So, it's dumb, but we did this. Yay!

Half of me thinks Sensory Bins are stupid. As I’ve written before, kids are exposed to textures and scents etc. just by living life. A Fall sensory bin, for instance, is pointless. If you want your child to see colored leaves, look outside. Take a walk. If you want your child to smell fall spices, bake an apple pie with your child.

The other half of me was positively giddy while I put together this Fall Sensory Bin. I couldn’t wait for the kiddos to wake up from their naps and see it and be curious. As expected, it was the first thing Zuzu asked about when she wandered out. “What’s that?” Is it for ME? she was asking. Can I touch everything in there?

 

I filled the bin first with puffed corn cereal. The little white sacks are cheesecloth pouches. One’s filled with ginger, one nutmeg, and one cloves. There are a couple cinnamon sticks in there and the rest is obvious.

Both children were allowed to taste the puffed corn while the bin was still fresh. After a couple days I retired the bin and the cereal is now in a bag waiting to be fed to ducks.

The bin occupied and brought pleasure to my kids for as long as I hoped and expected it would, however long that was—ten minutes, or twenty? Twenty minutes one day, ten minutes the next? The best part was smelling the cheesecloth and the cinnamon sticks. Ginny and I baked together later in the day and we compared the smell of the spices from the sensory bin to the smell of the spice jars.

It was silly but it was fun.

"NO, Bear!"