Looking for a great way to use your sensory bin this holiday season? Making a Christmas Tree Sensory Bin is so much fun, and it has some amazing benefits for the little hands that engage with it! A new sensory bin full of Christmas decorations and bright green and red Christmas colors transforms playtime into a festive and educational experience.
In this article, we’ll guide you through creating an enchanting holiday-themed sensory activity and explore the developmental advantages it brings to your child’s play.
- Table Of Contents
How To Create A Christmas Tree Sensory Bin
Step 1)
Fill your sensory bin or tray with brown shredded paper
Step 2)
Use your hands to push some of the brown paper away to make an empty space shaped like a tree.
Step 3)
Fill the empty space with green shredded paper to make a tree shape.
Step 4)
Add a large bow or star-shaped toy on top of the green shredded paper tree.
Step 5)
Arrange pom poms, bells and scoopers beside your fun, sensory bin.
Step 6)
Play! You can either give your child some guided play ideas and ask them to decorate the tree with the items you’ve provided, OR let them explore the sensory bin, tools, and supplies on their own to see what they come up with for some imaginative play.
Materials Needed:
- Brown shredded paper
- Green shredded paper
- Large red bow
- Small red and white pom poms
- Green and red jingle bells
- Spoons
- Bowls
- Sensory tub, bin, tray or sensory table
- Optional Fine Motor Skill Tools:
- Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set
- (or child safe tongs and tweezers)
Variation Ideas
You can easily make some changes to this Christmas Tree Sensory Bin to suit your needs and ideas. Instead of shredded paper you could use brown raffia. You can also use dyed green rice, beans, or chickpeas for the center tree design.
To decorate the tree, you’re not limited to just pompoms and bells. You could use small bows, small plastic ornaments, cotton balls, mini candy canes, coiled pipe cleaners, or miniature Christmas light bulbs.
Tips Tricks and Guided Play Suggestions
If you’d like to give your kids some guided play suggestions, you can give them a cue like: here is a tree that’s almost ready for Christmas, see what kind of decorations you can put on it to help out!
Another guided play suggestion would be to ask the children to use utensils to help place the ornaments on the tree.
Alternatively you don’t have to give any suggestions at all, you can step back and let your children enjoy the wonder of the different textures, sounds and sights in this fun bin.
Adult supervision is advised. As always, make sure young children are only playing with this sensory activity when supervised. If you have any concerns about small pieces from this tactile experience ending up in a child’s mouth, monitor them closely or save this fun idea for older children.
8 Benefits of this Christmas Tree Sensory Bin
Sensory activities are not only a fun way for children to play, they have some huge benefits as well. Here are the top 8 benefits for children who play with this festive, sensory experience.
Sensory Development:
Engaging with the different textures of shredded paper, pom poms, and jingle bells promotes sensory exploration and tactile sensitivity.
The variety of materials in the sensory bin encourages children to use their sense of touch, enhancing their sensory processing skills.
Fine Motor Skills:
Manipulating small items like pom poms, jingle bells, or ornaments with utensils or hands improves fine motor skills.
The optional use of tools such as tongs and tweezers further refines fine motor control and coordination.
Creativity and Imagination:
Decorating the Christmas tree in the sensory bin fosters creativity as children use their imagination to arrange and design the tree with various ornaments and materials that they choose.
The open-ended play allows for limitless possibilities, encouraging creative thinking and expression.
Cognitive Development:
Organizing and arranging the decorations on the tree stimulates cognitive skills as children plan and make decisions about placement and design.
The guided play suggestions provide opportunities for cognitive growth by introducing challenges and problem-solving scenarios.
Language Development:
Through guided play and discussions about the Christmas Tree Sensory Bin, children can expand their vocabulary as they describe textures, colors, and shapes and more.
Verbal communication during collaborative play sessions enhances language skills and social interaction.
Independent Play and Exploration:
Allowing children to explore the sensory bin independently encourages self-directed play and builds confidence in decision-making.
Independence in play fosters a sense of autonomy and helps develop a child’s ability to entertain themselves.
Holiday-themed Learning:
Christmas themed sensory bins introduce holiday concepts in a hands-on and memorable way, connecting the activity to festive traditions.
Learning about colors, shapes, and holiday symbols adds an educational component to the play experience.
Social Interaction:
If the sensory bin is shared among siblings, classmates or friends, it provides opportunities for social interaction, collaboration, and the development of sharing and communication skills.
Final Thoughts
I hope your little ones love this fun Christmas sensory bin! Whether it’s your first time attempting to put together sensory bin activities or you’re a seasoned pro, this themed bin offers an excellent opportunity for fine motor practice and imaginative play.
The Christmas Tree Sensory Bin is the perfect addition to your holiday activities, bringing together the magic of the season with hands-on exploration.
Stick around Crafty Kids Play for more sensory play ideas and activities for this Christmas season, ensuring a season filled with joy, creativity, and memorable learning experiences for your little ones.
