Sensory activities are trending and for valid reasons! Sensory play is beneficial for toddlers and young children as it teaches kids about the five senses and prepares them for the real world by performing real life skills and tasks such as pouring, stirring, grasping, and pinching. My toddler loves all my easy DIY sensory bins and she adores playing with the rainbow colored white beans. If you like this sensory bin idea, then you’ll love my ABC Rainbow Sensory Bin as it uses the rainbow beans you dye as you make this kid’s craft.
My simple rainbow beans craft contains dry white beans, food coloring, and rubbing alcohol or white vinegar. You’ll need large gallon-sized freezer bags, baking sheets, and foil to make this easy kid’s craft.
How to dye white beans
All you need is a freezer bag per color of dye and beans. For example, I made the rainbow colors, so I used 6 freezer bags and about 15-20 drops of each color of food coloring per freezer bag. I started with red and dumped 3 cups of white beans inside, followed by about 15 drops of red food coloring. For the orange beans, I used yellow and red food coloring. The green and purple beans used food coloring from a neon food coloring package.
After you add the food coloring and beans to the freezer bag, add ½ teaspoon rubbing alcohol or white vinegar to each bag to prevent the color from bleeding onto hands. Mix well and let them dry on a foil-lined baking sheet for an hour or two—or overnight. I let them all dry out for two hours and they turned out just right.
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 dye rainbow beans
White beans. Any kind of dry white beans will work.
Food coloring. Use your favorite colors of food coloring or create a rainbow using rainbow colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
Rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol or white vinegar is needed.
How to make rainbow beans
STEP 1: Pour the beans into as many freezer bags as you want colors. We used 6 bags for the following six colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
STEP 2: Add food coloring to each freezer bag. We added about 15-20 drops of each color. Pour in the rubbing alcohol and mix well.
STEP 3: Pour the dyed beans onto foil-lined baking sheets and let dry for at least 2 hours.
STEP 4: If you make this craft, don’t forget to leave a rating and comment!
Fine motor activity
Toss is some toys such as handy scoopers, jumbo tweezers, cups and or bowls and make 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 beans, thereby improving their fine motor skills. My toddler daughter was motivated to make the beans act like rain as they “rained” on the sensory bin, so she continued to fill up handy scoopers repeatedly, which was a terrific fine motor activity.
Recommended tools to make this craft
- Freezer bags. Gallon size zip top freezer bags are used to mix the beans with the other ingredients.
- Handy scoopers. Toddlers, including my own, love these handy scoopers. They’re the best fine motor activity for preschoolers. You can also use bowls, cups, or large spoons.
- Storage bin. I have so many of these storage bins and always use them for my [many] sensory bins.
More kid’s crafts you’ll love!
Baking Soda, Vinegar & Food Coloring Experiment
Fourth of July Patriotic Sensory Bin
St. Patrick’s Day Rainbow Sensory Bin
DIY Spring Easter Grass Sensory Bin
Simple Fourth of July Kid’s Crafts
Easy Brown Bag Easter Bunny Craft
Easy DIY Handmade Mother’s Day Cards
Final Thoughts
Finally, if you make these rainbow beans, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this craft a rating! I love to hear from everyone who makes this 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 craft photos!
How to Dye Rainbow Beans for Sensory Bins
Equipment
- freezer bags gallon size zip top
Materials
- dry white beans
- food coloring
- rubbing alcohol or white vinegar
Instructions
- Pour the beans into as many freezer bags as you want colors. We made red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
- Add food coloring to each freezer bag. We added about 15-20 drops of each color. Pour in the rubbing alcohol and mix well.
- Pour the dyed beans onto foil-lined baking sheets and let dry for at least 2 hours.
- If you make this craft, don’t forget to leave a comment!
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