Talk to me about sensory bins

[AFWife]

I see these ALL THE TIME on blogs and whatnot.

Why do them? What goes in them? How do you keep the stuff in the bin?!? (I'm seeing a couple of pounds of beans thrown all over my house in my head)

[KayTeeJay]

AFWife, I'm so glad you asked this! My DS was "helping" me make cookies this weekend and after watching him with the flour I was thinking...how the hell would I keep beans in a bucket? I'd be finding beans in cracks and crevices for years. I know he would like it, though. Looking forward to suggestions!

[DuckDuckGoose]

Kids love them! Although there is a certain age where they are better utilized. You'll need to monitor the littles for putting small bits in their mouths. One idea well suited for fall is ornamental corn. Whole cobs and loose kernals in the bin. Give them little tweezers to pick off the kernals! Keeps them occupied for ages!

[AFWife]

My son is 18mo and everything is a projectile lately...

[dubatatamama]

When my kids were your son's age, they LOVED playing with our bin of beans and lots of different scoops and cups. As far as avoiding having beans all over your house, I would just spread out a huge old sheet and plopped them in the middle. They would for the most part stay on the sheet and then I would just scoop the beans back into the bin. I wouldn't expect them to keep all the beans in the bin. When we were done, I just put the lid on the bin and put it away out of reach. We had another bin with rice that they loved, too.