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Sarah Jean Melito Blog

Halloween Sensory Bin Activities for Toddlers

Activities

26 Oct

Halloween is this week already!! I feel like Summer just ended. We have been having a total blast with this holiday since Layla is old enough to understand it more. She actually enjoys watching Hocus Pocus, painting pumpkins and can’t wait to go trick or treating! We’ve been doing some Halloween sensory bins for my toddler and I wanted to share in case you’re looking for something festive and out of the box to do with your littles. Sensory bins are awesome invitations to play, it basically gives kids freedom to explore through their senses.

If you’re not familiar with sensory bins, it can seem overwhelming when you search Pinterest and see a gazillion ideas. I usually always start with a “base” or “filler” for our sensory bins, such as rice, beans, sand, cotton balls, pom poms, water, etc. Our fillers stay in a ziplock bag for future use so we’re not wasting it. Below are 6 ideas that involve stuff you probably already have around the house or can visit the local dollar tree/order from Amazon to grab the rest! At the end of the post, I will link up the tools, table, and whatever else I can.

1. Spooky Spider Scooping

For this activity, I used dried black beans and then filled it up with dollar store trinkets, including something for my toddler to scoop the beans or items into. She really had a blast with this one, and continued to ask for it days later.

sensory bin ideas for toddlers
halloween sensory bin ideas for toddlers

2. Kinetic Spooky Sand

You’ll see that I reused a lot of the little items like spiders, eyeballs, but changed up the base to kinetic sand. If you’ve never tried kinetic sand, it’s like a wet sand that can be formed. AKA not as big of a mess as regular sand would create. As my daughter uses sensory bins more and more, she does a better job of keeping the mess contained in the bins. But I try to do these activities while my baby is napping, otherwise she’s getting a mouthful of sand lol.

halloween sensory bin ideas for toddlers
halloween sensory bin ideas for toddlers

3. Nature Inspired Bin

This is not obviously halloween themed, but I wanted to throw it in because it is a super cool one to do in the Fall. Go in the backyard or on a hike, collect nature items, bring them in and let your little one use their imagination. We used different color leaves, pinecones, acorns, and Layla liked scooping the pinecones into her bowl (which she decided to do on her own). They can make “nature soup” or just use different tools to transfer the items.

halloween sensory bin ideas for toddlers
halloween sensory bin ideas for toddlers

4. Orange Mysterious Goop

I threw this one together in a few minutes with arrowroot powder (or cornstarch), water, and orange food coloring. Guys this was a messy one, but I’ve learned to pick my battles and worry about the mess later. I used a 2:1 ratio for the arrowroot to water and then added a few drops of food coloring, spiders, and eyeballs. Layla used her tools but of course really found it interesting to use her hands in the goop! Another word for it is oobleck, it’s a little like slime!

halloween sensory bin ideas for toddlers

5. Spider Rescue

Yet again, another easy one. This one won’t be a long activity though. I just stretched out some fake spiderweb material and stuck it with tape, added some orange pom poms and spider rings. I told Layla we were “rescuing” the spiders and then she played with the spider web for a solid 5 minutes. Like I said, not a long activity but still fun and festive!

halloween sensory bin ideas for toddlers

6. Orange Jello for the Babes

I always feel guilty when I’m setting up sensory bins for Layla and Gabriella wants to play but obviously just puts everything in her mouth. So this one is for the babies and young ones. I literally just made orange jello and put it in a bin. Easy, festive, EDIBLE, and big sister liked to play alongside her. This one was sooooo messy, haha, but the girls had a great time with it.

halloween sensory bin ideas for toddlers

It would be a blast to have a monster bash and incorporate one or two of these activities onto the agenda. These tools are our favorite and are used a lot when we do sensory bins! Another option would be these ones or this wooden set. The table we have is from Ikea and is called the FLISAT table with TROFAST bins. I love having this table to do sensory bins and then we cover them when we’re not using it and it’s just a regular table!

I hope these activities inspire you to get in the spirit of Halloween with your kiddies. I know things are looking different this year with Covid, but we can still celebrate the holidays with our children in many ways!

xo,

halloween sensory bin ideas for toddlers

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Buying grains in bulk and milling my own flour at Buying grains in bulk and milling my own flour at home has been such a blessing and game changer in my kitchen as a homemaker! It provides us with more nutritious baked goods and it’s a great way to be self-sustainable. It does take a lot of learning to convert recipes to whole wheat, but it can be done! I buy my wheat berries and grain from @azurestandard (check out the link in my bio for their site) and I store them in 5-gallon buckets with gamma lids. Do you have any questions on home-milled flour?! Comment “grain mill” for the link to the mill I use and love! 
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If you’re like me and appreciate using every inc If you’re like me and appreciate using every inch of space in your garden, you’re going to love this seed square. I’ve been using it for a few years now, even when planting my seedlings, because it helps me so much in utilizing every square foot I have! Check the link in my profile, head to my amazon store under gardening supplies to snag yours. Plus, you’re supporting a small business 🌿
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#homesteadinglife #homesteading #gardeninglife #gardeningtips #seedstarting #seedstartingtips #surburbanhomestead #gardeningisfun #gardeningismytherapy #homesteadmama #naturalmama #crunchymamas #growfoodnotlawns #homeschoolexperiment #homeschoolingmama #gardeningknowhow #squarefootgardening #squarefootgarden
Do you want a garden that is low maintenance, requ Do you want a garden that is low maintenance, requires little weeding, supports pollinators & the earth, and thrives on it’s own? Then consider permaculture for abundant and beautiful gardens this year! It’s very easy to set up this kind of garden and no heavy machinery or disrupting the earth is required. This can be done to fill up your raised beds too! 
Simply follow these steps: 
1. Layer cardboard, paper bags from the grocery store, or brown contractor paper 
2. Soak it with a hose and get it nice and wet 
3. Layer on hay, straw, leaves, dead grass, sticks, animal bedding (not hot) or pine needles
4. Top with a thick layer of compost. 
5. I add more water to really let it set in. It will be ready to plant in just a few weeks! When you do plant, it’s important to add a thick layer of natural mulch to also keep feeding the soil, cutting back weeds & requiring less watering. 

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What questions do you have about permaculture gardening?!
For so many years I bought broth at the store (I s For so many years I bought broth at the store (I still do buy some to keep in the pantry) but for the most part, learning to make my own broth has been such a game-changer for taste, flavor & less waste! I do mine in the insta-pot to set it and forget it, but you can use the stove-top or crock pot method too. 

INSTRUCTIONS 
1. Use about 2lbs of bones you have leftover, from ribs and drumsticks to whole chickens, all bones can be saved. I also make sure to get all the bones when we order our whole cow. I’ve even used chicken feet after helping a friend butcher chickens for a day, they were free for the taking! 
2. Add any veggie scraps if you have them. I save carrot peels, onion peels, leek tops, the little bits of celery you don’t usually use. I forage mushrooms and freeze them for broth too. All of that can be added. If you don’t have any saved, just add carrots, onions (or leeks) and some celery. 
3. Add 2 cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, any herbs you like and a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to pull out the gelatin of the bones. 
4. Fill up to the max fill line with water, set to 3 hours and then let naturally release. Sometimes I let it sit for 24 hours without opening to really let the flavor develop and get it very gelatinous. 
5. Strain off and use within 1 week. Or you can freeze it very easily, making sure to leave a little room for head space since it can expand in the freezer. 

Have you ever made your own broth?! I swear it’s not intimidating as it sounds and anyone can do it! 

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Any other likeminded friends out there?! Join our Any other likeminded friends out there?! Join our community and say hello 👋🏼 I’m Sarah, and my goal is here to teach others you can start to homestead anywhere, you don’t need a ton of land or previous knowledge. Come learn alongside me as we take back the traditional skills and do things the way our ancestors did in modern times 🫶🏻
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#homesteading #homestead #homesteader #wannabehomesteader #selfsufficient #selfsufficiency #urbangardener #surburbanhomestead #chickenlady #homesteadersofinstagram #homemakers #homemakingmomma #gardening #canningandpreserving #fermenting #sourdoughbaking #chickenmama #homebirth #homebirthing #homebirthmama #backyardchickens
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