Setting up a Christmas Sensory Bin for Toddlers is a good way to introduce the little ones to Christmas festivities.

I did this activity with a friend’s son who turned one last month only. The bin had things which catered to specifically two things:

1. Introduction to Christmas and related stuff
2. Objects which help in the development of 5 senses of the toddler

Things put in the bin:

• Christmas Tree ornaments
• Stocking
• Pine conesstars
• Santa Claus
• Reindeer
• Cotton – to mark as snow
• Ribbons
• Real branches of a pine tree, few other leaves
• Scented candles (or a small cinnamon stick)

Activities:

1. We gave him ample time for free exploration of all the things that were in the bin.

Working on the five senses, we put in material, catering to each sense of the toddlers.

• For vision – we had colorful items for him
• For sound – there were bells (ornaments) with sounds. We also had few Christmas books with sounds of santa, reindeer, bells, carols, christmas songs, etc.

• For taste, we gave him a small muffin for tasting (this was his first time with a cake)
• For smell – we put in a scented candle, a cotton ball with few drops of rose water and a cinnamon stick. His mom made him smell all these, at intervals.
• For touch – there were numerous materials with different textures and shapes etc.

2. Vocabulary building – With each item that the toddler picked up for exploring, his mom told him what it was, and repeated the word 4-5 times, slowly. She called out the name of object again at short intervals. Towards the end of the play, when asked, he was able to pick up a bell and give to mumma.

3. We put on few Christmas songs on our phone and sang along for him. He was truly fascinated and excited. My son also joined in the dancing and singing !

We had loads of fun doing this activity. Hope the same for you too.

Do share the pics of your sensory bins in the comments section below for others to appreciate and get inspired with.

Merry Christmas !

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