If you follow me on Instagram (@live.love.speech) and Facebook (Live Love Speech) then I’m sure you know by now that I use Sensory Bins A LOT with my preschoolers. A sensory bin is essentially some sort of bin or container filled with beans, water beads, or whatever you want to use! You can add and hide small objects, toys, picture cards, etc. inside of the bin for your students to go and find. It really is a great way to target speech and language goals. I also like to create my sensory bins based around the current holiday and/or season. For example, last week was all about St. Patrick’s Day so I hid gold coins inside of my water bead filled sensory bin. We worked on following directions, prepositions, and actions! I’ll go into much greater detail about that activity (and plenty MORE!) in an upcoming blog post.
SENSORY BIN OF THE MONTH {MARCH} BY MAMA MAY I
I recently discovered Mama May I Shop on Facebook and was so intrigued by the amazing products. I quickly jumped over to the website to find out more and spoke briefly to the creator (Jessica) behind this amazing company. After chatting about my job as a Preschool SLP and being a mommy, she knew these Sensory Bin products would be perfect for me! I was really excited to be given the opportunity to review this AMAZING product.
Jessica started creating games, toys, and activities when her youngest child was just a baby as a way to explore and have fun together. With some encouragement from her friends and family, this at-home project turned into a business. Mama May I Shop creates handmade Montessori, and Waldorf inspired educational learning toys. As stated on the website…“Mama May i’s handmade learning toys blend the best of developmental psychology and design to offer a unique learning through play experience.” You can read more under the “About Us” menu and explore these incredible products directly on the website, mamamayishop.com.
Mama May i offers a subscription based Sensory Bin of the Month Club. I received and reviewed the March Sensory Bin as you will see and read about below.
I was really excited when this came in the mail and couldn’t wait to open it! All of the items come inside this wooden box which you will quickly realize is amazing for storage purposes and traveling {SLPs moving from building to building in a district, treating in client’s homes, etc.}
Now let’s chat about the materials that are included with the Sensory Bin. As you can see in the picture above, everything fits very nicely into the box which again, is very convenient if limited on space and to keep things together!
Included in the March Sensory Bin:
*1 Paper Mache Flower Pot
*2 Medium Wooden Flower Pots
*1 Wooden Scooper
*Make a Match Veggie edition (12 wooden coins)
*Pom Pom “flowers” (6 colors)
*Wooden flower pots (6 colors)
*Dried black bean base
One of the biggest things that many of us SLPs ask ourselves is how can we use toys/sensory bins in therapy to target our student’s goals?! I find myself asking that question A LOT which is why I love the cards (seen above) that are included with the sensory bin. They provide you with “Ways to Play”, books that are relevant to the month/season, AND other ways to explore using items you already have at home (or in your therapy room!). All of this information really takes a lot of the “guessing” out of equation. You really could create some pretty amazing lesson plans just from the information provided on the cards!
“Ways to Play” with the Sensory Bin!
We recently had a snow storm (CRAZY I KNOW!) here in NJ which meant being stuck inside for an entire day. This was another perfect opportunity to play and explore with my little man, Landon (isn’t he the cutest?!) It was also a great way to actually pretend it was SPRING! Can you see it now?! This little sensory bin can act as a “garden”! The black beans are your “dirt”. We started with the “flower pots” and scooper. The possibilities are endless with these few simple materials….following directions (“fill up one of the flower pots”), basic concepts (“scoop some seeds into the big flower pot” and “first put seeds in the small pot then put some in the big pot”), fine motor skills, adjectives, and more!
I really love this activity and so did my preschoolers! You will receive 6 mini flower pots of various colors and the same colored “pom-poms” which can be the “flowers”. You can have your students or child scoop some “dirt” into a specific color pot. Next, ask him/her to match the correct color “flower” and put it on top. That sounds so simple and easy but if you really break it down you can easily target SO many GOALS! And let’s not forget about all the fun your little ones can have with this activity!
My preschoolers really loved this next activity! These wooden “make a match” veggie coins are seriously amazing. Labeling, describing, matching, exploring, and FUN! I hid one set of the coins under the “dirt” and placed the second set on the table. Each time one of my students found a “veggie”, he/she named it, described it, then matched it. This one activity alone can easily fill up an entire therapy session and what’s even better is everyone will be having FUN!
I tried this activity out with Landon too! He was a “matching champ” but what he loved even more was getting his dinosaurs to stomp around in the dirt lol! That’s really another great thing about this sensory bin….you aren’t limited to only the materials included (although you will have plenty of therapy planned with just this kit!). Have your students or child grab one of their favorite toys and let them “hunt” for the coins, or “eat” the flowers, and just have a fun time!
I hope you LOVED this review and will take the time to check out this Monthly Sensory Bin Subscription (and EVERYTHING else) on www.mamamayishop.com. They offer 1, 3, 6, 9, or 12 month subscriptions.
Jessica (the owner/creator) is so incredibly generous that she is offering a 15% off discount JUST FOR MY READERS! The coupon code is: LIVELOVESPEECH. You will receive 15% off of your entire order (cannot be combined with any other offer)!
Be sure to leave your comments right here on this post OR leave some feedback on my Facebook Page or Instagram Account. I can’t wait to hear how much fun you all have “exploring” with these amazing Sensory Bins!
*This sensory bin was provided to me to complete this review. The thoughts and opinions are completely my own.*
