• 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 / Straight Lines Sensory Bin for Multiple Ages

Straight Lines Sensory Bin for Multiple Ages

March 22, 2014 By Heather Greutman Leave a Comment

Like what you read? Share it!

268shares
  • Share 1
  • Tweet
  • Print
  • Email

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.

This is a guest post from Becky Marie of For This Season.  Becky has three little boys who do school at home together.  Bebop is 6 years old, Magoo is 3 years old and Doodad is 16 months.

Straight Lines Sensory Bin for Multiple Ages - Guest Post

I’ve been a reader of Golden Reflections Blog for several months and in that time I have collected a long list of ideas to use with my boys. When Heather posted the straight lines sensory bin as a pre-writing activity a few weeks ago, I immediately knew it would be perfect for my boys.  Sensory bins can often be a challenge in our house because of the wide age range of my boys and I need to avoid small objects as much as possible.  To create our bin, I gathered all the straight lines I could find from our k’nex, trio blocks, and a few craft sticks.  During play, the boys added various containers.

Sensory-Bins-for-Multiple-Ages-available-on-low-shelves-for-easy-access

Our open play toys are kept on low shelves under the window.  I usually only put out baby safe toys, so this is the first sensory bin to have a home on the shelf.  In the picture above, it is in the middle of the top shelf.  All three boys gravitate to that shelf when they first go in our school room each day.  When things get quiet, I almost always find Doodad sitting quietly exploring the tubs.  The straight lines bin holds his attention much longer than any other activity we currently have available.

Sensory-Bin-for-Multiple-Ages-Baby

Doodad immediately grabbed an empty bottle and started filling it with k’nex sticks.  He likes to fill up the bottle and dump it over and over.  This takes quite a bit of concentration and fine motor coordination.  At one point the big boys were playing with our trio blocks and Doodad stole a few for himself.  He enjoyed putting the sticks in the holes.  I will be making another bin in a few weeks that combines these toys more.  I did not direct Doodad to do anything other than play.  He did join Magoo a few times but was not at all interested in trying to sort the different colors or lengths, which is pretty age appropriate.

Sensory-Bin-for-Multiple-Ages-Toddler

Magoo is my kid that sticks things in his mouth, so I really have to watch him the most with our sensory bins.  He did put everything in his mouth, but I didn’t worry about small parts with this bin.  When I gave him free play, Magoo liked to fill and dump bottles just like his little brother.  He also spontaneously sorted the rods by color.  After a bit of direction, he also sorted by length.  We talked a lot about big, middle, and small.  Magoo gets big and small but doesn’t always get middle.

Sensory-Bin-for-Multiple-Ages-Kindergarten

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from Bebop.  Lately he has not been interested at all in our sensory bins, mostly because they consist primarily of baby toys.  The first time he was alone with this bin, he started building shapes.  In the above picture he made the triforce from Zelda.  Without any prompting from me, he explained the triangle shape to his brothers and made a game of finding all the triangles.  I was very pleased to see how much he enjoyed this bin.

Heather’s original post on using a straight line bin included suggestions for creating uppercase letters with the lines.  As we work our way through the alphabet this year, I will use this bin with Magoo to create letters.  I will also challenge Bebop to make more complex shapes.  I see this bin staying in our school room for several more weeks!  Join us on instagram or my blog to see all the ways we use this bin.

Thank you Becky for sharing a wonderful post with us today! Be sure to check Becky out on her blog, For This Season for more great Montessori and preschool ideas! 

This activity is also part of my ebook, Basic Shapes for Beginners!

Blessings,

Like what you read? Share it!

268shares
  • Share 1
  • Tweet
  • Print
  • Email

Filed Under: Hands-On Activities Tagged With: Fine Motor, For Parents, For Teachers, For Therapists, Sensory, Writing Activities

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 on the Website.

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

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT