This fun and exploratory Coral Reef Sensory Bin was a blast to make for my toddler. Her favorite part was eating the blue gelatin and playing with the sand. She also was a big fan of the sea animals and shells in this exciting DIY sensory bin. The sand or the “beachfront” is my edible kinetic sand recipe, from one of the first blogs I ever posted! I still love this kinetic sand when I made it three years ago and so does my daughter who is now five.
The DIY Coral Reef Sensory Bin is a great educational and learning opportunity to teach kids about coral reefs, underwater ecosystems, the ocean, sea animals, and the globe as they’re presented with an Invitation to Play! My sensory bin craft contains blue gelatin, seashells, sea creatures, and a bin to house all the fun, and is super easy to make. Read below for my easy step-by-step tutorial that walks you through how to make your very own Coral Reef Sensory Bin! It’s such a fun activity for young children, particularly toddlers and preschoolers, kindergarteners, even older kids!
Benefits of Sensory Bins for Kids
Sensory play is beneficial for toddlers and preschoolers, even older kids! Sensory bins stimulate multiple senses at the same time—including touch, sight, smell, and sound. They also improve fine motor skills as kids dig, scoop, squeeze, and grasp objects in the sensory bins. Sensory bins promote social skills such as taking turns, teamwork, cooperation with their peers, and communication among their friends, family, and parents.
They don’t need to be expensive or fancy. All that is needed is a sensory bin base such as rice, beans, birdseed, or “sand,” and a few items to pour, pinch, or grasp (i.e., cups, spoons, jumbo scoopers, and large tweezers). This one did cost a bit to buy the sea animals and shells, but aside from that, I already had the pantry staples to make the kinetic sand and the blue gelatin was cheap. There are plenty of other sensory bins you can make for next to nothing.
According to Salus University Health’s article, sensory activities support cognitive development as kids can sort hidden items by size and color. Placing letters and numbers inside the bin (like this alphabet sensory bin) can help kids learn the alphabet and numbers. Sensory bins are calming activities and provide a quite environment for children to play independently and calmly. They also allow kids to play with a specific theme, such as a coral reef, in a small, confined area.
Fine Motor Activity
Toss in some tongs, handy scoopers, or bowls, and this is one fantastic fine motor activity that toddlers and preschoolers love! Kids will need to use the small muscles in their hands and fingers to squeeze scoopers to pick up the gelatin and sand, thereby improving their fine motor skills. My toddler girl was motivated to see a bright blue ocean stuffed with sea creatures that were trapped inside alongside a beautiful sandy kinetic sand beachfront!
Why make a sensory bin?
Sensory bins are open-ended which means kids can play in any way that they choose to with the sensory bin. Kids use their senses to explore and play in a sensory bin without meeting any expectations. It’s a meaningful experience to a kid as there is no defined outcome with exploring and discovering the sensory bin.
Sensory bins teach kids how to cooperate and play well with peers. It’s a great opportunity to teach toddlers about sharing and playing well together. Sensory bins encourage socialization and language development as there are many objects in a sensory bin to talk about. You can even hide items in the bin and challenge your preschool aged children or toddlers to find the hidden items.
According to Lumiere Child’s article, kids can enhance fine motor skills by grasping, pinching, stirring, and pouring—all within the sensory bin. Kids can sort items by color and categorize them by shape and size, improving their cognitive skills. Clear bins work best for a sensory bin so that kids can see through them while playing.
Benefits of sensory play
Sensory play is beneficial for toddlers and preschoolers, even older kids! Sensory bins stimulate multiple senses at the same time – including touch, sight, smell, and sound. They also improve fine motor skills as kids dig, scoop, squeeze, and grasp objects in the sensory bins. Sensory bins promote social skills such as taking turns, teamwork, cooperation with their peers, and communication among their friends, family, and parents.
According to Salus University Health’s article, they also support cognitive development as kids can sort hidden items by size and color. Placing letters and numbers inside the bin (like this alphabet sensory bin) can help kids learn the alphabet and numbers. Sensory bins are calming activities and provide a quite environment for children to play independently and calmly.
Items needed to make a Coral Reef Sensory Bin
Starburst Blue Raspberry gelatin. We use this Starburst Blue Raspberry gelatin but you can also use JELLO or any other brand of blue gelatin.
Shells. I bought these seashells on Amazon.
Sea creatures. I found these toy sea animals on Amazon.
Storage bin. A storage bin is needed to house the coral reef toys.
How to make the best Coral Reef Sensory Bin
STEP 1: To make this fun fine motor and sensory activity, you’ll first need to prepare either Starburst Blue Raspberry gelatin or blue JELLO. When you pour the gelatin into the baking dish, carefully place the sea animals. The point of this activity is to have children use a spatula or tongs to scoop out the sea animals, using fine motor skills to help accomplish tasks.
You probably already know this, but the gelatin will only last an hour or two, at most. If your kids are anything like mine, they’ll be eating the blue gelatin with the utensil or with their fingers! It’s a completely edible sensory bin except for the sea creatures and shells.
STEP 2: To prepare the kinetic sand, you may want to stir all the kinetic sand ingredients around in your bin, which is what I did. At least that will eliminate any extra dish when it comes time to do the dishes! If the recipe is too dry, try adding more oil until it reaches the desired consistency. The edible kinetic sand recipe includes all-purpose flour, cornmeal, any type of oil, and corn syrup. I doubled the recipe to obtain the amount of sand in the coral reef sensory bin.
STEP 3: Pour the sand into one half of your sensory bin, taking your hands to push the sand to one side. Using a spatula, scrape out the gelatin and sea creatures and neatly stack them next to the kinetic sand, in the other half of your sensory bin. Add the shells down the middle to separate the ocean from the sand, creating a seashore.
STEP 4: If you make this, don’t forget to leave a rating and comment to help other readers!
What do I do with the kinetic sand after the gelatin is gone?
When you’re done with the gelatin, separate it from the kinetic sand. Pour the kinetic sand into a clean bin and let the kids have a blast playing with the seashells and sea animals in the remainder of the kinetic sand!
More sensory bins and kid’s crafts you’ll love!
How to Dye Rainbow Beans for Sensory Bins
Baking Soda, Vinegar & Food Coloring Experiment
Fourth of July Patriotic Sensory Bin
DIY Spring Easter Grass Sensory Bin
Easy Brown Bag Easter Bunny Craft
Easy DIY Handmade Mother’s Day Cards
Recommended items to make this craft
- Seashells. I bought these seashells on Amazon.
- Sea animals. Amazon sells these toy sea animals that are perfect.
- Storage bin. I have so many of these storage bins and always use them for my [many] sensory bins.
Final Thoughts
Finally, if you make this Coral Reef Sensory Bin, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this craft a rating! I love to hear from everyone who makes this sensory bin craft and always do my best to respond to all comments.
If you do make this craft, don’t forget to tag #elisemccollister on Instagram! It makes me so happy to see your DIY sensory bin photos!
Coral Reef Sensory Bin
Equipment
Instructions
- Prepare the blue gelatin per the package instructions and pour it into an 8×8 or other similarly sized baking dish. Neatly place the sea creatures in the gelatin before refrigerating.
- In the meantime, prepare the Edible Kinetic Sand by mixing the Edible Kinetic Sand ingredients together. If it’s too dry, add more oil.
- Pour the sand into one half of your sensory bin, taking your hands to push the sand to one side. Using a spatula, scrape out the gelatin and sea creatures and neatly stack them next to the kinetic sand, in the other half of your sensory bin. Add the shells down the middle to separate the ocean from the sand, creating a seashore.
- If you make this craft, don’t forget to leave a rating and comment!
Want to save these directions?
Share this craft!
Elise’s Kitchen Favorites
