Get into the Christmas spirit with a new sensory bin full of jingle bell fun! This cute Christmas sensory bin is a great way to keep little hands entertained and busy this holiday season.
Sensory play is not only a fun way for children to explore the holiday theme, but from the sound of jingle bells to the feeling of the different textures in this bin, it provides an immersive experience that engages multiple senses.
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How To Create A Jingle Bell Sensory Bin
Step 1) Add brown shredded paper to your sensory bin or tray.
Step 2) Add red and green pom poms to your sensory bin.
Step 3) Add red and green jingle bells.
Step 4) Mix your sensory bin contents together so the bells are ‘hiding’ in the shredded paper.
Step 5) Arrange a selection of bowls, spoons, play tweezers or tools alongside your sensory bin.
Step 6) Play!
Materials Needed
- Brown shredded paper
- Green and red pom poms
- Green and red 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)
Tips and Guided Play Suggestions
As you’re playing with your kids, ask open-ended questions to prompt conversation and imaginative thinking! Here are some examples:
- What colors do you see? (red, green, brown)
- We can sort the bells into two different bowls (red and green)
- What sound do the bells make?
- Can you dig with your fingers to find more red and green?
- Can you scoop and dig with a spoon to find more red and green?
You can ask older children to create a scene in the sensory bin once they’ve dug out all the red and green pom poms and bells. They could also make a smiley face with the loose parts or other shapes.
You can pair this activity with books, Christmas music like Jingle Bell Rock, musical instruments like jingle bell sticks, and crafts that use small bells.
Variation Ideas
There are lots of great ways to change up this sensory bin depending on your goals. It’s a very auditory-focused sensory bin with the crinkling sounds of shredded paper and the jingling bells. For tactile senses, the rough, textured paper is very different from the smooth bells and fuzzy pom poms.
If you’re looking to use something other than shredded paper in this bin, you could make finding the jingle bells more difficult by using a ton of pom poms instead. Visually, that will make it harder to find the bells and children will need to rely more on their sense of touch.
You could also use rice, chick peas or beans that have been dyed red and green to add to the festive feel of this bin. These additions are great for scooping and sifting activities. You can also add cotton balls, Christmas themed cookie cutters, pine cones, and cardboard tubes to this bin.
Pipe cleaners are another possible addition to this sensory activity. You can encourage your kids to make a jingle bell necklace and string them onto the pipe cleaners.
If you have different sizes of jingle bells, both large and small, you can add another fun activity like size-sorting to this Christmas themed sensory bin.
Benefits of this Jingle Bell Sensory Bin
Sensory Exploration:
Sense of Sound: The jingle bell sensory bin engages children in auditory exploration, allowing them to recognize and differentiate sounds produced by the bells.
Sensory Input: The varied textures of shredded paper, pom poms, and jingle bells provide diverse sensory experiences, stimulating touch and feel.
Tactile Stimulation: The contrasting textures of rough shredded paper, smooth jingle bells, and fuzzy pom poms offer tactile stimulation, promoting awareness and responsiveness to different tactile sensations.
Fine Motor Skills:
Hand-Eye Coordination: The activity encourages the development of hand-eye coordination as children use tools like spoons, tweezers, or their fingers to explore and manipulate the sensory materials.
Gross Motor Skills: Scooping, digging, and sorting the materials contribute to the enhancement of gross motor skills.
Pincer Grip Development: Using tools like child-safe tongs and tweezers encourages the development of the pincer grip, a crucial fine motor skill necessary for tasks such as writing and manipulating small objects.
Finger Strength: The act of scooping, digging, and sifting through the materials demands varying degrees of finger strength. This strengthens the muscles in the fingers and hands, promoting dexterity essential for activities like buttoning clothes and handling writing tools.
Creativity and Imagination:
The sensory bin sparks creativity and imagination in young children. Encouraging them to create scenes or shapes with the loose parts fosters imaginative thinking and self-expression.
Cognitive Development:
Color Recognition: Prompting questions about the colors present in the sensory bin enhances color recognition skills.
Sorting and Categorization: Sorting the jingle bells into different bowls based on color promotes cognitive development by introducing basic sorting and categorization concepts.
Focus: Engaging with the sensory bin, especially in activities like digging, scooping, and sorting, contributes to improved focus and concentration as children concentrate on specific tasks.
Social Interaction:
The activity provides an opportunity for social interaction when children collaborate on tasks such as sorting or creating scenes in the sensory bin while having a lot of fun. Open-ended questions further stimulate conversations and shared experiences.
Final Thoughts
This simple Jingle Bell Christmas Sensory Bin is like a mini scavenger hunt where young kids can dig and search for bells and pom poms.
It’s the perfect addition to your holiday activities. As kids scoop, dig, and sort through the sensory materials, not only are they having lots of fun, but they’re also refining essential fine motor skills—developing hand-eye coordination, finger strength, and precision in a playful and engaging manner.
If you like this idea, stick around and check out this Christmas Tree Sensory Bin or this Grinch Sensory Bin. You can also play with this Winter Snowball Sensory Bin all winter long just like these Winter Playdough Mats!
