15 Insanely Easy to Make Halloween Sensory Bins
This post is all about easy to make Halloween sensory bin ideas geared towards toddlers. Halloween is an amazingly festive time of year. Personally, it’s my absolute favorite. The changing weather, the different foods, the gathering of family are all parts of what I enjoy most about the holiday season. It’s also so darn cute seeing little babies and kids dress us for Halloween. There are a lot of activities for toddlers that you can do during fall. Check out this post if you want inspiration on fun ways to enjoy the fall season with your toddler.
Toddlers love activities. If you’re a momma, you probably want some inspiration of exactly what kind of activities to do. There are so many opportunities around the fall season but Halloween is something oh so special. The spooky bats, cats, orange colors, and zombies – the sensory bin ideas are ENDLESS. You can opt for a fun and playful type of sensory bin. Or maybe you want to create a potion themed Halloween sensory bin. Either option is a great and practical way for your toddler to have fun AND learn.
I have selected so many pretty, creative, and fun Halloween sensory bin ideas for easy viewing. Get some spooky inspiration for your littles with some of these incredibly easy to replicate Halloween sensory bins. From colored kinetic sand to spooky potions, you’ll find something that your toddler will enjoy and something you can easily replicate.
Story theme and leaves Halloween sensory bin
One way to create an awesome sensory bin is to get inspiration from a book. Kids books have so many creative elements in them. Leaves are a very budget friendly item to include – especially if you have pretty colored leaves in your area. Have your little read their book, flip through pages, and sift through nature.
Premade FUN
This inspo is a premade sensory bin that could be a great addition as a part favor. Purples, oranges, black, ghosts, scarecrows, and other fun Halloween items are included here. Imagine a toddler activity bin filled to the brim with these little pieces – I know if I were a toddler, I’d be in sensory delight.
Purples, Witches, and Pumpkins
Gather a scooper, some beans, dragon eggs, books, pumpkins, cutouts, and fun scarves. I love the simplicity and complexity of this sensory bin. The addition of fun festive items really make this an eye catching design. Although there are many parts to it, it’s so diversified to allow any toddler to enjoy.
Festive Colors & Textures GALORE
Similar to above, gather all your supplies. The more textures and colors, the better. Kids love to touch and feel different textures. Get some tissue papers, some wooden sticks, cars, scarves, and more! I am a HUGE fan of those books. They come in many different animals (I personally love the flamingo one). The book included in this sensory bin is a touch and feel sensory book. My toddler is obsessed with these types of books and can pack a punch of different textures in one small book.
Fizzy Fun Pumpkin Spice Sensory Bin
Liquids might not be for everyone. We all know that toddlers love to create messes and throw everything. But how fun is this little sensory bin. It’s like a science activity combined with Halloween. This toddler activity is the very simple baking soda and vinegar reaction. The pumpkins are water mixed with baking soda until thickened and put in the freezer overnight. Add some fun glitter to the basket and spray the pumpkins with vinegar! Your toddlers will be amazed with this Halloween sensory activity.
Monotone Color Paired with a Story!
This is so aesthetically pleasing to my eye. It reminds me of fun pebbles and cement. Add some fun Halloween themed items (try your Target dollar section) and pair this with a Halloween book. Include several little wooden cups so the toddlers can scoop the gravel into them. The sound that this sensory bin probably makes is music to my hears. Can’t you just hear and feel the texture of this one?
Potion Magic WITH Recipe Cards
This potion station is another fun type of scientific sensory bin. Kids of all ages will really enjoy reading potion recipe cards to perfect their spooky potion. It’s more extensive than other spooky Halloween bins, but seeing it all set up and watching your child follow directions is so rewarding. I’m a huge fan of this type of Halloween activity.
Fun Colored Flower Potion Station
Another favorite is a very simple flower potion mixing station. Collect different leaves or flowers from around your area or go to your local grocery store. You can add coloring dye to this activity and the best part is that it’s so versatile. If you want to add more Halloween elements to this toddler activity, try adding festive colors. Maybe add in a few spiders or eyeballs for them to mix with the flowers.
Pumpkin Soup for Toddlers
Look at how beautiful that color is of the pumpkin soup. Honestly, the simplest things can entertain children so don’t feel the need to provide a TON of stimulation for them. The basics, like water, are simply enough for them. The orange color mixed with fun flowers and leaves is so pretty to look at. Halloween fun can be extremely simple if you’re pinched on time and money.
Kinetic Sand Sensory Bin Idea
Kinetic sand is a huge hit for many kids. Toddlers might need to be watched extra carefully with this one so the sand doesn’t get everywhere. Like other bins I’ve shown, adding festive colors with fun Halloween items will make any ordinary thing turn into fall fun! Let your toddlers explore the texture of kinetic sand and hope they don’t make the biggest mess of their life if left unattended.
Leaves, Skeletons, Slime, OH MY
Another one of my favorites. How fun does this look for a toddler? The leaves decorating the outside of the sensory bins give nice detail with a ton of added sensory. Fun slime or pom poms can be added. If I were a kid, I would love to dig my hands into both bins. If you do end up doing one slime bin and the other is an item one, make sure you keep an eye on them so they don’t mix items that they shouldn’t.
Budget Friendly: Black Beans & Orange Rice Sensory Box
I definitely encourage making designs with the different colors and different textures. Once the kids get their hands on this Halloween activity, they will mix the colors, but for a moment this bin is picture perfect. You can add some dyed rice or even look at different colored lentils! This bin is a spookier one compared to some others with very traditional Halloween elements (eyeballs, bats, skull, spiders, pumpkins).
Spooky Skeleton Sensory Bin
As a kid, I always thought of skeletons with Halloween. This bin is great for younger kids and toddlers because it has larger pieces. As with any activity, make sure you are able to monitor your children! Add some tongs and other utensils to grab and play around the bin. Create little q-tip skeleton bodies and add some fake bones. Maybe even try looking for little headstones!
Floating Pumpkin Water Play
Soap, water, syringes, and pumpkins! That’s all you’re really going to need for this fun budget-friendly water activity. Toddlers love getting their hands wet and love bubbles. Have them use the syringe to push the pumpkins all around the water-filled bin. Feel free to add anything else around the house that you have to make this more interactive.
Scoops of Sensory Fun
This sensory kit is so orange and I absolutely love it. It’s a great way to teach your little one colors. Maybe you can include this orange bin as your color of the week matched with Halloween week. I think it’s great to add scoopers, tongs, and small containers so they can have more creative and independent play.
Recap of the different fun and festive items you can use to add to your DIY Halloween Toddler Sensory Bin Activity.
- Foods: beans of all colors, colored rice, festive sprinkles
- Books: anything Halloween themed that include: pumpkins, scarecrows, bats, mummies, zombies, spiders
- Fun tongs, shovels, and spoons for littles to use
- Purple, black, or orange kinetic sand
- Potion bottles with recipe cards
- Potion station set up with mini cauldrons
- Eyeballs
- Leaves, pumpkins, Halloween colored tissue paper
- Cutouts: similar festive items as mentioned above