Snow Sensory Bin for Indoor Nature Play

Some days are just too cold, even for me. I don’t want to go outside and neither do my kids. On those days, it is possible to bring some nature play inside by doing a snow sensory bin for each of my kids! I set these up for my kids and this was the result.

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Sensory bins are a great way for kids to learn and explore. They encourage them to use skills like scooping and pouring while exposing them to different sensations, in this case, cold. These simple activity can occupy kids for amazing lengths of time while mama gets some work done and are perfect for those times when you can’t make it outside to play in the snow. This is how I set up the snow sensory bins and my two kids reactions (aged nearly 4 and 16 months).

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Setting up a Snow Sensory Bin

Set up is really easy. I just took two big bowls outside and filled them with snow! You can also use Tupperware containers or anything that will hold any water as the snow melts. Then, I added some toys. Each of the bowls got a little digger toy and then I put little dinosaurs in the one for my oldest son and Toy Story themed Little People figures for my 16 month old. Next, I placed the bowls on top of some beach towels and let them at it.

Snow Sensory Bin Reactions

My kids reacted in completely different ways. I showed the bowls and at first, they were both excited. It was new and interesting.

For my oldest, this was the coolest activity. He was burying the dinosaurs in snow, pushing the truck around, smiling and laughing. My little guy, wasn’t so impressed. He picked up a toy and was not expecting the cold. This immediately turned him off, he acted completely unimpressed and he went off to find something else to do while his brother had a good time.

Trying to Regain Interest from a 16 Month Old

This is no easy feat. He was not thrilled with the cold snow and so I took it as a challenge to try and interest him. I thought color would be the perfect thing so I grabbed some food coloring and added it to the top of the snow. Since I only had gel food coloring, you can to mix it with a spoon to really get the effect. This part he enjoyed. We stirred the color into the snow and watched how red and blue make purple!

Mixing colors in snow is a great bonus learning activity. Paint mixing is fun, but there is something that just totally grabs kids attention about snow so this process was great for both kids. However once the mixing was over, my 16 month old lost interest again and went off to play with a the toys his big brother usually doesn’t let him play with.

Continuing to Play

My oldest was so into the snow sensory bin that he took over his brother’s too. He didn’t care about his brother playing with his Buzz Lightyear toy because he had colored snow. Taking spoonfuls of snow from one bowl to another, he played there quietly for over an hour. It was amazing!

I know that I will be setting up a lot more sensory activities like this one for the boys so that I can get stuff done around the house! These activities will be perfect for allowing me time to workout or do some crochet. It is a total mom win! Now, I just need to find some that my youngest is as interested in.

Do you have any sensory bin ideas? Please share them in the comments below.

Looking for more winter fun? Check out my Toddler’s Winter Bucket List and Ela Wild’s “What Winter Can Teach Us” and Playing in the Snow