I’m always looking for fun activities that I can do together with my little sensory seeker and with a price tag averaging less than $5.00, how can you go wrong with a simple bean box? Here’s the low-down on some sensational fun for every age…
What You’ll Need
- Plastic shoe box with lid
- 2-3 bags of dried beans
- Various scoops and cups
- (optional) Mat or plastic tablecloth
We made an adventure out of putting together our bean box (although this might not be fun for everyone!). Little Miss and I selected our plastic shoe box at the local discount store and she helped me pick which beans she wanted to put in the box. For extra fun, you can decorate the box and lid with stickers or t-shirt paint!
Open the bags of dried beans, pour them into the box, and get down to play!
Senses
- Tactile: Beans are smooth and move between your fingers without the sticky sensation of clay, play dough, or sand — a great compromise for sensory seekers who aren’t into messy play!
- Visual: Looking at beans as they are swirled around the box or poured between clear containers can be mesmerizing! For added fun, use markers or paints to color some of the beans or use different varieties of beans.
- Hearing: Pouring the beans between containers or into the bean box itself makes a soothing rain sound (imagine a rain stick).
Skill Areas
- Fine Motor: Scooping and pouring beans, picking up one or two beans at a time and putting them into containers.. the fine motor opportunities are endless!
- Critical Thinking: Bean boxes also present great opportunities for critical thinking — try hiding small toys or treasures in the box or asking children to sort beans by size/color.
Activities
The following is a partial list of activities you can play with your new bean box.We’d also love to hear all your ideas in the comments!
Scoop & Pour: Use different sized measuring spoons and cups to scoop beans and pour them into different containers. This is a great activity for fine motor since it forces children to use a steady hand and helps with motor planning (how to get the full scoop to the cup).
Note: Using tools like scoops can also help sensory avoiders get into bean box fun without touching the beans!
Bean Sort: Set up several different cups and sort different colors/shapes of beans into the cups. This encourages critical thinking (how are beans different? the same?) and can be great for fine motor (developing pincer grasp to select one bean at a time).
Buried Treasure: Hide small toys or other treasures (beads, candies, etc) and let children dig for them. Using fingers to determine the difference between beans and “treasures” is a great tactile experience!
Bean Soup: Using a spoon or other utensil, stir the beans in the box. Add pretend “ingredients” (possibly sorted beans from the Bean Sort activity) and make your own imaginary soup. Ladle beans into bowls and serve!
Bean Train: Make up lines of beans on the floor (you can even use glue and construction paper to make more permanent art). Can you write your name in beans?
I hope this post helps you and your sensational child spend a few fun hours together — especially on one of those cold winter days we’re having here in the Midwestern U.S. right now. And if you and your kids come up with any other great bean box games, we’d love to hear ‘em!
Comments
mama2boys
Oooohhhh…you just inspired me to get some and use our “kid friendly” chopsticks to promote fine motor skills!!!!
Julie
Mama2boys – check out chimp sticks – they’re fun and easy for kids to use.
You gave me a great idea – you can use the beans to make tactile letters for learning. My son would not retain letters until his teacher starting making tactile letters for him. Now he is recognizing his letters and numbers
Spectrummy Mummy
We’ve been playing with our (rice &) beans box this snowy morning- great for both seekers and avoiders.
Just don’t leave it unattended, unless you want your toddler to fling them around the room!
Cathy Larson
When my boys were little, we had a big bin of unpopped popcorn kernels. We’d bury trucks and little toys in them and dig to our heart’s content! They loved it!
We also had a bin of buttons. With those, we taught colors, counting, sorting, categorizing . . . we’d dump them on a blanket and dig and sort, all the while talking without having to make eye contact. We spent many, many happy hours playing with buttons.
Martianne
My kids have always loved bean play, too! We stated early with my son with Montessori-inspired bean play and pouring. Our daughter picked it right up, too. They both are great at pouring and measuring now and still love to play with beans – but now more as “food” for their creatures.
Allie
The bean box is a favorite for both of my kids when they go to OT. I think it’s time to make one for home!
Nicole DeLeon
We did this also, but with a much larger plastic container so our children can actually sit in the container with the beans. The high sides of the container are comforting and the beans give the right amount of pressure for calming. We put mini shovels and cups for scooping, and hide objects in thebeans for the kids to uncover. This was the only activity that would keep my youngest son occupied for 5-15 minutes (@ 3 years old). I definitely recommend this, but children should be supervised unless you want the beans everywhere! I also found that it helped if I put the kids in footy pj’s because they didn’t like the beans on their skin or stuck in between their toes. I don’t blame them!
ShesAlwaysWrite
The bean bin was the first sensory tool we bought after he was diagnosed (can’t believe it’s been nearly a year and half!). He LOVES it and we never get tired of finding new ways to play with it! (though I get tired of finding beans all over the house)
At the suggestion of his daycare teacher, we recently upgraded to a nice big under the bed box (about $14 at Walmart) for his beans and he is over the moon about it because now he can sit in the beans with his trucks.
Josie
This is a wonderful idea! Thank you!
Marissa
We do them every month with a new theme. We have either rice or beans and put things like plastic apples in September, black and white beans in October with skeleton bucketst, etc. My boys love them!
Karen V.
Wow the ideas here are great! We have an old shoe box with beans in it that my son plays with on occasion but I never really “thought” about the different things to do with the beans. Way to go Mom 2 LM! Great ideas!