• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • New? Start Here!
  • About GHOK
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and Policies
  • Blog
  • The Shop
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
Growing Hands-On Kids

Growing Hands-On Kids

Child Development Tips, Tools, and Strategies

You are here: Home / Hands-On Activities / Nativity Sensory Bin

Nativity Sensory Bin

November 20, 2014 By Heather Greutman 4 Comments

Like what you read? Share it!

3.7Kshares
  • Share 68
  • Tweet
  • Print
  • Email
An easy, DIY Nativity sensory bin, perfect for the Advent season.

Affiliate and Referral links are used below to promote products I love and recommend. I receive a commission on any purchases made through these links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details.

The Christmas season is nearly upon us. This year, I really wanted our focus to be on the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus. Now that Ellie is 2 years old, she can understand more of the story of baby Jesus and I wanted to give her a fun way to explore this story. So our Nativity sensory bin was born.

It took me about half an hour to make this, it's super easy to do and you just need a few items to make it.

An easy, DIY Nativity sensory bin, perfect for the Advent season.

 

Items for Nativity Sensory Bin

  • Wooden activity tray or basket
  • Brown crinkle paper (you could also use real straw if you have access to some)
  • Craft sticks
  • Wooden stick people or peg people
  • Felt (3-4 colors of your choice)
  • Farm animal figures
  • Christmas angel (I used a small, metal Christmas tree angel topper)
  • Wooden star or ornament star
  • Hot glue gun

 

The first thing I did was make the craft stick manger. I heated up my hot glue gun and glued 2 pieces in the shape of an “X'. You will need to make two of the “X” shapes.

Manger for Nativity Sensory Bin.

Then I put hot glue on the top, outside of the craft stick “X” and held the glue sticks horizontally in place until they stuck. Then I glued the 2nd “X” shape to the other side. It was really easy to do and the hot glue is still holding up really well. I also cut off the bottom legs about half way up so that the manger wasn't so high.

Next, I used the hot glue gun to wrap the wooden stick people with felt. For Mary, I also added the yellow head piece so that you could tell who was who in the manger scene. I used hot glue on the top of her head and also half way down the sides of the body to keep it in place. Then I folded the back and hot glued the pieces together so that they stuck nicely in the back.

 

Mary for Nativity Sensory Bin.

 

 

For Joseph and Baby Jesus I did not add the head piece, but I did use different colors for their bodies so you could tell they were suppose to be different people.

I debated on adding faces, but when I added faces with a marker they looked really creepy, haha. So I left the faces off. I plan to order some actual wooden peg people, like below, and replace them with painted faces. The craft store I was at this past weekend did not have the exact wooden peg people I was looking for, so I settled with the stick ones above for now.

 

Next, I assembled the Nativity sensory bin. I placed the brown crinkle paper on the bottom to represent straw. I also placed some in the manger and put Baby Jesus on top of the manger. The animals were at the bottom of the tray, with the angel and star at the top.

 

An easy, DIY Nativity sensory bin, perfect for the Advent season.

This nativity sensory bin was a huge hit with Ellie. When I first introduced the sensory bin to her, I told her what each item represented and we talked briefly about the Advent story.

Then I just left her to explore the bin and play with the items. We sat on the floor for this specific introduction, but now we have the sensory bin on our little tot school table, so she has been going over there to play with it recently.

Playing with Nativity Sensory Bin.

 

For more Advent activities, we will be doing the Truth in the Tinsel Advent Activities ebook starting in December. I am really looking forward to these hand-on activities to share the real meaning of Christmas with Ellie this year.

 

Truth in the Tinsel

 

Follow Heather G. | Golden Reflections Blog ‘s board Holly Jolly Christmas on Pinterest.
 

You May Also Like:

Three wise men invitation to play Christmas Discovery bottles for baby tummy time Hands-on Christmas activities for preschoolers Applesauce Cinnamon Christmas Ornaments

Like what you read? Share it!

3.7Kshares
  • Share 68
  • Tweet
  • Print
  • Email

Filed Under: Hands-On Activities Tagged With: Christian Themed Hands-On Activities, For Parents, Holidays, Sensory, Tot-School

Reader Interactions

CONTENT DISCLAIMER: Heather Greutman is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. All information on the Website is for informational purposes only and is not a replacement for medical advice from a physician or your pediatrician. Please consult with a medical professional if you suspect any medical or developmental issues with your child. The information on the Websites does not replace the relationship between therapist and client in a one-on-one treatment session with an individualized treatment plan based on their professional evaluation. The information provided on the Website is provided “as is” without any representations or warranties, express or implied. Do not rely on the information on the Website as an alternative to advice from your medical professional or healthcare provider. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment as a result of any information provided on the Website. All medical information on the Website is for informational purposes only. All activities outlined on the Website are designed for completion with adult supervision. Please use your own judgment with your child and do not provide objects that could pose a choking hazard to young children. Never leave a child unattended during these activities. Please be aware of and follow all age recommendations on all products used in these activities. Growing Hands-On Kids is not liable for any injury when replicating any of the activities found on this blog. YOUR RESPONSIBILITY The Website was developed strictly for informational purposes. You understand and agree that you are fully responsible for your use of the information provided on the Website. Growing Hands-On Kids makes no representations, warranties or guarantees. You understand that results may vary from person to person. Growing Hands-On Kids assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions that may appear in the Website.

Comments

  1. Vanessa says

    December 5, 2014 at 7:25 pm

    This is such a brilliant post! Love it. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Kate Williams says

    December 9, 2014 at 3:45 pm

    Oh I love this so much!! Thanks for linking with Tuesday Tutorials #pintorials

    Reply
    • Heather Greutman says

      December 9, 2014 at 11:32 pm

      Thanks Kate!

      Reply
  3. Marie says

    November 25, 2015 at 5:11 am

    Simple and beautiful! Thank you for stopping by the Learn & Play Link Up. Your post is featured on Christmas Montessori Network this week!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Fine Motor Skills checklists

Get This Free Fine Motor Checklist!

Sign-up for my weekly child development newsletter and receive this free fine motor checklist for ages 0-6.

Website Terms and Policies

Welcome to Growing Hands-On Kids! My name is Heather and I’m a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant with experience in school-based Occupational Therapy. I use my background to share child development tips, tools, and strategies through hands-on activities. You can read more about me by clicking here.

The 8 sensory systems printable packet.

Get This FREE 8 Sensory Systems Handout

Sign-up to receive my 9-day sensory processing email series and get this 8 sensory systems handout in English & Spanish!

Website Terms and Policies

Footer

Growing Hands-On Kids

Growing Hands-On Kids, LLC 2020. All content, photos/graphics, video, printables and ebooks written or created by Heather Greutman of https://growinghandsonkids.com are copyright of the owner. You may not alter or reuse text/content, photos/graphics, or videos in any way (print or digital use) without express written consent from Heather Greutman. For more details, please read our website terms of use and policy page.


PRIVACY POLICY