!), plus she designed the posters to hang up in our shop. We had a blast making memories & learning together!
EXTEND THE LEARNING
This fall sensory bin is great as it is, but you can also extend the learning by adding other academic skills to it. Here’s a fun fall freebie that helps preschoolers work on numbers 1-10. One idea is to have them use their apple pom poms to fill in each ten frame.
This activity (along with all of our freebies!) can be downloaded from the Free Activity Library. If you’re already a member of our email community, you can click HERE to head to the Free Activity Library, enter your password (it’s on your most current email from me), and download your copy!
If you’d like to join our email community & receive the password as my way of saying THANK YOU for joining, you can click HERE to subscribe. Once you enter your information, the password will be emailed to you within minutes.
Do your littles love playing with sensory bins? Do you have any fall sensory bin ideas to share? I’d love to hear them! Comment below or find me on Instagram [@littleslovelearningblog] and let me know!
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Looking for more ideas for sensory play? Click HERE to check out all of our SENSORY posts!
Looking for more activities for the fall? How about other seasons of the year? Click HERE to see all of our posts that go along with the seasons!
Happy Learning!
