Apple Pie Sensory Bin

Sensory Bins have been one of my favorite activities to facilitate for my kiddos for many years now. There was a season when I was homeschooling my five and 7 year old daughters, with an incredibly active and hands-on two year old son and a baby in the mix - whew! Those were tiring days. But one of my lifesavers for my 2-year-old son was sensory bins of all different kinds - they kept his hands occupied, while he worked on fine and gross motor skills, imaginative play, and yes, the bins helped satisfy all of his sensory needs. Over the years my children of all ages have continued to enjoy sensory play, and it is fun for me to mix things up and create a new sensory bin every once in a while to keep things fresh. 

This Apple Pie Sensory Bin might just be one of my favorites! I am trying to get together a few times each month with my sister and her two kiddos (aged 2 & 4) to join up with my 3-year-old daughter for some preschool activities and time together. Today we did "A is for Apples" and read some apple-themed story books, cut apples and counted the seeds, made an actual apple pie, and they had a blast playing with the apple pie sensory bins. My 6-year-old son dug right in with them, and was proud to read the recipe cards and help them count out the right ingredients for their recipes. 

These bins are easy to put together and pretty low-cost overall. Here is a list of supplies you will need:

1. A bin (any tupperware or box will do; I like getting a bin with a lid for easy stacking)

2. Oats

3. Red and Green pom-poms

4. Cinnamon Sticks

5. Small pie tin (I found mine at the dollar tree)

6. Small spoon and whisk (Also found at the dollar tree)

7. Brown or tan Felt

8. Apple Pie Recipe Cards - I bought this set for $3.00 on Etsy

Directions:

1. Place all of the loose parts (oats, pom-poms, cinnamon sticks, spoon and whisk, into the sensory bin. 

2. Take the pie tin, and place on top of the felt. Using a sharpie or other marker, draw a “scalloped edge” around the pie tin about an inch out from the pie tin rim. (This will make sure that the pie crust is going to cover the whole pie tin). Cut out the scalloped edge.

3. Make a small dot in the center of the pie crust, and draw four sharp-edged ovals coming out from the center. Cut out. 

4. With another piece of felt, cut 6 strips that are long enough to cover the diameter of the pie tin. If you have pinking shears, these work great to create the “crinkle” for the lattice pie crust. 

5. Print out the Apple Pie Recipe cards. I printed ours on cardstock and used our laminator to laminate them. 

6. Place everything in the bin and have fun helping your little one “make a pie!”

7. Remember the best motto for teaching kiddos to play with sensory fillers: “Keep the oats in tray or we take it all away!” Yes, it does take a little time to teach your littlest ones not to just dump everything all over, but they learn pretty quickly and my kids have spent hours enjoying sensory play and giving me the gift of time to get other things done.