Earth Themed Preschool Letter Sensory Bin

By Carla at Preschool Powol Packets - April 17, 2017

Did you know Earth looks blue and green from space? Do your preschoolers know? This Earth themed letter sensory bin is as much fun to run your fingers through as it is to use as a letter-learning tool!

When I saw this math bin with an Earth theme, I knew I wanted to do one with letters! Plus, the Virtual Book Club is focusing on Earth this week, so the timing was perfect!

To make the colored rice, I filled a gallon sized zip-lock baggie just over half way full with rice, added about 20 drops of food coloring and a squirt of hand sanitizer, and mixed up the rice. Then my oldest daughter helped me set the bin up to look like Earth (green continents and blue water).

I grabbed some flat rocks from outside and used a black sharpie to write letters on them. I chose the letters we've been working on lately--it's easier for preschoolers to recognize a handful of letters at a time rather than the entire alphabet! We added these to the "Earth Bin" with a few wooden flower beads. That seemed appropriate. :) I also set out some of our favorite scooping and measuring tools.

When the preschoolers saw the bin, they were pulled in like magnets! They played in soooo many ways!

The first time I set out a new sensory bin, I just let the kids play and experiment however they want. The most popular rocks were the ones with letters from the kids names on them.

Next time we play I'll help them use the bin to learn more letters by playing with them. Here are a few easy ideas:

* Build a rock bridge or path and ask your preschoolers to pass you rocks by the letter (for example, "Please pass me the A rock."

* Bury letter rocks (by name) in rice volcanoes.

* Transport letter rocks (by name) in dump trucks across the "Earth."

This bin is also perfect to pull out for a space theme! Look at satelite pictures of Earth, talk about why it looks blue, green, and white, discuss whether there is more ocean or land on Earth (and how you can tell), and take imaginary rockets through space to the Earth bin!

I put our Earth themed LETTER sensory bin together to go with the Virtual Book Club for Kids Earth Day theme! The suggested book is The Earth Book by Todd Parr, but you can read any Earth themed book and try out any of the activities that appeal to you!

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