A flower garden sensory bin is a spring inspired activity that can be played with indoors or out.
My daughter has been asking to plant things lately. And she wants to plant everything!
If it is up to her, we will have a full vegetable garden, a bunch of fruit trees and a yard full of bedding plants.
Since we haven’t been able to get out and get flowers yet, I thought a sensory bin would be a fun way to practice planting.
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Flower Garden Sensory Bin
A flower garden sensory bin allows for imaginative and tactile play.
The kids can pretend to plant their seeds in soil, water the seeds and watch them grow into beautiful flowers. And once they grow, they can pick them of course!
Materials Needed For Flower Garden Bin
- Artificial Flowers
- Painted Chickpeas* (Acrylic paint and dried chickpeas)
- Dried Black Beans
- Mini Wooden Scoops
- Small Terra Cotta or tin planters
- Mini Watering Can (I got ours at Hobby Lobby)
- Large Container to hold all of the play items – This is my favorite bin, not too big, not too small & inexpensive.
Preparing the Flower Garden Sensory Bin
The first thing you want to do is paint your chickpeas. Simply put a little acrylic paint into a ziploc bag and drop in the desired number of dried chickpeas.
Seal the bag and shake, shake, shake. Remove from the bag and lie flat on some paper towels to dry. They dry pretty quickly.
Then dump enough dried black beans into the large container to cover the bottom. You want plenty of beans because this is your “potting soil.”
Next, cut apart your artificial flowers into individual stems. Scissors will work but wire cutters will be easier. Make sure you cut the wire close so that there is no chance for injury.
Now the best part – just dump all the rest of the items into the play bin. It is time to play!
Planting in the Flower Garden
My 2 and 6 year old kids both had fun gardening in their sensory bins.
For the toddler, lots of time was spent scooping beans. He transferred them from the big bin into the smaller planters.
With a little prompting, he did a little planting and playing with the flowers as well. But the beans were definitely the favorite.
My 6 year old used more imagination in her play. She took the painted chickpeas and planted them in the pots.
Pretended to water the pots and seeds to make the flowers grow.
Then she picked the flowers and made a bouquet for me! Sweet girl.
Learning Prompts:
- Identify the Colors of the Flowers
- Count the Flowers
- Discuss How Plants Grow (plant the seed, water, sunshine, grow)
- Demonstrate volume in a container (fill half way or 3/4)
What would you add to this gardening invitation to play activity?
More Sensory Bins?
Apple Cinnamon Fall Sensory Bin
