SUPER SIMPLE AQUATIC SENSORY BIN FOR BABIES

December 23, 2019

Being both fun and edible, this aquatic sensory bin is a quick and easy set up your babies are sure to love!

While we never did much sensory play with our first born I started to get into them once the twins were here. Maybe it was due to having more space for play than our previous apartment or maybe I was tired enough to just need that five minutes of peace. Either way, our twins loved this aquatic sensory bin when they were babies and it doubled as a fun snack.

This aquatic sensory bin was the first thematic sensory bin I ever gave the twins to explore. It was a nice summer day outside which meant it was a great opportunity for messy play outside of the house. The twins were about a year old when we played with our aquatic sensory bin – though, since they’re preemies, they were playing with a corrected age of nine months or ten months.

Best of all it was super easy and fast to throw together. To create an aquatic sensory bin I used:

Blue Jell-o
Crushed graham crackers
Schleich animal figures
Sea shells
A shallow bin – the photo features an Ikea TROFAST bin

The night before I prepared the blue Jell-o. I had snagged a box of sugar-free blue Jell-O and I think it made it a little less sticky than normal Jell-O would have. The next afternoon I took it out of the fridge and scooped it into the sensory bin.

For our sand base I picked up a box of pre-crushed graham crackers and it’s a great quick grab to have unhand as a taste-safe sand base for your sensory bin. If you can’t find the pre-crushed graham crackers, some other options that you can use for a taste-safe aquatic themed sensory bin are:

Crushed Cheerios
Crumbled pie crust
Baby cereal
Wheat germ
DIY moon sand

The best part about having a sensory bin made with edible materials is that it can double as a small snack!

If Jell-O is a base that’s not useable for your family, you can also use:

Water coloured with food colouring
Yogurt coloured with food colouring
Oobleck coloured with food colouring
Aquafaba coloured with food colouring (which is the water from a can of chickpeas and it can be whipped into a foam!)

The seashells I used were a bag of shells from the decor aisle of the dollar store. Note to double check any shells before adding them to the bin. If they’re cracked or split, the edges can be quite sharp.

Lastly, toss in some plastic animals you want to see in your aquatic themed sensory bin! We used a turtle, an octopus and a dolphin as that’s what we already had on hand in our toy stash. Ours are from Schleich but plastic animal figures are easy to get your hands on – especially at a thrift store or kids toy store – would work.

Be sure to check out some of our other sensory bins!

TASTE SAFE RAINBOW SENSORY BIN

TASTE SAFE CONSTRUCTION SITE SENSORY BIN

MESSY GARDENING SENSORY PLAY

Butterfly Habitat Sensory Bin