If you missed it, check out this blog post about getting started with sensory bins by choosing your sensory bin containers. Once you have your containers picked out, it is time to add fillers.
This is where your sensory bin starts coming to life. You can choose fillers that fit a theme or you can just choose a filler that you have on hand. For example, if you wanted to make a beach sensory bin, you could add sand as your filler. If you don’t have sand on hand and don’t want to purchase anything, brown cardboard scraps, brown construction paper, brown felt, cereal, etc. could act as your sand!
Here’s my master list of sensory bin fillers that you likely have on hand or they are free!
Natural Sensory Bin Fillers:
- Sand
- Dirt
- Rocks
- Sticks
- Grass
- Leaves
- Water
- Potting Soil
- Bird Seed
- Snow
- Mulch
- Hay
- Flowers/Dandelions
- Acorns
Craft Supply Fillers:
- Paper – Printer, Construction, Scrapbook, etc.
- Cardboard
- Pom-Poms
- Popsicle Sticks
- Yarn
- Felt
- Foam Paper or Shapes
- Buttons
- Beads (Age depending)
- Vase Fillers – Beads, Rocks, etc.
- Cotton Balls
- Easter Basket Filler
- Tinsel
- Feathers
- Confetti
- Sequins
- Ribbon
- Tissue Paper
- Pipe Cleaners
From the Kitchen Fillers:
- Dry Pasta
- Dry Beans
- Corn Kernels
- Dish Soap + Water
- Jello
- Ice Cubes + Water
- Salt
- Cereal *Tip: You can use O cereals hole, or crunch them up to make edible sand
- Cooked Spaghetti Noodles – you can dye them fun colors with food coloring!
- Yogurt
- Rice – another thing you can color
- Chia Seeds
- Puffs
- Cut Up Straws
- Sprinkles
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Sunflower Seeds
- Jelly Beans
Toy Sensory Bin Fillers:
- Legos
- Kinetic Sand
- Blocks
- Play Dough
**WATER BEADS – I do want to mention here that often on sensory bin lists you will see water beads listed. I encourage you to look at the dangers of water beads. Here is a current (March 2024) article about the dangers. I personally do not recommend them and do not use them in my own home or classroom.
Other Sensory Bin Fillers:
- Packing Peanuts
- Bubble Wrap
- Toilet Paper/Paper Towel Tubes
- Cut up pool noodles
- Shaving Cream
- Silly String
- Baby Powder
- Bingo Chips
- Seashells
- Rubber Bands
- Qtips
Teachers, look around your classroom for fillers!
Your classroom is full of items that could be used for sensory bin fillers and I know it! Check out your manipulatives. This is where I started when I wanted to incorporate sensory bins into my classroom without paying out of pocket. You could use:
- Foam Shapes
- Unifex Cubes
- Connecting Cubes
- Counters
- Bingo Chips
- 3D Shapes
- Magnetic letters/numbers
- Base 10 blocks
- Counting Bears
- Marbles
- Tangrams
- Play Money
I hope you find this list helpful and that it helps you think outside of the box. If you find or love a sensory bin filler that is not on the list, please leave it as a comment below! You can download the printable version of this list here or by clicking the image below.
Like I mentioned in the beginning, your sensory bin filler can be as fun and creative as you choose or anything you have on hand. I LOVE seeing your ideas come to life, please tag me @sunshineinprimary in your creations on Facebook or Instagram.
