January Peppermint Sensory Bin

Sensory bins are not only a great motivator but a great way to get kids with disabilities the sensory feedback they need to be successful throughout the day. I have my sensory bin on the schedule for the middle of the day EVERY. DAY. It is not just a fun one time activity- it is part of our day!

Here’s how I made my January Peppermint Sensory Bin!

Here are all the materials I used! I ended up using half of another blue food coloring to get a darker blue, but you can use as much or as little as you want.

I got the essential oil at Hobby Lobby, this was a BIG trip my sister in law and I took, Hobby Lobby is no where near us but we made the trek after seeing all your amazing instagram posts!

I used 2 containers to spread out the rice and make 2 different tints of blue. This made it alot easier to mix and less messy too!

First I mixed about a cup of vinegar and added a bunch of drops of the food coloring until it was darkened. A lot of the steps to this is just kind of “see how it goes” and “how you want it” because it is a preference thing!

I also added in 3-5 drops of peppermint essential oil. The essential oil is important because it masks the smell of the vinegar and gives added sensory input to the kiddos!

Next just drizzle on the mixture and mix around until darkened! I made about 4 batches of the mixture to get all the right tints I was looking for!

Once it is the right color- time to let it dry!

I put my containers out on my deck- it ended up being a little too cold in New England for this- it all froze together! I ended up have to hardcore hit it with the spatula to break it all back up! LOL 🙂

I let Brody try it out before bringing to my students in a big plastic tub!

& ta da! Dumped it into my sensory bin added the snowflakes and it was ready to go! You can also add in letters, numbers, or those cute little erasers from the target dollar bin 🙂

 

HERE’S the steps all in one place:

MATERIALS:

• LARGE bag of rice (I got mine at Shaws)
• Large tin foil bin
• White Vinegar
• Peppermint essential oil
• Blue Food Coloring ( I ended up using 1 and a half bottles to get the dark blue)
• Snowflake sparkles

1. Dump rice into separate bins to make it easier to mix.
2. Mix 1 cup white vinegar with as many drops of food coloring as you see fit.
3. Add in 3-5 drops of peppermint essential oil.
4. pour on and mix until you get the right color
5. repeat mixture 3-4 times and all rice is covered
6. Set out to dry and mix every so often
7. dump in sensory bin
8. add snowflakes and go!

Hope your students enjoy! Remember to tag your photos @simplyspecialed on instagram so I can repost them!